Underfloor Heating Heavy Electric Bill

[eve1974]

Hi hoping someone can advise.
We have a house (electric only no gas) and the usage is more than FIVE times what the national average is for an electric only house if this size.
We tested the meter (it’s fine) and we tested the distribution board (ie turning on / off each breaker switch till we found what was pulling the power)

It is the definitely the underfloor heating (we have it in every room). I spoke to manufacturer who told me that the anticipated usage for our sort and size house etc is 0.14p per hour. Ours is 0.73p per hour !!! The power continues to be pulled even when the room stat is set to heating off mode (tho it does reduce substantially in this mode).

We’ve now turned off all the underfloor heating at the board. But are so cold (it’s our main heating source).

We are at a loss as to why this is happening. We clearly can’t afford this!

What could be the fault? I’ve hear of electricity “leaking “ due to faulty wire etc. But - we have 3 different breaker switches for different parts of the underfloor heating and each is having similar readings so can’t helieve each room could be faulty?


We are 2 people in a 4 bedroom house. We tend to set the floor temp 18c - 21c.

Brand is: warmup Electric underfloor
Stat type: warmup wireless 4ie (or something like that ... I forget the exact name).

[gingejbee]

Presumably, you mean 14p per hour (£0.14) and not 0.14p ?

[Togo]

That is ridiculously expensive. I suspect that the sub floor insulation is not up to spec or that heat is being lost elsewhere (ceilings). Can you heat individual rooms? Why would you heat 4 bedrooms for instance if there are just the two of you?

[eve1974]

Hi yes sorry 73p per hour vs the 14p per hour the manufacturer suggested.

We don’t have all rooms on. Literally about half of the house was set to heating off (but we discovered still pulling some power) and the rooms we do use often were set to 18-21c (average depending on time of day etc). Don’t have very high ceilings. We do have wooden floors in most rooms with tiles in kitchen, utility, dining room.

Could it be wired up wrong? Though surely that would trip the board?

Also why does it continue to pull electricity even when set to heating off ? (It is less electricity but still significant)

[eve1974]

Oh and yes each room can be heated individually as each n every room has a warmup wireless stat

[Old_Geezer]

I'd reckon you need a heating expert to pull up the floor and see where the electricity is being used. Not wired to next door one hopes.

[Togo]

How about checking the usage of each room individually? That may narrow down the problem or identify a part of the circuit that is pulling a load even when off. I agree that there is something amiss. Is this a new build or a newly installed system? If so you should have warranty protection. If not it is obviously worth getting it checked out. Another though..... is there a previous occupant that can verify that the system has operated efficiently if you are new to the house?

[eve1974]

Hmmm was hoping that was not only way but understand it might be ... that will Cost us too much as each n every floor is wooden or tiles :(. I guess we may just have to cope with very little heating this winter (I’m wearing gloves even inside :(

[eve1974]

Good ideas for both Togo —-

[Hymie]

Electricity costs of the order of 15p/kWh – therefore to run a 3kW three bar electric room heater will cost around 50p/hour.

Based on the above, if you are managing to heat a 4 bedroom house for 75p per hour (using electricity) – I’d say you are doing well.

[eve1974]

Hymie when our underfloor heating is turned off at the distribution board our consumption averages about 6p per hour when (obv more if we cooking or washing machine or dishwasher on) when u/floor heating on it shoots up dramaticallt. Manufacturer tech team said for our size / type house they’d expect the u settlor heating to use 14p (average)

[eve1974]

Ps we are both frugal - we are the sort who turn each light off when we leave a room, do not leave things plugged in unless being used etc etc

[Old_Geezer]

You raise a good point. I've not got the figures handy to check expected house heating costs, but maybe the manufacturer was/is trying to sell the system and being optimistic regarding running costs ?

0.73 x 16 = 11.68 if you leave it on all the waking day
x 90 = £1,051 a quarter. No, still seems high to me. Even if you only had it on 8 hours a day it'd be £525; well maybe.
I guess if you only heat 3 rooms it comes down to manageable. Unsure it's near 5 times the average though.

[KARL]

Talking about the cost is really a secondary thing, the primary focus should be on the actual amount of energy (kWh) being consumed to heat your house (charge rates vary considerably). Also, the question is whether you have intermittent heating or continuous heating - comparing continuous heating with national statistics where intermittent heating is the norm will always lead to frustration, your temperature levels are quite possibly different from what the statistics are based on (low levels of average heating in the UK). Finally, how well the house retains the heat is of enormous importance. Underfloor heating through wooden floors is somewhat inefficient (certainly less efficient than, say, with tiled floors) as wood is a mild form of insulation and your heating elements are to a degree insulated from the air above the floors (assuming heaters are below the surface material).