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Underfloor Heating

Electric Underfloor Heating

Most underfloor heating is either wet pipework, which needs a manifold, a pump and a heat source, or loose cable that has to be spaced and screeded. This is neither.

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What it actually is

Our underfloor heating film is 1.4mm thick. It is laid across the floor and the covering goes straight over it. Because it heats across its whole surface rather than from a cable run, the warmth is even, with no hot strips and cold gaps between pipe loops.

It runs on a normal 220 to 240V supply, weighs 1.4kg per square metre, and adds almost nothing to your floor height. That last point is what makes it work in retrofits, where lifting the floor level by 50mm is usually the thing that kills the idea.

1.4mm thick

No meaningful floor build-up, so it suits retrofit as well as new build.

Even across the surface

Heats over its whole area, not from a pipe or cable run. No warm stripes.

No plant

No manifold, no pump, no boiler, no cylinder. Just a supply and a thermostat.

How it connects

Film, sealed T-pieces, a thermostat with a floor sensor, and a standard 220 to 240V supply. No transformer, no manifold, no pipes.

What electric underfloor heating costs to run

The honest answer depends on the area you are heating and how hard the film has to work. The film comes in two outputs. Switch between them to see the figures.

Based on about 5 heating hours a day with panels actually drawing power roughly 38% of that time, because thermostats cycle panels off once a room is at temperature and unoccupied rooms are not heated, at 24.5p/kWh. A five month season is taken as 152 days. Your own figure depends on insulation, floor covering and how you run it. Send us the room and we will work it out properly, whether you are buying the material or having it fitted.

Which output do you need?

160 W/m² suits most rooms in a reasonably insulated house where the floor is the main heat source. 220 W/m² is for rooms that lose heat faster, a garden room, an extension, or a floor sitting over an unheated space. Oversizing costs more to install and more to run, so it is worth getting right rather than guessing.

Where we would not recommend it: fully glazed conservatories

A conservatory loses heat through its glazing several times faster than a room with solid walls, and it has a large glazed envelope sitting on a small floor area. The floor is capped at 220 W/m², so on a cold night the heat going out through the glass can simply exceed anything the floor is able to put in, and the room never holds temperature no matter what it costs you to run.

It is also common for a conservatory slab to have little or no insulation beneath it, which sends a share of the heat downwards into the ground instead of into the room.

Some conservatories do work, usually the ones with a solid roof, modern glazing and an insulated slab. The point is that it is a heat loss calculation, not an assumption, and we would rather tell you before you spend the money than after.

Want the figure for your actual room?

Send us the floor area and the covering you are planning. We will size the sheets, work out what it costs to run, and quote it supplied or supplied and fitted.

Free, no obligation, and we will tell you if the floor is not the right answer.

What it goes under

This is the question that decides most floors, and it comes down to one number. Heat has to get through whatever sits on top of the film, so the covering must not insulate it. The floor finish should have a thermal resistance below 0.05 m²·K/W, which is about half a tog.

Dense materials conduct well and score low. Soft, thick, air-filled ones insulate and score high. That is the whole rule.

Ceramic and porcelain tile

The best choice. Tile conducts well, holds the warmth and is what the system is designed around.

Marble and stone

Excellent, and it takes the chill off a floor that is otherwise cold underfoot.

Engineered and solid wood

Works with dense hardwoods such as oak. Check the board’s own maximum floor temperature, and it needs 8mm expansion gaps at every wall.

Laminate and vinyl

Usually workable, but it depends on the underlay, not the board. A standard foam underlay fails on both heat and safety grounds.

Carpet: usually not

Carpet is the one we get asked about most and the one we most often say no to. Carpet and underlay above 0.15 m²·K/W, roughly 1.5 tog, must not be laid over the film. Most carpet with a normal underlay is two to three tog before you start, so it traps the heat instead of letting it through. A very thin, dense carpet on a thin felt underlay can pass, but it has to be checked against the actual tog rating rather than assumed. If the room is getting carpet, the ceiling is usually the better place to put the heat.

The film itself is rated to a maximum of 70°C, but it never runs anywhere near that in a floor. The thermostat holds the floor surface at a comfortable temperature, typically around 27°C in living space. Any one circuit is limited to 3,500W, so larger areas are split across circuits. That is specification work, not something to guess at.

1.4mm

Thickness it adds to your floor

7.5p

Per m² a day to run, at 160 W/m²

None

Manifolds, pumps or pipework

Based on about 5 heating hours a day with panels actually drawing power roughly 38% of that time, because thermostats cycle panels off once a room is at temperature and unoccupied rooms are not heated, at 24.5p/kWh.

The heating film is independently tested to BS EN 60335, the British safety standard for electric heating appliances, and is CE and UKCA marked.

Floor or ceiling?

We sell both, so here is the straight answer rather than a sales one. For most homes we recommend the ceiling first. The floor wins in specific situations, and they are worth knowing.

The ceiling is usually better

The floor wins when

If you are not sure, send us the room. We size it properly and tell you which of the two suits it, including telling you when neither is worth doing.

See the ceiling panel range

Specification

The film comes in two outputs and three sheet sizes. Sheets are laid to suit the room, so a floor is made up from whichever combination covers it.

What the numbers mean. The output is watts per square metre of floor, so 160 W/m² puts 160 watts into every square metre it covers. Pick the output first, from how much heat the room loses, then make the area up from whichever sheet sizes fit around the fixed units.

There is no plant room

A wet underfloor system needs a manifold, a pump, pipe loops and enough screed depth to bury them, which is why it is normally a new build or a full renovation job. Electric film is 1.4mm thick and 1.4 kg per square metre. It rolls out flat, the sheets plug into each other, and the floor finish goes straight over the top.

Photographs supplied by our manufacturing partner, not a PoweRad installation. See how a heating system is specified.

Two ways to buy it

Most of what we do is supply. The film is laid by whoever is doing your floor, so there is usually no reason to bring a separate heating contractor onto the job.

Supply only

We size the floor from your dimensions, specify the sheets and the circuits, and send the material with a wiring layout. Your own floor layer, tiler or electrician fits it. No installation cost from us at all.

IF YOU NEED IT

Supplied and fitted

If you would rather it was handled end to end, we arrange the whole job. The floor is sized and the material supplied, a flooring trade lays it, and a Part P electrician makes the final connection. One point of contact and one quote.

Buying for more than one property, or specifying it into a scheme? See the trade portal for account terms and volume pricing.

Works with your energy system

The heating is one part of an all-electric home. Everything here is designed to run together, and we supply and specify all of it.

Pairs with solar PV

Run the heating on your own generation and cut the running cost to the export rate you gave up.

Zones with Loxone

Room-by-room schedules, presence detection and one app for the whole house.

Smart hot water

Divert surplus solar into the cylinder and heat water off-peak, alongside the panels.

Common questions

The questions people actually ask before committing to a floor, answered straight.

Is electric underfloor heating expensive to run?

For a 10m² room at 160 W/m² it works out around £0.75 a day, roughly £115 over a five month heating season, based on 5 hours of heating a day at 24.5p/kWh with zoned cycling taken into account. The figure scales with floor area, so a 5m² bathroom is about £0.38 a day and a 20m² kitchen about £1.51.

How much does electric underfloor heating cost per m² to run?

At 160 W/m² and a 24.5p/kWh tariff, about 7.5p per square metre per day over a typical 5 hour heating day. At the higher 220 W/m² output it is about 10.4p. Insulation, floor covering and how long you actually run it move that figure more than anything else.

Does electric underfloor heating need a boiler or a manifold?

No. Electric heating film needs only an electrical supply and a thermostat. There is no manifold, no pump, no pipework and no boiler, which is the main reason it suits retrofit where wet underfloor heating usually does not.

How thick is electric underfloor heating film?

The film is 1.4mm thick and weighs 1.4kg per square metre, so it adds almost nothing to floor height. Wet systems normally need enough screed depth to bury the pipe loops, which is what usually rules them out of a retrofit.

What floor coverings can go over electric underfloor heating?

It comes down to thermal resistance: the floor finish should be below 0.05 m²·K/W, about half a tog, so the heat can get through. Ceramic and porcelain tile, marble and stone are the best because they conduct well. Dense hardwoods such as oak work, subject to the board’s own maximum floor temperature. Laminate and vinyl depend on the underlay underneath them. Carpet and underlay above 0.15 m²·K/W must not be used at all, which rules out most carpet.

Can you put electric underfloor heating under carpet?

Usually not. Carpet and underlay with a thermal resistance above 0.15 m²·K/W, roughly 1.5 tog, must not be laid over the film, and most carpet with a normal underlay is two to three tog before you start. It traps the heat instead of letting it through. A very thin, dense carpet on a thin felt underlay can pass, but it has to be checked against the actual tog rating rather than assumed. If the room is getting carpet, a ceiling panel is usually the better place to put the heat.

Can I buy electric underfloor heating supply only and fit it myself?

Yes, and it is how most of our floor work is sold. We size the floor from your dimensions, specify the sheets and circuits, and supply the material with a wiring layout. Your own floor layer or tiler lays it and a Part P electrician makes the final connection, which is a legal requirement in the UK. Trade and volume pricing is available for builders, developers and merchants.

Does electric underfloor heating work in a conservatory?

Often not well. A conservatory loses heat through its glazing several times faster than a room with solid walls, and it has a large glazed envelope over a small floor area. Because the film is capped at 220 W/m², the heat lost through the glass can exceed anything the floor can put in, so the room never holds temperature. Conservatories with a solid roof, modern glazing and an insulated slab can work. It needs a heat loss calculation rather than an assumption.

Is underfloor heating better than ceiling heating?

Not usually. For most homes we recommend the ceiling first, because nothing stands on it, so rugs, furniture and fitted units cannot block the heat. The floor wins when it is coming up anyway, when the ceiling cannot be used, or when warm underfoot genuinely matters, such as bathrooms and tiled kitchens.

Send us the floor area and we will size it

Tell us the room dimensions and the floor covering, and we will work out the sheets, the circuits and what it costs to run, whether you are having it fitted or buying the material and laying it yourself. If the floor is not the right answer, we will say so.

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