The Future of Heating

The 2025 ban on gas boilers in new builds has opened up a new conversation around how we might heat our homes and the new building regulations 55˚C flow temperature limit on heating systems has certainly changed the way we think about the future.

Using underfloor heating can prove to be more energy effective in heating a room – whereby a large radiant floor surface area heats the space above it – than using convected heat provided by radiators which draws cold air across the floor before heating it. Using underfloor heating also enables designers to configure rooms to embrace features including floor-to-ceiling windows, allowing more light to flood into an internal space.

How underfloor heating works

By making the floor the warmest part of the room air cools as it rises, giving occupants heat where it is needed. This is also better for the environment since heat is not wasted through being lost from a building’s roof.

Underfloor heating works by circulating warm water through a series of continuous loops that are fitted underneath a floor, creating a large radiant surface that heats the room from the floor upwards. This radiant form of heating is more comfortable than the convected heat provided by radiators which draws cold air across the floor before heating it and then convects the warm air upwards towards the ceiling.

Underfloor heating v radiators

Heat Pumps and UFH - The perfect combination for efficiency

Heat pump efficiency is measured by its Coefficient of Performance (CoP), which shows how efficiently the ground and air source heat pump systems can heat your home under the best possible conditions. Using this scale, air source heat pump efficiency can be as high as 4, whereas ground source heat pumps can reach up to 5. This means that for every unit of electricity you put in, the heat pumps have the potential to produce 4 and 5 units of heat respectively.

Switching to a direct electricity source is unlikely to lead to significant efficiencies, since some systems offer less output than input. An air source heat pump combined with an underfloor heating system will result in every 1kWh of electricity required producing a further 4 kWh (4.0 + coefficient of performance) of energy – which means it is 400% efficient.

There are several reasons why underfloor heating works more efficiently with renewable energy technology than radiators do.

First, heat is extracted from the external ambient air and utilised through the heat pump to warm the property. Even in the depths of winter there is enough heat outside for a heat pump to turn into energy, total absence of heat energy (0 Kelvin) is – 273°C!!!

Underfloor heating covers a greater surface area and can therefore run at lower temperatures – between 35-55°C rather than 75°C. The demand underfloor heating places on energy sources is therefore significantly less, making them ideal for use with heat pumps.

The modern heat pump, along with the low water temperature requirement of underfloor heating makes them a perfect combination for an energy efficient and cost effective heating system.

When calculating room heat loss for Underfloor Heating systems: CIBSE Underfloor Heating and Design Installation Guide states “Floor heating systems work differently because more than 50% of floor heat emission is in the form of radiant transfer, which heats bodies and internal fabric without warming the air. This heat exchange increases the room’s mean radiant temperature and permits a lower room air temperature to be used. Underfloor heating therefore will be more efficient than even low temperature radiators that work by heating the air.

WMS offer a CPD on ‘The Future of Heating – Low Temperature Systems and Part L Updates’. If you wish to book this CPD please email Mark.L@wms-uk.com

Georgina Burnett, aka The Home Genie, discusses the benefits of having underfloor heating over radiators.

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