Don’t be underwhelmed by underfloor heating – try adding a wood burner

Underfloor heating has become the heating choice for most individual new build homes

If you are considering your own grand design or buying a new property with underfloor heating, it might be worth combining this with a wood burner. A stove will give you fast radiant heat and creates a beautiful focal point in your main living area.

Underfloor heating has become the heating choice for most individual new build homes. It is equally popular with self-builders and renovators and for good reason. Underfloor heating gives a level of ambient comfort, efficiency and extra wall space.

It works by effectively turning the entire floor area into a radiator, via warm water pipes (wet UFH) or electric mats concealed within the floor structure. Warm water pipes are typically embedded within a screed. But there are other methods of installation, particularly for renovators.

Check the reaction time

A new efficient air source heat pump, connected to an underfloor system, is a wonderful green way to heat a new house. The resulting gentle heat, due to the floor’s large surface area, rises steadily upwards and there are no cold spots or draughts. So, this makes for a very comfortable environment. However, with a sudden drop in outside temperature it can take hours for the system to react and bring the house back up to temperature.

This is where the wood burner comes in

One way around this is to run the system at a constant lower temperature of say 15 - 18 degrees C to provide the gentle background temperature and install a wonderful wood burner. This can quickly raise the temperature with its beautiful radiant heat. With modern wood burners this can also be an incredibly stylish feature in your living room.

Highlight Heating

A modern wood burning stove can be the highlight of your home. It adds fossil free heat, and makes a wonderful feature with so many amazing designs now available from stove makers like Contura.

Modern wood burners are so easy to light, they get hot quickly and the glass stays clean. The clean door means you have a lovely clear view of the flames. Someone recently told us that watching the fire is also good for our mental health. But, who doesn’t like watching a fire? We might have grand designs on a modern home, but like our ancestors we still like the comfort of our cave.

To find the right stove for your home, give us a call on 01237 420904 or call into our showroom in Bideford.