How does underfloor heating work?

How does an Underfloor Heating System Work ?

For wet systems, pipes are buried in screed, or run underneath the floor surface. Wet underfloor heating systems operate by heat transferring from the water passing through the pipe directly into the floor. Because the whole area of the floor is warm, it heats the room more evenly.

Unlike radiators, underfloor heating systems do not need to run at high temperatures. Heat imparted to the floor is released across a large area rather than the relatively small and focussed area of a radiator. As such,  UFH systems do not need to operate at such high temperatures.

Typically, the temperature of the water in an underfloor heating system pipe is 45 – 65^oC (compare this to approximately 80^oC flow and surface temperature of a radiator system) warming the floor to a temperature of 25 – 28^oC, which is comfortable to walk on.

 For Dry Systems, the principle is the same. The difference is that instead of imparting heat from water passing through a pipe, you use an electric heating element as the heat source.