Underfloor heating involves the installation of a system (of either pipes or wires) into the floor. The floor, in essence, becomes the entire radiator, heating the room. It warms the room from the ground up and offers improved comfort levels as well as less demand on your boiler than a traditional radiator system.
How Much Does It Cost To Run underfloor Heating In South Africa?
Generally, you will have the underfloor heating run for roughly 8 hours per day, regulated by a thermostat. The average price of the Kw / hour is around R5. 44 (according to Eskom).
Does underfloor heating use a lot of electricity in South Africa?
It is well known that under-floor heating is a heavy user of electricity. Providing an example of a 300W heating element only costing 0.12cents per hour to run is a gross misrepresentation. Now taking the lower figure, the cost per hour is 12×0. 39 = R4.
Underfloor heating is a great home heating choice to efficiently manage energy usage and enjoy a better standard of overall comfort. DID YOU KNOW? 1kW of electric floor heating will be more efficient and cheaper to run than a 1 kW conventional heater, due to the even spread of radiant heat over the floor surface.
Underfloor heating will always cost a little more if you use it in short bursts, because it will need to heat up from cold every time, so you may find it more efficient to keep your heating on for longer periods of time at a set level.
The cost of this will depend on whether you have a cheap gas supplier. The disadvantage to choosing a water-based underfloor heating system is that pipes are a lot more difficult to install than electric wiring. This means that installation costs are often a lot higher for these types of underfloor heating systems.
The best idea to maximize the results of your heating system is to have 2 “ON” times with a comfortable temperature and 2 “Of” times with setback temperatures which is normally 4°c lower than your comfort temperature.
For an efficient system and quick response times, set your underfloor heating temperature to 16°C in “off” periods. This will result in a quicker warm-up time as the heating system needs to supply less energy.
How long will underfloor heating last?
50 years
The running costs are generally far lower for UFH than radiators. It’s worth noting too that underfloor heating systems have a lifespan of 50 years plus, while the average radiator will only last between 8-12 years before becoming inefficient.
What temperature should my underfloor heating be set at?
Underfloor Heating is often left on for long periods to provide background warmth, you may choose a temperature setting of 16-27 degrees Celsius (60-80 degrees Fahrenheit) for home heating, depending on the room.
This could rise to a max of 32 degrees Celsius (90 degrees Fahrenheit) for fast warming.