26.06.09 Reducing consumption with underfloor heating
At the risk of sounding like a bore, or maybe even your parents, the price of gas has become an absolute joke. Actually, that’s a lie. We always think energy costs are ridiculous, and they just go on getting more and more expensive. Gas prices fall, our bills stay the same, gas prices rise, our bills go up. It’s the same with petrol and it will never change.
Investing For The Future
We know from endless Government paraphernalia that there are several things we can do to improve the efficiency of our homes: new boiler, cavity insulation, double glazing, reducing temperature settings of appliances, all that kind of stuff. However, if you really want to make an investment in your home to minimize your fossil fuels' cost, you really need underfloor heating.
If you are not familiar with Underfloor, it’s tempting to think of it as an elaborate luxury item, conjuring thoughts of expensive fired-earth stone and footballers' homes in Alderley Edge. Rather, I would encourage you to think of it as a large, horizontal radiator.
How It Works
In basic terms, an underfloor system takes hot water from your boiler and passes it around loops of pipe buried in the cement make-up of your floors. The floors in your house then heat up and radiate heat upwards into each room.
Your own central heating at home may have a single thermostat (the thing on the wall that controls the temperature) or perhaps even no thermostat, so you tend to think of your central heating being either 'on' or 'off'. Typically with Underfloor heating you will have a thermostat in each room, so you will be able to control the heat in each area precisely. This is great news for your heating bills as the rooms you do not use often can be "powered down".
Also, because the floors of your house effectively become your "radiators", the surface areas being heated are massive, relative to conventional wall-mounted radiators. This means that you can pass hot water to the system at a much lower temperature. The water in your central heating constantly circulates at around 75-degrees, whereas underfloor only requires 40-degrees water to work. This means you will be using less gas all of the time.
How Much Does It Cost?
Underfloor is considerably more expensive to fit than radiators, but it can be more realistically priced than you would think. If you work on a cost of around £25 per square metre for the materials, and about £10 per square metre for a reasonably skilled plumber to fit the system, you will not be far off. It is suitable for both new-builds and refurbishments.
The initial cost can be off-putting, especially in today's gloomy economy, but you can weigh up the cost of fitting it against the increased value of your house. On top of this, you will be likely to save around 25% a year on your gas bills, and also give yourself a nice, warm glow from the knowledge that you have made the world a leaner, greener place.
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