There are several factors that affect how long it takes for an underfloor system to heat up. We look at four main factors that have the biggest impact on the level of heat in your home, as well as the efficient use of underfloor heating: insulation, floor covering, heat loss and resting temperature.
You may read some articles that suggest the response time of underfloor heating is poor and slow. If you measure it against other heating such as a roaring open fire or central heating on full blast, you will find it has a slower response time.
This is because underfloor heating provides heat in your home that can be planned much better, thus its responsiveness lay in its ability to fit with your home and lifestyle.
Essentially there are four factors that impact on how ‘quickly’ underfloor heating responds to requests for a change in temperature;
i. Insulation
For you to fully realise the warmth and efficiency of underfloor heating, your home needs to be well-insulated. From thermal wall insulation or cavity wall insulation, to loft insulation and great fitting, double glazed windows and door, you also need to have a high level of floor insulation.
A professional installer will fit this as standard. Choosing the best product that works well with the type of sub-floor is essential. This stop heat being lost to the ground and is instrumental in decreasing the response time of an underfloor heating system.
ii. Floor Covering
Along with insulation, the type of flooring covering you opt for will affect the amount of time it takes the system to warm up.
For example, a well-insulated wooden floor can take between 30 minutes to an hour to warm up from cold. But for a solid concrete or high-mass screed floor that is not insulated, it will take several hours.
As a guide, a non-insulated concrete floor will take anything up to 8 hours to reach optimum temperature from cold, but half the time for an insulated concrete floor. There are some concrete floors with specific insulation that can take an hour or less to heat up.
However, some flooring materials retain warmth longer than others. For example, a wooden floor doesn’t hang on to heat for as long as a concrete floor will. Thus, when you heating system kicks in later, there will already be residual warmth in the concrete that means a speedier heating up time.
The choice of floor covering is important, as is choosing the right underfloor heating product. Check with us if the product you are purchasing is suitable for use with your desired floor covering.
iii. Heat Loss
There is no doubt that losing heat impacts on the efficiency and heat up time of your underfloor heating system.
Insulation is partly the answer to this, but there are other factors that cause heat loss. Inadequate insulation at key points of the system contribute to an increased warm up time.
Installation is important. At high heat loss points, such as in front of external doors or patio windows, increasing the loops of plastic piping when laying a wet underfloor heating system will mean a more efficient system. This is because heat can be delivered in a larger quantity at a high heat loss point, preventing a loss of heat in the longer term.
In effect, your home needs to retain as much heat as possible, so that the heating system puts out less heat in terms of kWh.
iv. Resting Temperature
We are accustomed to central heating systems which we switch off when not needed. It fires up at opportune times in the day, usually based on time rather than temperature. In other words, it fires up in the morning as you get ready for work, switches off for the day and fires up when you arrive home.
If your home is well-insulated and hangs on to residual heat well, the resting temperature may not dip too far. Thus, when the boiler fires up, it doesn’t have to work as hard to heat your home to the desired temperature.
The same is true for underfloor heating. If the floor covering holds on well to residual heat, the resting temperature of the system and the home will not drop substantially, thus leading to less heat up time.
Underfloor heating is rarely ‘switched off’ as underfloor heating controls offer a sophisticated level of control over heat in your home.
With a smart thermostat, you can control the temperature with a few taps of your smart phone. By running the system on very low during the day, there is still a small degree of warmth circulating, a far more efficient means of heating your home both in comfort and financial terms.
Underfloor heating is a responsive heating system that keeps your home tasty warm, without the massive heating bill… especially when used in the most efficient way possible!
