We’ve been following our friends at Enekosystem on Facebook for a little while but one of their posts today made us want to know a little more about their innovative underfloor heating systems.
Underfloor Heating – The Old Way
Underfloor heating is often many homeowners biggest ‘I Wish‘ upgrade to their house. However it’s usually something that people believe needs to be built into the house at original construction (it is in most high-end new builds now) or only when you are going through a complete overhaul of your house – basically nothing short of ripping the whole insides out and starting again.
And that was pretty much true. Previously there were two types of underfloor heating: hot water and electric.
Hot Water Underfloor Heating
Hot water underfloor heating is a series of pipes laid into the floor and connected to your central heating system. This pipes the usual central heating hot water around your floor and heats the floor and the room. On the plus side it is very effective and can completely remove the need for radiators in a room, freeing up wall space and heating a whole room consistently. It’s actually more energy efficient too.
However the negatives are, you not only need to rip up all your floors, but also dig down a few inches to make room for the pipes, insulating material and then a covering layer on top. They are also only suitable for certain flooring types – kitchen and bathroom tiles predominately. They can badly warp hardwood and laminate flooring if the wrong type is used or it is laid incorrectly.
A great plus to a house but a lot of effort.
Electric Underfloor Heating
The cheaper, easier alternative to hot water underfloor heating is electric underfloor heating. You still have to take up the top layer of flooring, but then it is only a thin electrical element that is laid down beneath the floor.
The plus side is this type of underfloor heating is far cheaper and unobtrusive to install. However the downside is this will never heat your room. At the very best this is useful for warming bathroom tiles so they are warm under your feet in the cold mornings. But the are not effective at heating rooms and you will still need the usual radiators.
Update: These flooring mats can also be dangerous if improperly installed.
So what’s the alternative?
So you once had two choices – a good but messy and expensive heating system, or a comfort only floor warmer. But now there is a third choice:
The Enekosystem Infrared System
Enekosystem is laid in a similar way to an electric system. It only needs a few millimetres of space under your flooring to be installed, meaning you can have your floorboards or tiles lifted and the system installed in just one day.
But it’s far better than the electric systems. Not only will the infrared heat the floor, it will also heat the room with a consistent heat that is far more efficient than traditional radiator systems. It many not completely eliminate your need for radiators like a hot water underfloor heating system but it will reduce their need and their cost.
It is also far more reactive than traditional hot water systems, meaning it will heat a space far quicker than firing up your boiler and heating your radiators.
We asked Enekosystem about their post on Facebook and they told us that they can fit their underfloor heating to an entire house in just 3 hours!
Fit underfloor heating to an entire house in just 3 hours!
Find Out More About Enekosystem
If you want to know more go to www.enekosystem.ie or why not visit them at the Energy Show at the RDS on the 25th and 26th March.
