Underfloor heating is a great way to keep your home warm and comfortable during the cooler months. However, if you have not had floor heating installed before you might be wondering what the most economical way is to run underfloor heating.
Electric floor heating does provide luxury and efficiency, but there are several steps you can take to ensure you get the most out of your system and the best value for your energy use.
How Much Does It Actually Cost to Run?
Numbers help put “economical” in perspective. Running costs for Hotwire underfloor heating average around 2c per m² per hour. A typical 4-5m² bathroom costs roughly 8-10c an hour to run — about 40c for a full morning of use, less than a takeaway coffee. A larger 40m² living area costs around 80c an hour, or roughly $4 for a 5-hour evening session.
Purchase and installation follow a similar pattern: a bathroom is typically fully installed (including the programmable thermostat) for just under $1,000, while a 40m² living area comes in around $3,000. For comparison, keeping a typical bathroom warm with Hotwire draws around 700 watts — well under half the draw of a typical 1.5kW heat lamp.
Lowering your thermostat by just 2-3°C (many people find 20-21°C as comfortable as the 22-23°C common with traditional heating) can cut running costs by up to 30% compared to standard systems — and homes with underfloor heating already installed tend to be more appealing to buyers, since it’s increasingly seen as a modern, must-have inclusion rather than a luxury extra.
Use our cost calculator for a more detailed, room-by-room estimate, or get in touch for an exact quote.
1. Use a Programmable Thermostat
The best way to ensure you get the most out of your energy costs is to ensure you purchase a fully programmable thermostat. (This sort of Thermostat is included by default in all Hotwire systems)
A programmable Thermostat enables you to plan your heating around your lifestyle. You simply set it to switch on just before you wake up or before you return home from work.
You can even upgrade to a WiFi Thermostat and have complete control over your heating no matter where you are located.
Having a programmable thermostat not only saves energy but makes your life easier, just set and forget.
2. Maintain Consistent Temperatures
If you are working from home or using floor heating during the day, maintain a consistent temperature. Changing the temperature of the heating up and down simply increases the overall costs of running the system.
Most people find that 20 – 21 degrees is perfect to keep your home cozy.
3. Proper Insulation
Ensure that your home is well insulated. This is an obvious one, but any heating system can only do so much. A significant amount of heat can escape through your walls, ceiling, and even the floor.
To ensure your home and heating system is well insulated consider insulation boards under the floor heating.
Good insulation helps retain heat in your home but also helps your heating system to be more responsive. This reduces the heat-up time and increases the overall efficiency of your Under Floor Heating.
4. Utilise Zoned Heating
One of the advantages of floor heating is that you can zone even an open-plan living area. As the heat is transferred into the room from the floor, rather than simply pumping Hot air into the room, it makes it possible to zone larger areas.
For example, if you have a large Kitchen, Dining, and Family room, you could have the kitchen and dining room as one zone and the family area as another. When you are finished with dinner, you can turn the dining and kitchen off and still be warm in the family room.
By focusing the heating on the areas you are using you will reduce the overall running costs.
5. Choose Efficient Flooring Materials
When it comes to floor heating, not all floor surfaces are created equal.
If you want to maximize the efficiency of your floor heating choosing the best floor surface is critical. Whilst surfaces such as floating floors or carpet can be used with floor heating the best flooring is a more solid product such as stone or tiles.
This will allow quick transfer of heat and give you the maximum benefit of your floor heating.
Final Thoughts
To run an underfloor heating in the most economical way does not mean you have to sacrifice comfort.
With the right Thermostat and a few strategic tweaks, you can enjoy your floor heating with the maximum benefit.
If you need any further help you can contact our team and we’d love to help.
Remember at Hotwire we not only provide amazing floor heating systems, but we’ve got more Google Reviews than any of our competitors. So our reputation in the market is second to none.
Contact us to find out how we can help you get Hotwired.
Hotwire; Warm your soul.
Related Reading
- Should Underfloor Heating Be Kept on All the Time?
- Can you use Solar Panels to power your Under Floor Heating system?
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