Many electric underfloor heating companies recommend the use of insulated tile backer boards when installing onto concrete subfloors, but is it really necessary or just an added expense? (at £10-15/m² for insulation board, this is a good question!)
Strictly speaking, the answer is, “It depends on the situation.”

For example, if the concrete subfloor you’re installing onto has insulation below it (50 mm down or so) and you plan to leave the heating on most or all of the day, then you might not need extra insulation. In some cases, the concrete (with insulation below the slab) will act as a heat-sink and will hold quite a bit of heat whilst the heating is off. However, this situation is rare when electric underfloor heating used.

By and large, electric underfloor heating is used as a direct-acting form of heating. That is, it is powered only when you are using the room it is in; not overnight or while you are at work. As such, the quicker the floor heats up, the lower the running costs.

In most situations, insulation board normally pays for itself within 2-3 years as well as providing you with floor-heating that is much more effective and can be ready to go within minutes instead of hours.

This entry was posted on Monday, January 9th, 2006 at 9:35 am and is filed under Installation, Warmup. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.