Hello everyone,
here is the situation: We have moved into a relatively old house that we are now renovating step by step. The house is already livable, as I mentioned, we are already living in it. Now, among other things, the heating system needs to be replaced.
Basically, I prefer a heat pump, but then I would also have to replace the radiators. Underfloor heating would of course be ideal, but since we already live here and it is financially challenging to do everything at once, I would like to install underfloor heating room by room and only gradually connect them later. Is this generally feasible?
Also, I wonder if there are connection systems available to route the pre-installed pipes from the last room back to the heating system?
Thank you for your answers!
here is the situation: We have moved into a relatively old house that we are now renovating step by step. The house is already livable, as I mentioned, we are already living in it. Now, among other things, the heating system needs to be replaced.
Basically, I prefer a heat pump, but then I would also have to replace the radiators. Underfloor heating would of course be ideal, but since we already live here and it is financially challenging to do everything at once, I would like to install underfloor heating room by room and only gradually connect them later. Is this generally feasible?
Also, I wonder if there are connection systems available to route the pre-installed pipes from the last room back to the heating system?
Thank you for your answers!
Well, welcome to the club. That’s exactly what we’re planning as well, just without the old existing heating system and therefore no radiators. Previously, there were night storage heaters installed, and those were the first to go.
We also considered a heat pump but dismissed it due to unpredictable electricity costs. Instead, we installed a heat pump air conditioning unit that can both heat and ventilate, but we didn’t plan to use it as the main heating system. However, it worked wonderfully during the summer...
Back to the topic. Since our renovation budget was small (60,000 euros for a complete renovation), we ultimately chose a pellet boiler with a buffer tank. The total cost was 6,000 euros, including installation and piping (there were no pipes before), and we received a 50% grant from BAFA, which was very helpful.
The underfloor heating was already a bigger problem because we simply couldn’t find anyone willing to install it room by room. We received a few offers where a minimum of 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) had to be done at once, which we couldn’t afford. It’s hard to clear 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) in an occupied house — simply not possible. The maximum area we could manage was 30 sqm (323 sq ft), and no one wanted to take that on.
As a result, we ordered the underfloor heating as a dry construction system (in my opinion, this is the only option in an old building — who wants to pour liters of water into a sealed house anyway?) from selfio and are now installing it ourselves. The connection of the manifold to the buffer tank will be handled by a professional company, ideally the same one that installed the boiler. However, we won’t ask for that until the underfloor heating is installed because, from my experience, it will take quite a while to get the floor fully prepared — we removed the screed, renewed the waterproofing, carried out a sand leveling, laid insulation boards, and then OSB panels. The underfloor heating system plates will go on top of that.
The leak test will also be done by the installation company.
I’m not sure if I’ll manage all this without issues, but after three years of searching for someone to install the underfloor heating, the only options left were to either permanently do without heating and leave the recently installed system unused or install the underfloor heating ourselves, which I have never done before.
Apparently, it’s supposed to be very easy—well, I’ll see. At least it was affordable. For 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft), it cost 1,000 euros for the pump, manifold, fittings, and supply piping (I’m not sure if the piping will all be used later, but we can also use it for the water lines). Then about 2,000 euros for the system plates, piping (aluminum composite, the priciest option in the offer), foil, edge insulation strips (we technically don’t need those, but we bought them anyway), and heat conduction plates.
Additional costs were for the dry screed, which I think was around 15 euros per sqm (1.4 sq ft).
We also considered a heat pump but dismissed it due to unpredictable electricity costs. Instead, we installed a heat pump air conditioning unit that can both heat and ventilate, but we didn’t plan to use it as the main heating system. However, it worked wonderfully during the summer...
Back to the topic. Since our renovation budget was small (60,000 euros for a complete renovation), we ultimately chose a pellet boiler with a buffer tank. The total cost was 6,000 euros, including installation and piping (there were no pipes before), and we received a 50% grant from BAFA, which was very helpful.
The underfloor heating was already a bigger problem because we simply couldn’t find anyone willing to install it room by room. We received a few offers where a minimum of 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) had to be done at once, which we couldn’t afford. It’s hard to clear 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft) in an occupied house — simply not possible. The maximum area we could manage was 30 sqm (323 sq ft), and no one wanted to take that on.
As a result, we ordered the underfloor heating as a dry construction system (in my opinion, this is the only option in an old building — who wants to pour liters of water into a sealed house anyway?) from selfio and are now installing it ourselves. The connection of the manifold to the buffer tank will be handled by a professional company, ideally the same one that installed the boiler. However, we won’t ask for that until the underfloor heating is installed because, from my experience, it will take quite a while to get the floor fully prepared — we removed the screed, renewed the waterproofing, carried out a sand leveling, laid insulation boards, and then OSB panels. The underfloor heating system plates will go on top of that.
The leak test will also be done by the installation company.
I’m not sure if I’ll manage all this without issues, but after three years of searching for someone to install the underfloor heating, the only options left were to either permanently do without heating and leave the recently installed system unused or install the underfloor heating ourselves, which I have never done before.
Apparently, it’s supposed to be very easy—well, I’ll see. At least it was affordable. For 100 sqm (1,076 sq ft), it cost 1,000 euros for the pump, manifold, fittings, and supply piping (I’m not sure if the piping will all be used later, but we can also use it for the water lines). Then about 2,000 euros for the system plates, piping (aluminum composite, the priciest option in the offer), foil, edge insulation strips (we technically don’t need those, but we bought them anyway), and heat conduction plates.
Additional costs were for the dry screed, which I think was around 15 euros per sqm (1.4 sq ft).
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