Alternative To Under Floor Heating (UFH)

There has been a surge in the number of ‘retrofit’ under floor heating solutions launched in recent years, to meet the demand of existing buildings looking to go UFH rather than radiators.

This seems especially attractive to those home-owners that are considering renewable primary heat sources such as air source heat pumps, as the thought of having massively over-sized low temperature radiators is too horrible to bear, and fan assisted radiators that require new electric wiring to them, which would disturb the décor too painful to contemplate.

On the face of it, an under floor heating system with a build-up of only 15 ~20mm seems an ideal solution. In many adverts, the UFH system is shown next to a 5 pence piece to show just how ‘thin’ it is.

But hang on – is the ‘thinness’ the be all and end all when it comes to retrofitting UFH in your home?

At DiscreteHeat, we would never question a clients’ preference to install UFH in a new constructed concrete screed (such as in a kitchen extension for example), especially under tiles which is a very good emitter of radiant heat.

Indeed, our ThermaSkirt heating systems are often supplied as either a back up to UFH where heat losses are too high for under floor heating on its own, or as a complimentary heating solution upstairs – in bedrooms for example.

However, we never flinch from our view that under wood or carpet, the increased insulation and their natural thermal resistance makes UFH in these applications a nonsense.

When it comes to retrofit under floor, we are constantly amazed at the impractical lengths installers will go to, and the enormous disruption and additional costs home owners will absorb to obtain heating under their feet.

Even these ‘lo build up’ UFH systems will require the following in most retrofit installations:

• Remove all the furniture and belongings from the room
• Lift and remove all the carpets and floor coverings (and throw them away – even carpet never goes back right 2^nd time)
• Insulate under the floors (in timber suspended floors as drafts draw heat away)
• Bash holes through walls to get the feed and return pipes to a central manifold
• Have the room(s) out of action for 2~3 days at a time
• Require a multi-port manifold to cope with rooms bigger than 10~12m²
• Plane down all the doors to accommodate the 15mm uplift in floor height
• Probably remove and refit your skirtings to accommodate the new floor height
• Have a step between adjacent rooms – even 15mm is noticeable

So What’s the Answer?

In a retrofit installation, whether it’s on a conventional boiler or on a renewable energy source such as a heat pump we sincerely believe the ThermaSkirt solution to be the best solution.

Take these 2 examples here. On the left is a carpeted upstairs child’s bedroom, already decorated and looking pristine. On the right is an entrance hallway with lovely lime washed timber floors. In both instances the owners wanted to remove the radiators and fancied UFH. When discovering the cost and disruption of making good afterwards, they thought their hopes of freeing up their walls and creating a more inviting (and safer) space for their family was lost. Until they googled ‘UFH alternative’ and found ThermaSkirt.

In both cases, ThermaSkirt could connect onto the existing radiator pipework meaning minimal disruption and cost. By being an ‘above ground’ solution, there was no need to lift any floor coverings or carpets, nor plane down any doors. By taking care, each system was installed in a day, with no cleaning or redecorating required (except to touch up the dirty patch where the radiator had left its mark).

The Future

They say that history repeats itself (firstly as a tragedy, the second time as a farce according to Karl Marx).

In the 80’s and 90’s similar small bore, 10mm pipes were all the rage in underfloor heating. The concept of small bore pipes for UFH is not new. Admittedly, in the 90’s these were set into the screed, but the principle is the same, in that small areas, typically 10~12m² were each heated by a small pipe, requiring 2~3 circuits for an typical room.

So what happened?

Well, unfortunately, a small bore pipe with a series or curves is prone to clogging and building up deposits – especially in hard water areas, or where there is a mixed system using radiators which create sludge over time. It’s one of the reasons that ‘microbore’ copper tube (remember that?) is no longer available for central heating systems.

Admittedly, if you kept the system regularly flushed, used an appropriate inhibitor and changed it regularly, and didn’t have steel radiators on the system, you would probably not have a problem. But if you did...

At DiscreteHeat, we have made a tidy sum from replacing those small 10mm bore systems from the 80’s and 90’s that have failed.

So, to sum up

ThermaSkirt will:

• Connect onto your existing radiator system without significant disruption
• No need to plane down your doors or have steps between rooms (even 15mm makes a difference)
• No need to disturb your floor coverings
• No limit to the type or specification of new floor covering; any carpet, timber, tile or laminate is OK with ThermaSkirt
• No concerns about heat losses into floor voids
• Quick, rapid response times whatever floor construction you chose
• Is simple & straightforward to amend, move (or repair, heaven forbid)
• Provides you with new, freshly painted skirting boards for ‘free’!

Why not send us your plans for a quick, free and no obligation quotation for your next refurbishment project?