Electric UFH or Using Air Con to heat?

[lb00]

Hi all,

 

we've recently purchased a flat in London and are about to renovate it. The flat is 72 sqm, two beds two baths, lounge/kitchen and a small hallway. I am attaching a plan.

 

There is no gas. Hot water is provided through a Megaflo cylinder. Insulation is alright.

 

In terms of heating needs, my brother and I will be living there and are at work Mon-Fri during daytime. However my family will be visiting often and in such cases the house will have to be warm throughout the day.

 

Heating wise, we have the following options:

1. Electric UFH: among the works we will also change the flooring so could be a good time to put electric UFH. We like the idea and the builder is also pushing for this option. Yet I have heard it's very expensive to operate. I struggle however to get a sense of how expensive. If we were to fit it throughout but for the bathrooms, how much would it be per day?
2. Air-to-Air system: in the flat there already is a ducted air con system which is a Mitsubishi Mr Slim installed in 2002. There is an A2A external unit on the balcony and air vents in the lounge and 2 bedrooms. It's still working however is obsolete and I guess noisier than the current systems. The cheaper option could be just to make the current system smart through a thermostat? Or the other option would be to put a new system in place of the old one using the same air ducts and pipes. See pics attached.
3. Electric Storage heaters: 3 dimplex quantums, one in lounge and one in each bedroom.

 

We would prefer the UFH in principle as the warm feel coming from the flooring is more attractive but also don't want to spend a fortune to heat up the house. 

What would you suggest?

 

Thank you!

[JohnMo]

Running cost of electric UFH will be pretty much 4x as much as the A2A.

 

Do some work on the A2A replace if needed. All the hard work had been done it's all ducted etc.

 

3. Storage heater, you would normally have a storage heater in bedrooms?

[SoliD]

Definitely the AC, also should lower humidity as it cycles the air, so will feel warmer in theory.

[lb00]

54 minutes ago, JohnMo said:

Running cost of electric UFH will be pretty much 4x as much as the A2A.

 

Do some work on the A2A replace if needed. All the hard work had been done it's all ducted etc.

 

3. Storage heater, you would normally have a storage heater in bedrooms?

 

Can you give me a rough estimate of how much it'd be to replace with a new system? I guess it'd just be the cost of new units plus replacing them given that as you say it's all ducted?

 

47 minutes ago, SoliD said:

Definitely the AC, also should lower humidity as it cycles the air, so will feel warmer in theory.

 

Do you think it'd be noisy at night? 

Also I understand best way to make the AC work would be with a smart thermostat that switches it on just before we get home in the evening and automatically in the morning? Or a normal thermostat would be enough?

 

Thank you.

[SoliD]

On 21/10/2024 at 14:25, lb00 said:

 

Do you think it'd be noisy at night? 

Also I understand best way to make the AC work would be with a smart thermostat that switches it on just before we get home in the evening and automatically in the morning? Or a normal thermostat would be enough?

 

Thank you.

I run our AC all day for 3-4 months a year in the summer and barely notice it as it goes on tickover flow, but this is from the rounded ceiling mounted vents. 

 

Most units will come with their own app now negating the need for a separate smart thermostat. Rather than replacing if it still works, maybe get it cleaned up and serviced and see how it performs, a new system pays for a lot of electricity.

Edited October 24 by SoliD