For building type people

  • Thread starter La damnee elle la licorne
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elle, i know absolutely nothing about underfloor heating. however, for what you seem to need, i don't see why the fan heater wouldn't work for you. unless you plan on changing the way you use the space, it's a fast/easy/relatively inexpensive option. just make sure all wiring is well out of the way of curious pets.
 
No, in the UK.

I don't recall us having any heating when we lived near Florida. ( I was young though).

Butters, it wasn't a bad guess.:).

Yeah, I'm not sure how you guys do things...I'm used to building for temp ranges of -90 to -40...you barely get to -32.

Thing is, concrete sweats so you need to either just lay stone in mortar or put down a vapor barrier and then some insulation, styrofoam and a wood floor on that.
But you can skip the insulation and the wood will help a lot. Big thing is the vapour barrier because you can't put wood right on concrete
 
elle, i know absolutely nothing about underfloor heating. however, for what you seem to need, i don't see why the fan heater wouldn't work for you. unless you plan on changing the way you use the space, it's a fast/easy/relatively inexpensive option. just make sure all wiring is well out of the way of curious pets.



The walls prolly aren't insulated so why heat the floor

edit
yeah, a quick electric heater to heat the air for the few times you want it warm there
 
The walls prolly aren't insulated so why heat the floor

edit
yeah, a quick electric heater to heat the air for the few times you want it warm there
when elle said an 'under unit' fan heater, i was thinking she meant one that attaches beneath or stands freely beneath a work top of one of her storage units. she plans on laying a floor anyway, since they've left a gap for one, just wasn't sure abaout the added expense/issues related to underfloor heating. with a fan heater she can warm the space well enough in short periods.

if it's open to the rest of the house and not a closed off space, then perhaps another form would work better. it's maybe hard for some of you guys to visualise the small spaces some british housing affords :D
 
This is what I think.

My understanding is underfloor works best under solid floors at least when on low all the time, so the flooring heats up too and acts as a storage heater and I cannot see that is sensible in a utility room, where one does not sit down to take tea but it rather active, and the dogs dry very quickly ( very light coated).

There is also a vent Axia in this small room. To give an idea of heat needs, when the tumble dryer is on, the room is very adequately warm. But the tumble dryer is on very rarely, only when there is no way I can get my washing dry outside ( and I have a covered loggia where I can dry in the rain unless the wind is from the south. ). The adjacent kitchen is also warm ( and will have underfloor heating)
no idea if it's a poor solution or not, but i'm sure i've seen polystyrene sheets (maybe 1.5-2'' thick) used as underflooring - how long it lasts, how viable it is, no idea at all. i can see it'd work as an insulation barrier but if it breaks down over the course of a few years? *as i said, not a clue, sorry!*
 
My utility room here is smaller than my childhood wardrobes were there! And my house is 'not small' in uk terms.

from what you've posted of your home, i didn't imagine it so, elle; utility rooms, though, can be pretty small. yours is probably larger than my kitchen :D
 
You could throw in an underfloor warming mat beneath whatever tile you install. I have that in my bathrooms and my bedroom now. It heats fairly quickly and you'd just need to either hire someone who can add the wiring to a wall unit or do it yourselves. The thermostats can either be complicated or simple, you can run them all the time or just flip a switch when you want the warmth at your feet.

The mats have a lot of flexibility on placement so if you know you are going to be standing in one spot or you don't want to bother heating directly next to the outside door you don't have to place a mat there.
 
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