Underfloor heating, Luton: wet or electric, designed and installed properly.

Wet underfloor heating

Circuits of pipe fed from your boiler or heat pump warm the floor with low-temperature water. The pipe is buried in concrete screed on a ground floor, or recessed into insulation panels on a timber or upper floor. The screed stores the heat and releases it slowly, so a wet system is gentle and even but slow to warm up and cool down. The low flow temperature makes it the most efficient way to heat a home — the main downside is the cost and disruption of the original install.

Output: around 100 W/m² — ample for most UK homes, and it works under nearly any floor finish, year round.

Common faults: after a long period unused, the pump can seize or the actuator (pin) valves stick closed. On a system that also has radiators, a magnetic filter is essential — without it the manifold, blending valve and loops silt up with sludge and block.

Electric underfloor heating

An electric heating mat sits directly under the floor finish, usually under nothing more than a thin self-levelling compound — so it’s fast, cheap and easy to install. Running costs are roughly three to four times a wet system, so it’s mostly used where there’s no gas, or just in bathrooms and kitchens. It can be the only heat source for a small flat, though a large house would need a three-phase supply. It’s reliable and effectively maintenance-free.

Output: from 100 up to 200 W/m².

Common faults: the controller can fail to switch on or off, the floor or air sensor can read incorrectly, or the mat itself can be damaged — by a poor install, or by a heavy object dropped on the floor.

Sized to the room

I survey the property, carry out a heat-loss calculation and design the most efficient layout for your floors and finishes — including how it pairs with the heat source.

Fitted and commissioned

I arrive with the system and equipment, install it to the design, wire in the controls, then test and balance it and walk you through how it runs before I leave.

Catch problems early

Regular checks find circulation issues and component wear before they become failures — pump, actuators, blending valve and filter on a wet system; controller and sensors on an electric one. Less downtime, longer life.

Diagnosed, not guessed

Wet or electric, I diagnose the actual fault — including thermal imaging to see which loops are flowing and which aren’t through the floor — and fix it, rather than tearing up flooring on a hunch. A blocked wet system usually wants a powerflush and a filter fitted.