Underfloor heating is a very attractive addition to make to your home. With heat rising from the floor instead of being circulated by radiators, you'll never get cold feet or feel chilly in the morning. One of the most vital choices you'll have to make after deciding on underfloor heating is whether you want use electricity or water.
Electric underfloor heating uses a network of wires, with heating mats to cover larger areas and individual wires to get into smaller or more awkward ones. Water-based systems use a network of pipes.
Here are just a few reasons why you should opt for electric heating.
Easier Installation
Probably the most compelling reason to go for an electric underfloor heating system is that installation is a lot easier and more cost-effective. Electric wires are extremely thin and very simple to lay down, so you'll find installing them doesn't take too much time. A qualified electrician should be able to take care of the job for you far faster than a plumber could ever install a water-based system, and they should present a much smaller bill when the work is completed.
No Need to Raise the Floors
If you're building a house from scratch, it might make more sense to use a water-based underfloor heating system. However, most people will be renovating an existing property, which makes electric underfloor heating a better choice. This is because pipes are a lot thicker than wires. As such, the flooring often needs to be slightly raised to accommodate a water-based system. As mentioned above, electric wires are extremely thin, so you'll almost certainly be able to move ahead without changing the height of floors, again saving yourself considerable effort and expense.
Less Problematic Maintenance
Though rare, any underfloor heating system can develop problems. The difference between electric and water ones is that the latter can cause plenty of damage. Should a wire be damaged, only one section of the flooring will no longer be heated, and nothing too bad will happen because safeguards will be built into the system. Pipes are a different matter. If one of them starts to leak, you'll need to address the problem as quickly as possible, and you'll almost certainly face considerable water damage.
Separate Heating System
You probably already have a boiler supplying hot water to your home's radiators. One thing that people tend to value about electric underfloor heating is that it creates a standalone heating system. If the boiler ever breaks down, you'll still be able to heat the sections of your home that are covered.
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