Graham Wilson wrote:

On Wed, 25 Aug 2004 13:35:53 +0100, "Jenny Brooks" invalid@please
wrote:



You will need rads I am sure unless the rooms are tiny. Wickes / screwfix
standard kits only make the tiles warm to the feet and not much else. Don't
forget the heat has to pass through the floor tiles / covering before the
room can be heated.


I used to work in an office that had electric underfloor heating. It
was a pain.

It would take 3 days to reach temperature and the same time to cool
down.

Either the staff would switch on the electric blow heaters or have the
windows open trying to cool down.


My first adventures in controlling mine resulted in similar effects. She
would 'turn it up' because it was cold, and 'open the windows' because
it was hot.

The last office I worked in (radiators) suffered from the same thing,
because it appears that the majority of people do NOT understand what a
thermostat is.

They turn it up because they are cold, and even more up because they are
still cold 5 minutes later, as if it were a gas fire. And open the
windows as if it were a hot day.

Once statted correctly - about 22 degrees - my UFH stabilizes after
about 5 hours. The floor ranges from cool to quite warm depending on the
outside temperature, and the mass of it stabilizes winter temperatures
very well as the sun goes up and down etc.

Because of the long warm up period, if I time it at all (spring autumn)
I tend to put it on a couple of hours before sunset, and run till
midnight. In winter its 24x7. Its less innefficient than you might
expect, because bedrooms above it need far less heating anyway.



Graham