Under floor heating (ufh) is widely popular in northern Europe and over the years has become just as popular in the UK. Under floor heating is now used for new and refurbished properties. As with most things, there are various factors for and against under floor heating which depends largely on your lifestyle and also style of your house.

With an under floor heating system, the floor itself becomes the heat emitter which warms the room from the floor up, unlike radiators which run from a central heating system where they are mounted on a wall and the room is heated from the ceiling downwards.

There are two main types of under floor heating systems. Water and electric systems are almost identical apart from obviously, that one uses electric heating cable while the other circulates heated water through a set of pipes.

Water based ufh uses water heated to a lower temperature than conventional water central heating (typically 50C rather than 60C plus), which makes it ideal for use with a high efficiency condensing boilers; the lower operating temperature also makes it more suitable for use with heat pumps or solar water heaters.

Water temperature is controlled by mixing both hot and cold water from the boiler through the pipes. This is done to achieve the required temperature which is then passed to a manifold for distribution to the various zones in the house. A conventional boiler can also be used for ufh, however its recommended to fit a higher rated pump as the pressure may be greater than in a conventional radiator central heating system.

Depending on the type of heating system you use it may be possible to heat individual rooms. This is because new systems have higher technology control systems unlike the older systems where you could only heat all the radiators through out the whole house.

Most products are designed for specific installations and its recommended to read through the manufacturers information before use i.e. pipes for screed embedded under floor heating may not be suitable for installing under most wooden floors.