Under floor heating (UFH) is becoming highly popular in many homes throughout Europe and it’s no wonder as its health benefits, energy efficiency, space saving, visual appeal and cost effectiveness are vast. UFH is most normally used in bathrooms but it’s also a trendy choice for extensions and conservatories or anywhere that the wall space is limited or there is a need to uphold a high standard visual appeal without wall mounted radiators ruining the look. The following are 5 benefits to having a heated floor in your bathroom.
1. UFH products are efficient ways to provide warmth throughout the home that have considerable advantages over more traditional heating methods. While the commonly used radiator is good for drying damp clothing, when it comes to heating a room to a sufficient temperature it appears that it can only operate at lukewarm or blazing hot.
2. The technique behind under floor heating is that heat is allowed to rise slowly underneath the overlay floor, which may consists of stones, tiles, laminate, wood or even linoleum. The peak effectiveness is found between the height of the floor and just about head height, which not only indicates that adequate warmth is provided to where it matters directly but that less draughts are produced at ceiling height. This will cause less energy consumption over time and enables users to have greater control over their temperature settings.
3. Bathroom floor heating products compose of either water-based or electric systems. The former normally relies on water that has been heated to about 500C, which is transported via pipes residing beneath the overlay floor. While water-based systems are possibly just as effective as their electric counterparts, one downside is that they take quite a long time to heat up a typical floor, a couple of hours in the case of a concrete floor. Electric systems have the upper hand on this issue, though they are a bit slower than radiators. Besides, electric products normally consist of heating mats of 160W and 200W, both of which can be utilized on any sub-floor and in conjunction with an overlay, including carpet.
4. UFH pads can also be reduced in size, so there is no trouble with installing them in awkwardly sized rooms. Furthermore, these types of products are best suited for bathrooms and wet rooms as, unlike radiators, they aren’t hard to install and can be adapted to fit unevenly shaped rooms – they won’t usually steam up your mirrors either! Installing a UFH solution for your bathroom is entirely safe, though as with any form of flooring or under floor installation, overlay should be waterproofed to prevent damage. It’s also quite ordinary for bathroom radiators to overheat the room – they offer heat based on the main thermostat and a tiny area like the bathroom can consequently suffer. In contrast, UFH mats will provide gentle warmth, perfect for your bare feet, fresh out of bed on a very cold winter morning!
5. Heat from the bathroom floor is uniformly distributed to other rooms, thus heating the whole house and consequently saving energy that would be used to heat each and every room.