UFH & insulation boards

[Sean Page]

Just a quick question, what are your thoughts on the pro's and cons of insulation boards? Are they really needed or not?

eg: 10yr old concrete floor..... board or not to board?

I know what the literature says, just curious on the pro's thoughts :lol:

 

[DHTiling]

Sean...

Insulation boards are there so that you do not have to heat the whole slab....

If you have to heat the slab first then the heat transference will take ages and the running costs will be awsome..

By using insulation boards the heat goes no further than them( depending on thickness used) and then the transference of heat is a lot lot quicker and the running costs are cut dramatically as well.

The thicker the insulation the quicker the transfer time within reason and the cheaper running costs....

10mm minimum should be used IMO..

 

[Sean Page]

With you on all that Dave, especially the warm up times.

This question was asked by a customer today, they pointed out that the concrete screed is already on 50mm Celotex insulation and would the extra 10mm really make that much difference to running costs?

 

[DHTiling]

It would yes... because they would have to heat the full 50mm screed before heat transfers to the tiles and continue to heat it all the time it is on..

 

[Diamond Pool Finishers]

its a no brainer really

 

[Sean Page]

yes, but wouldn't this act like a big (huge) storage heater... ie it would also take longer to cool down after the heat was switched off?

I've fitted lots of these kits before, some with, some without boards but it's difficult to compare running costs. Obviously all the manufacturers talk about warm up times to make their products sound more efficient, the retailers talk about ..... but ultimately boost sales.

 

[DHTiling]

It would yes... just like a big radiator..

 

[Sean Page]

I get it that where any kind of void is concerned its a definite "no brainer", but can you see my point with this...... the big radiator may not be ideal, but is there actually anything wrong with it.... does it REALLY add to the running costs significantly or would it even itself out by having shorter "on" times?

As you can guess I was with this customer a fair while :lol:

 

[DHTiling]

Sean... it will increase running costs.. trust me.. but if your customer isn;t sure then just tile it and have great pleasure in telling them so when they ring and tell you the cost of their first bill...:lol:

 

[Sean Page]

thats what I was planning.... gut feeling tells me the costs go up a bit I was just wondering if anyone had any hard evidence

They're looking at the £500 for boards as being somewhat over the top :svengo:

 

[DHTiling]

If you contact Uheat sean.. they can run all the U values past you... but you can only advise and if a customer says nope, then just tile it..