"g" wrote in message
om...
Hi,

I have always been an avid supporter of underfloor heating -- I don't
know anyone personally to have any complaints about them. However in
telling people here in Ireland that we installed it in a stone house
we are renovating, almost everybody is "appalled" and skeptical. They
tell us stories of people who have them installed and get them ripped
out soon afterwards because of the gas guzzling/high heating costs. I
can only think that in these bad experiences, the insulation under the
floor and on the walls is improperly done, but they insist that this
possibility is unlikely and that underfloor heating is an inherently
disastrous heating method. But I don't see how something that is so
successful and common elsewhere remains so successful if that is the
case. I'm tired of defending the choice we made with the heating :-(

Anybody have ideas on the possible sources of bad experiences/high
running costs with underfloor heating?

In this months Selfbuild and Design mag there is an article on heating
systems by an eco expert. Underfloor heating was ruled out in poorly
insulted houses (which may be the case in Ireland) and only deemed suitable
in homes with, or just above, current building regs insulation levels. High
insulation levels were better suited to forced air heat recovery ventilation
systems.

The design of UFH has to be right, with no cold spots in the floors, "high"
insulation under the floors and "very" good control. A condensing boiler is
now virtually mandatory for economy. If all points are not right then it
may be a disaster.






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