Can you save money with underfloor heating?

Today I'm sharing a guest post by Russell Bowes - Google+, Twitter

The warm fuzzy feeling you get when you step onto a heated floor may be one of the simplest pleasures in life, especially when the weather is miserable outside. Unlike most luxuries in life, this is one that can actually save you money over the long term.

Unlike conventional wall mounted radiators, underfloor heating generates radiant heat which is even and ambient. Therefore a single panel will generate more heat than a wall mounted radiator of an equivalent size, which will enable your room to feel warmer at a lower temperature, bringing down the cost of your energy bills.

If you are going for maximum energy efficiency, a water based underfloor heating system is recommended. They rely on your boiler, rather than a direct electricity supply, so use energy more sparingly than an electric system. According to Aboutunderfloorheating.co.uk installing a water based underfloor heating system can reduce your energy bills by 40% or more.

However before installing underfloor heating there are some important practical aspects to consider. Firstly, underfloor heating is cheaper to install as part of a new build effort, or a major home renovation project. Updating an existing property to include underfloor heating is more costly and further complications arise with period properties.

Therefore a number of factors are worth considering such as the upfront costs, how long you plan to be in your property and whether or not you’re likely to offset the costs overtime with the savings you make on your energy bills. Even if your personal situation means that you’re unlikely to claim back the upfront costs of underfloor heating, you may decide it's an affordable luxury that you want for your home.

If you opt for underfloor heating, I recommend that you maximise the impact it has by taking other simple steps keep your home insulated and as warm as possible:

● Install cavity wall insulation
● Install double glazed windows
● Use draft excluders on doors, windows and letterboxes
● Replacing your old boiler with an A rated condensing boiler and use an insulating cover. These measures combined could cut your bills by £300 a year and your carbon emissions by 1.5 tonnes.

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