Home/System Guide
Underfloor Heating Guide for London Homes
Underfloor heating comes up most often during a kitchen extension, a loft conversion, or a full renovation — moments when a floor is already being touched, making it the natural point to add it. This guide covers what actually goes into an installation and where it fits alongside your existing radiators.
Quick answer
Wet underfloor heating circulates warm water through pipework beneath the floor, connected to your existing central heating via a manifold. It suits kitchen extensions, renovations and rooms with tiled or stone floors particularly well.
The distinction that matters most: wet systems (which tie into your central heating) versus electric mat systems (which run on their own circuit). We install wet systems, and this guide focuses on those.
Screed systems vs. retrofit panels
A new-build extension or full renovation usually takes a proper screed system: pipework laid to a design spacing, then covered in a screed floor. This gives the best thermal performance but requires the floor build-up from scratch.
For an existing floor where lifting to subfloor level isn't practical, low-profile retrofit panels sit above the existing structure with a much smaller height increase — the trade-off is a marginally faster response time to work with a slightly higher build-up in some cases.
How it connects to your existing system
Underfloor heating runs at a lower flow temperature than radiators. A manifold sits between your main system and the underfloor pipework, blending the temperature down and allowing the underfloor zone to be controlled independently of the rest of the house.
This means adding underfloor heating to one room does not require converting the whole house — your existing radiators in other rooms continue to run exactly as before.
What to expect from installation
A survey confirms floor build-up, insulation and the right system type for the space. Pipework is laid to design spacing, connected to a correctly sized manifold, pressure tested, then covered. The system is commissioned and zoned before handover, with heat-up performance checked.
Underfloor heating and smart zoning
Unlike a radiator which heats and cools rapidly, underfloor heating operates on a principle of thermal inertia. The embedded pipes warm the entire floor mass—be it screed, timber, or retrofit panels—which then slowly releases heat into the room. This inherent delay between activation and the room reaching a comfortable temperature means that an on-demand or reactive approach, common with radiator systems, is ineffective. Instead, success relies on careful forward planning through scheduling, ensuring the system is instructed to begin its long heat-up cycle well before the space is needed.
This is where intelligent zoning becomes essential. Each underfloor heating loop, controlled by a manifold, is typically managed by its own zone thermostat. This allows different areas of the home, like a living room or a master bedroom, to follow independent schedules based on occupancy patterns. Crucially, these underfloor zones integrate with a broader smart home heating ecosystem. Your main smart thermostat or app-based control hub can orchestrate both the fast-response radiator zones and the slow-response underfloor zones, creating a cohesive and efficient whole-home schedule. The system ensures the underfloor heating is activated hours in advance, so the room is perfectly tempered at the start of its scheduled period, while other zones can respond more dynamically.
The key is to set the underfloor heating schedule to anticipate use. For example, a kitchen zone might begin its warm-up cycle in the early morning to provide comfort for breakfast, while a lounge zone could start its cycle mid-afternoon to be ready for the evening. This proactive scheduling, managed through smart controls, maximises comfort while preventing energy waste from overheating or running the system unnecessarily. It transforms the system's slow response from a drawback into an advantage, providing a consistent, gentle background heat that eliminates the temperature spikes and drops associated with traditional systems.
Fixed quote before we start
Every job is priced after a proper survey — not an open-ended day rate that climbs while someone guesses.
Whole system, not one part
Radiators, pipework, controls and balance are assessed together, so the fix addresses the actual cause, not just the symptom.
Any boiler brand
This work is independent of who made your boiler — we work with the system, not a specific manufacturer.
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Frequently asked questions
Is underfloor heating more expensive to run than radiators?
It typically runs at a lower flow temperature than radiators for the same comfort level, which can mean lower running costs — but the actual figure depends on insulation, floor covering and system design, so we won't quote a blanket percentage without knowing the specifics.
Can underfloor heating go under any floor finish?
Tile and stone are the best performers, transferring heat efficiently. Engineered wood generally works well; solid hardwood and thick carpet with underlay insulate against the heat more, reducing efficiency without necessarily ruling it out.
How long before a room warms up with underfloor heating?
Slower than a radiator — often an hour or more from cold, because the whole floor mass has to warm rather than a single metal panel. This is why scheduling ahead of when a room is used matters more with underfloor heating.
Does underfloor heating need its own thermostat?
Yes, typically a separate zone thermostat controlling the manifold valve for that area — this is part of what makes it possible to run alongside your existing radiators without converting the whole house.
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