I am looking to install underfloor heating in my conservatory?

Question

I have been informed that I need to use extra insulation under my electric underfloor heating. I already have polystyrene insulation under the concrete and feel I am being sold something I do not require??

Any help is much appreciated.

Answer 1

i agree with the first two answers, i have been doing a lot of renovating recently and looking at the results of what happened last year when my brother decided to totally renovate my parents house.....he cut a lot of corners and tried to get away with a lot of stuff he thought he might not need, i.e primers for wood, wallpapering with lining paper,etc, the results being the house did look great when he finished, but a year or so down the line, theres a lot that needs doing again. In my experience, if you are going to go to the trouble of spending time and money on doing something big, you may as well spend a little more money on it and go the whole hog, just in case....it'll cost you a lot more in lost heating, high bills, and even more if you end up realising you may have to take the whole thing up and start from scratch.

Answer 2

I'd use insulation, you don't want to waste heat warming up the concrete slab.

Answer 3

Hi Phil,

I have recently installed underfloor heating in both my dining area and the conservatory. The dining area was wooden floor boards but the conservatory area was concrete. Having done many hours of research and calling many companies I decided to opt for insulation boards throughout the 2 areas.

The benefits you get out weigh any doubts I had about whether to insulate or not. The insulation decreases the warm up time and obviously prevents the heating from being transferred to the worms below your home.

So in a nutshell if you can obviously afford to and you have enough floor height - insulate every time. Hope this was of help and I bought all my mats from www.cablewarm.com I chose these guys for their helpfulness and depth of knowledge.

they also have a very good FAQ page of lots of questions relating to electric underfloor heating.