Can You Really Cut Your Heating Bills & Save Money?

Underfloor Heating Playlist
• Underfloor Heating
Mighton weatherstripping, staff and parting bead
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[@steve6375]

I have a multifuel coal/wood fire in living room for many years. One evening I filled it up with coal but it wouldn't start to burn properly (due to lack of draught even with front door and windows open!). After 3 tries all evening I gave up and went to bed. Was woken up at 3am by a noise - it was the CO detector! The coal had been on a 'slow burn' and due to no draught had filled the room with CO. Opened all windows and raked out the coals. I was very glad I bought the detector - only problem was it was REALLY LOUD and there seemed to be no way to turn it off! I had to cover it with several cushions and go hunting for the manual (you have to stick the supplied pin through a hole in the back). Now I tape the pin to the back of it in case it ever happens again (which it never has).

[@JohnThomas-ey1hx]

I added a weather compensator to my boiler which cost under £100 (BAXI) and my gas usage dropped by 10%. I also added in a smart multi zoned radiator heating control system (Drayton Wiser) and this has cut it down by another 30%. With the cost of energy increasing and seeing 40% it was the 2 best decisions I have made.

[@cho4d]

amazing video roger, you could have been walking around my house for all the problems it shares. really keen on the underfloor heating/floor insulation idea now i know it's an option :)

[@thetessellater9163]

An old house of mine had timber suspended floors, with draughts that sometimes lifted the carpets, but with little beauty on the floorboards. I removed all the skirting, laid flooring grade polystyrene - sealed all round and between, so that no draughts or even an ant could get through anywhere - then laid 22mm chipboard flooring over the top, throughout the whole house. Refit the skirtings, new carpets, etc, and that made a huge difference. I could lay on the floor and within minutes you could feel the reflected warmth. Unconventional, but worked excellently. Secondly, I fitted shelves above the rads, butted up to the curtain level, which made the radiators work far better, creating better distribution of rising warmth and stopped the downdraughts from the windows. Unconventional again, but also very effective.

[@SkillBuilder]

That sounds like my kind of job. I agree with all of it

[@livingladolcevita7318]

Great vid again Roger. Just refurbed my front room with suspended floor. Put celotex between joists and replaced plank floor with 22mm tongue and groove floor panels to get rid of those drafts between planks. Beginning to wish now I had put underfloor heating but maybe later. Also had new double glazed windows fitted as they were over 20 years old. Think I had my monies worth. I run my central heating on a default setting of 16 deg but use radiator thermostats to control each room radiator. Yes I think we need to put more clothes on, we didn't get fat years ago due to using our body fat to keep warm, I remember well going to bed shivering with ice on the inside of windows, happy days. Sorry don't want to make this too long but you mention about exterior wall insulation will need to contact you re this if that's ok

[@jamesmay6895]

Brilliant video, love the walk through format. Roger is an exceptional presenter and his knowledge, experience and practicality is second to none. Put on another jumper! Brilliant, stop walking round in the winter in a T shirt and shorts with the thermostat maxed out. Another great video from Skill Builder.

[@SkillBuilder]

Much appreciated!

[@larryharson510]

It'd be interesting to see the difference between a poor and well insulated house via a thermal imaging camera which are cheap nowadays as an adapter for a smartphone. The general consensus is that heat loss occurs mainly via the roof and windows which is why double glazing, floor/loft insulation via carpets etc is so effective. Even in a well insulated house, the ground floor will always be a few degrees lower than the loft as a consequence of the inevitable temperature gradient.

[@mike-rayner-videos]

nice one .. lots of good tips and advise .. thank you

[@charlesdelanoy]

Great video Roger, enjoyed that one...I think there could be more of these videos going into a bit more depth on some of the points you mentioned. We recently 1. Took out all of our old flooring including the joists. 2. Dug 50 cm below floor height 3. Put in 50 cm of "foam concrete", the specialist stuff we used was approx 400 kg per M3, and then installed floor heating on top of that.....what a difference that makes !!

[@SkillBuilder]

We have a job like that coming up next year.

[@SapioiT]

For the dog door, you could have flaps on both sides, or a textile or flexible plastic on one of the sides (i.e. the inside, in the example in the video), to help insulate the door even more. or the windows, I use roller blinds, in my case they are semi-blackout, meaning that they do let some light through (and I chose them to be orange, for that warm light), which also acts like a second glaze, to help keep the warmth from escaping during the night. They are not airtight, so there is still some loss there, but it's a lot better than having the windows without them. In a pinch, I have seen people use clingwrap with scotch tape (packing tape) to better insulate their windows in the winter, especially for rooms they do not use. I even saw people use scotch/packing tape and aluminium foil (tinfoil) for the rooms they do not use, and even people turning semi-blackout roller blinds into blackout blinds by scotch-taping perforated aluminium foil (aluminium foil in which they mader a few tiny/small holes with a meat mallet, to have more points which are glued to the other surface) to their semi-blackout roller blinds. If you have a lawn or a walkway you can change, or even a bit of land or a few walls, you can use metal sheets as mirrors which to reflect more sunlight onto the house in the winter. You can use fresnel mirrors, instead of curved mirrors, to save up on space. Fresnel mirrors are what could be called compound mirrors, using multiple smaller mirrors to get a similar effect to a bigger window, at the price of optical precision (i.e. not usable for getting a good mirror image). Many people install them on the walls, angled instead of parallel, to concentrate sunlight on the house in winter, and on the roof (with the solar water heater) in the summer.

[@Beowolf1uk]

Lots of good advice, I have helped a number of people save money in listed buildings with some of these tips. Plus I used stormguard glazing film on one property, magnaglaze perspex secondary glazing on sash windows, sempatap for solid walls that can't have external wall insulation, thermal lining for curtains and radiator reflector panels and shelves.

[@SkillBuilder]

Great tips! we should look at those very soon

[@ronmatthews1738]

Thick heavy curtains on windows and doors stop draughts and cut convection heat loss. Available cheaply from charity shops, boot sales and general auctions.

[@MrJimjam2011]

Top advice Roger. Good to get some impartial advice form someone who isn't trying to sell something. Now there's a change. My ex mother in law once asked me to visit while a supposed independent surveyor called to advise her on damp patches on her ground floor walls and he tried to sell her a cellar tanking system.

[@m6j159]

Fantastic video, Roger, thank you. Loads of brilliant tips - especially the temperature setting for a condensing boiler. I need to dial mine back. Another Skill Builder smash. Keep up the good work. Thank you👍👍👍

[@clarkfinlay78]

For zonal heating on the boiler we use a smart thermostat with smart trvs they cost but it allows individual rooms to call for heat rather than all the rooms because the central wall thermostat calls for it. This allows the unused rooms to be switched to low during the day and heat only as and when needed.

[@davidramsay6142]

I used to do the shrinking plastic double glazing trick in Edinburgh in my student days. Good advice it really works.

[@bartroberts1514]

It is amazing to see the difference in standards between UK heating and cooling attitudes and practices and those elsewhere. It's like the whole purpose of designing homes in the UK was to make residents uncomfortable and keep them poor, until lately. Some great points, but also so much opportunity for better. Any home could be made NetZero, even in the UK. With all that heat flowing to those high ceilings and into the insulated attic, there's some point to using the attic space as a heat reservoir for a hot water heat pump. Remove the moisture from the attic air, recirculate that heat, extend the life of the structure. Insulate the roof, not the ceiling, and use a switchable vent so your hot water heat pump can cool your living spaces on those formerly infrequent heatwaves. Of course ground source has advantages, where feasible.

[@johnholkham2420]

Tip Rodger if you have a Condensing Boiler check the return temperature ie the temperature of the water returning to the boiler. My condensing Boiler was a replacement for an older boiler. Boiler control on the front set the output of heating water to 75deg so the return was at about 55 to 57 deg ie a 20 deg drop. At this return temperature to boiler hardly condenses , by reducing boiler output to 60 deg in autumn the return temperature back to boiler is 40deg and you get maximum condensing which could increase efficiency by 5 to 10 %. The boiler will run longer but at a lower burn rate of reduced gas consumption . In the winter I found I needed to increase output temperature to 65deg if really cold. I only run heating in morning for 2 hours and evening for say 4-5 hours , but if you run your heating all day this reduction in output will save quite a lot of gas and save damage to boiler caused by cycling were boiler shuts down due to a high return temperature. NONE of this applies if your boiler is NOT a condensing boiler as with these the return temperature needs to be above the condensing due point of 55 deg. Brought a cheap temperature meter and taped to return pipe to monitor temperature of return water. You can also reduce the hot water temperature on the boiler if a combination boiler but don’t go below say 50 deg for safety.

[@jonathancollard3710]

I have had two old Georgian houses with sash windows and in both have had them refurbished and insulated beads added using proper company as invariably new cills were need in areas, plus for Listed status we needed to use like for like glass panes. (£70 per pane vests about £5 🙁). Did it make a massive saving on heating?, well a little I guess but just to able to open the sashes was nice together with new safety locked was definitely a bonus. Not hearing them rattling when it’s windy was a joy. Interestedly we have also added plantation shutters (originals painted and screwed into oblivion) and these have worked as additional draft proof. The temperature differential from in between the gap is upwards of 5’c to 7’c overnight and thus positive

[@olly7673]

Thank you for the useful advice Roger. I can highly recommend the Stormguard secondary glazing film. It is as cheap as chips and I used it on single glazed windows for a few years before we got our kitchen extension and the effect was very noticeable. We had it over the winter months and took it off for the summer to get a flow of air through and it was so cheap, I redid it the following winter.

[@SkillBuilder]

I will check it out

[@theoddjobcentre6686]

@@SkillBuilder our air source is off at the fusebox best way to save the electric

[@raducristiandumitrescu1806]

Like to see real professional guy explaining important things to people.Great and good job, thx a lot for tips !

[@CP-du3ci]

Hi Roger, you haven't mention the programmable radiator valves. I have installed 10 of them in my house and they are programmed to heat the rooms we use when we use them. They aren't cheap (I use Hive) and this is the first winter I have had them in but the house is defiantly more comfortable especially since both my wife and I work from home and our working areas the spare bedrooms and areas we would not occupy normally. It's great to have the bedroom and bathroom heated for an hour before we get up without having to heat the whole house.

[@alext8828]

The best videos come from this channel. Honest.

[@davidallen7540]

Very interesting and educational 👍. I remember being able to pull myself up into a loft, 30 years ago

[@davidramsay6142]

Rockwool is the way to go. I use woven garden fabric stapled to the bottom of the joist which allows water to fall through should you drop water and air can move so no condensation surface. Works a treat stops all drafts and the floor is no longer cold. Great video, very informative and entertaining.

[@SkillBuilder]

Hi David I do the same thing, garden netting is cheap and easy to attach.

[@dennisphoenix1]

You can get programmable thermostatic radiator valves to set the temperature and on and off times for each room as an easier alternative to zone valves and repiping etc

[@gerryquinn5224]

Lovely to hear good advice from someone who knows his onions. Also not interested in making a fast buck but a "How To" fix on the cheap; we'll done Roger, you can work for me any old time.

[@LeoShoSilva]

Brilliant advice and entertaining at the same time Roger,many thanks.Since my wife has started working from home in basement kitchen,i decided to get smart radiator thermostats so when I'm at work I can keep the kitchen at a healthy temperature for her lol..i dial down the rest of the rooms but I'm wondering if it puts a strain on the combi boiler(in Glasgow so it can be non condensing) if too many radiators are turned down low.Main door tenement flat with only kitchen downstairs.

[@7755ian1]

With high ceilings, a ceiling fan running slowly in reverse brings the heat down.

[@DuaneJasper]

Absolutely brilliant thank you. I manage a single glazed rental property and so much of this was helpful

[@MrHenryrolls]

nice video Roger, and you mentioned the best form of insulation right at the end, putting a jumper on!

[@tonylee-UK]

Outstanding upload, thank you.

[@stephenwhite5057]

Most informative. Thank you.

[@brianreynolds9931]

Loads of great info - thanks!

[@wazkayani]

Brilliant video - about to renovate top to bottom so some great tips. I have a Single Brick house with high ceilings so I like the underfloor idea. I was at a house once who had the wet system - got so hot, couldn't sit on the floor and then took an age to reduce temperature. Assume just setting the right temp is key to underfloor wet systems.

[@SkillBuilder]

Yes keep the temperature low.

[@wazkayani]

@@SkillBuilder As easy as 123! Don't fancy renovating mine and I'll even help you make the KZbin videos!

[@normanboyes4983]

Good one Roger - it would be good to cover the ways of improving wall insulation, external and internal, pros/cons/illustrative costs and the different material options

[@jamescrowther1234]

Agreed, would love to see that!

[@topnotchpiperdad]

Yes it would be interesting, especially internal insulation, I’m thinking about myself, it would be good to get a professionals take on it.

[@stephaniehenderson6631]

Yes, I would like to hear about internal insulation and how far you can go with insulation before you get damp or need a system to change the air.

[@MegaWilson82]

This is something I’m sure lots of us are thinking about at the moment so I hope you find the time Roger!

[@BobbyKenny]

You're the man Roger. Love your videos

[@slimytoad1447]

A superb video ,so many of my questions answered

[@twerki78]

I would recommend a system like drayton wiser which effectively allows you to zone off every radiator or room. We allow the unused rooms to fall to 17c and then either manually boost those rooms as they are used or program the system to turn up the temperature at the times required to a comfortable temperature. There are other systems on the market but I've found the Drayton system to be good and well supported. Batteries in the radiator valves need replacing about once every 12 months, 2xAA.

[@dooovde]

I'd be in heaven if my rooms ever reached 17c

[@Martindyna]

Sounds good but I would prefer to have a low voltage power supply off the mains to power all the rad valves. I'm not a fan of everything nowadays being run off of batteries when there's mains power available. Danfoss offer a similar system I think btw that they claim the rad valve batteries require changing only every 2 years.

[@twerki78]

@@Martindyna Batteries are pretty cheap these days. The worse thing is having to go round an replace them. It's not the easiest task. Batteries offer a few benefits. It makes the purchase of the product cheaper, not all radiators have a convenient power supply located close by, you have the option if you wanted of buying a battery saver if you wanted to plug the valve into the mains supply. Running from a set of batteries is possibly cheaper than a plug in PSU. If you assume a standby power consumption of 5 watts over the course of a year at todays electricity prices each valve would cost you £10.51where as 2 GP Cell AA batteries will set you back 70p. I say replace the batteries annually because that's from my real world experience. It all depends how often the valve is actuated. The rooms that remain unoccupied and therefore cooler the batteries last a lot longer as they don't call for heat as frequently where as our drying cupboard with dehumidifier is kept at 20c 24/7 and is activated more frequently when the dehumidifier isn't running. The temperature in the cupboard is kept up so to avoid condensation that could otherwise form on cold surfaces.

[@michaelcripwell1724]

Plenty of good advice, cheers roger.

[@pumpkinhead456]

Good practical advice that considers how people actually use their homes. I like the jumper option the best 😁

[@karldarby3852]

Great video could you do a video on pellet stoves for heating/ hot water just about to buy a house on bottled lpg and looking at alternatives . Cheers

[@philipneil2898]

Excellent Vid Roger thanks

[@johnbidgood8903]

Excellent information thank you regards john

[@hookedonwood5830]

One trick to adjust thermostatic valves - on a day where you find the house has the perfect temperature go down close to the valves so you can hear even slight hiss from water flow at the valve. adjust to where it just open up and then a slight turn back to close the valve. this way you then balance out all your valves and they should start warming up the room when ever temperature get below. and doing this to all radiators will also get them even and you will get better efficiency in the system - relying on the printed scale is not the same as the final temperature in the room.

[@Martindyna]

Great tip. Another tip is to clean the cobwebs / dust from the internal fins of e.g. a double radiator so that it can convect effectively. It seems that not many people service the rads in this way every one or two years.

[@rodgerq]

Double glazing seals can also be replaced for people who have it and notice drafts. I've just done mine, 20 odd your old wooden windows, can't afford to replace them just now so spent 100 quid on the correct profile seal and replaced them. Made a substantial difference, a couple of the windows were quite bad.

[@SkillBuilder]

Good tip, we should look at that

[@evanleebodies]

Did my doors too, its easier to do than people think.

[@iubiredivina2493]

this man is humble, hardworking and trustworthy

[@johnf3326]

Have you looked at individual programmable radiator valves? We have iTemp Terriers on all but the living room rad as the thermostat is in there since we are in there most of the time. Curtains above rads? Not great. Put a shelf over the rad to stop most of the heat going behind the curtains. I insulate both flow and return pipes right up to the rads and the hot water pipes to taps

[@keshatton2334]

Shutters are great, the FRENCH of course have windows that open inwards in most houses. You see the slatted shutters on a lot of french houses which keep air coming in during the warmer months but stop too much direct sun, so the house is cool. In winter shutter keep the heat in as you say. You dont see many window cleaners in France! Another great video.

[@comtaar2245]

Such a different climate. So much drier than the UK or the Netherlands. You’re lucky in the UK that your ground is drier than in the Netherlands.

[@christophersimpson5683]

Hi Roger brilliant video again, what is the best way to insulate a concrete kitchen floor. Thanks

[@replevideo6096]

Those zone valves look like the old solenoid operated type. I replaced mine some time ago with motor on/motor off valves which don't use electricity all the time they are open. They must have saved a reasonable amount over the 10 years they have been in place, and it was a fairly simple swap once I figured out where to connect the wires. Best to do it when the system is being drained down for some other reason.

[@rajivvashm6046]

super great tips.... work through them one by one... :)

[@RI-uv3lm]

Great video. 👍 on the money! 👏👏

[@gerryquinn5224]

Central heating...PAH! In our flat in the 60's, we had a one bar electric fire in the living room; that's it. My mum would light two gas rings on to take the chill off the kitchen before my brother and I would run to (from bed) to get dressed for school. We had old wonky "Crittal" windows and in the winter, the snow would blow in through the gaps and settle on the tiled cill (inside), it didn't melt either because it was so cold in our bedroom...aah, the good ol' days? Right, where's that bloody thermostat?

[@SkillBuilder]

Did you get those lovely ice patterns on the glass, I used to love those.

[@gerryquinn5224]

@@SkillBuilder that's right... you could draw a picture with your finger as the ice melted with your fingers warmth; t'riffic eh? Apart from frostbite, chilblains, colds and almost constant Bronchitis, it never did us any harm 🤣🤣🤣.

[@nickb7040]

I second underfloor heating its amazing, however I'd do what I did and strip the rafters out, type 1 and concrete the floors, 100mm pir screed and underfloor ftw. Strongly disagree with the single glazing. We had a very small window in the bathroom which I blocked out with pir as a temporary measure. difference is night and day. it was literally like walking outside in there and now it's like the rest of the house. lol it was that bad in there condensation was dripping off the walls and now is as dry as a bone plus way hotter.

[@richardbrown1189]

Some excellent advice as ever.

[@matthewmctaff2022]

Excellent video, 40 years in the trade haven’t seen a better presentation. Only one anomaly, Gap between panes of glass needs to be smaller not larger for better heat insulation. A larger gap

[@greetb9330]

Excellent video Roger and very informative. The UK is going to be in for a real shock unless we switch on quickly to "acceptable" house heating methods, the new innovations are going to be expensive and inefficient, woolly jumper sales are going to rocket! We enjoy your posts and style greatly, thanks all the best.

[@Somewhere-In-AZ]

High ceilings in Arizona make sense. It gets up to 115° F in summer. In winter we use ceiling fans to push the warm air down.

[@MrFlatroofer]

Good presentation.

[@epicsdrummer2010]

There are 2 kinds of radiant floor slabs I am aware; low mass concrete slab over a wood floor system and high mass concrete usually slab on grade. Each has advantages and disadvantages. Perhaps you could discuss these.

[@matthewwillmore]

Hi Roger, in this video you talk about installing underfloor heating on the underside of a raised floor joist. Can you advise the products that you would use to do this and the method if the product does not describe it itself?

[@shaymiah]

Some great tips. I have my new boiler set at 80 degrees for the radiators. Soon as I wake up it's getting turned down to 60 and see how we get on. Also I never knew under floor heating can be done through a gas boiler. Will be checking prices for installation. Any tips in my research or anything in my comment you can add to please?

[@Kottesque]

Love your videos Roger..what's your opinion on infra red heating panels as an alternative to conventional heating (radiators etc.)?

[@amazing451]

Great tips there Roger, 👍👍could you just explain what the difference is between a condensing boiler and combi compared, to a conventional one.

[@SkillBuilder]

A modern combi will be condensing. The condensing or high efficiciency bolier catches condensate and sends it to a drain. It can be a combi or a heat only boiler.

[@theaudioman4446]

Hi thank you for the excellent video, what are your thoughts on thermal paint for making a house efficient? Or Wallrock Thermal Liner, any thoughts? Thanks very much again!

[@jeremyforbes7741]

Thank You :) 💙🌼

[@paulsmith2453]

Hi Roger, another great video to prompt discussion and pick up tips from all the trades. On loft insulation worth mentioning insulation over spotlights and cables. Many installers just lay across cables but my understanding is that the electrical Regs do not recommend the practice? Any thoughts on this one? Keep up the good work.

[@SkillBuilder]

Hi Paul With the growing number of low wattage LED lights the cables supplying them will be oversized. The usually say that a cable covered with insulation needs to be downrated. With downlighter it is a good idea to leave some vetilation around them.

[@wardwyseur]

spitting out facts m8, subbed. greetings from belgium

[@SkillBuilder]

Thanks for the sub! I was in Beligum last week. I love it on the Meuse

[@bluestar.8938]

Thank you : )

[@darrenlomax1283]

Roger, what are your thoughts on using frozen ice packs placed over the sink to remove moisture from a house? Ive been doing it all week so i can keep the windows closed and save on heating.

[@Pufferfishtimboon]

I’m about to move into a house that has a full size basement so the house (living area) floors are concrete slats and tiled on top. You can see from the basement the concrete slats, and they are fully exposed. What would be the best solution for insulating the floor in the living areas? Would expanding foam be a good idea? Spraying it on the basement ceiling?

[@nickknott7140]

Hi skill builder what do you think of infrared heating panels - we have a house built in 2010 and is all electric and we are looking to supplement the underfloor wet system which is run by an external 5kw air sourced heat pump Thank You

[@joejoey316]

Love it when Roger preachs!

[@jamiehughes9000]

Can you talk about ceiling fans on a low setting as a method to mix the temperature-stratified air in a room. Does it work? Is it worth getting out my summer fan to use this winter?

[@hdj81Vlimited]

a ventilator on the sealing does also the heat down with the high sealings..

[@daniel__clark]

Hi Roger, have you ever looked at the ' hot water on demand' taps like quooker and quettle? I have a long run from the boiler to the kitchen sink and it always feels very wasteful letting the tap run to get up to temperature and then knowing that when I turn it off I've heated up a lot of water that will just sit in the pipe. Another great video by the way. Thanks

[@SkillBuilder]

Hi Daniel As I understand it the Quooker is illegal to fit in the U.K because it stores water above boiling point. I think they are a bad deal and not suitable for general point of use hot water. They are also problematic in hard water areas. There are plenty of under sink heaters that store water at a lower temperature of 60 deg celcius and that would give you everything except hot water for drinks

[@noddybray]

I use 13Kg lpg cylinders, .. when I make a cup of tea I fill the cup with water and then pour that into the kettle then when I put it on the gas hob I set the gas flame on a very very low flame, thereby more of the heat is absorbed by the water and not escaping up the sides of the kettle.. I do the same for cooking. Before doing this I used a gas cylinder every 3 months, now I am getting 6/7 months.. 50/100% depending how you measure it.. it takes a bit longer, but it is a massive saving. The electric kettle is in the cupboard.

[@kermitefrog64]

Commonly in Washington State where I grew up we used use fire place inserts to utilize the heat from the fire to radiate into the room. It made a great difference in using the wood more efficiently.

[@SkillBuilder]

Are they like firebricks or are you talking about pieces of metal?

[@blue_tree_meadow]

I reckon I've just found my new favourite channel. 👍

[@SkillBuilder]

Glad to hear it!

[@Jamiepetergiles]

Great video 👍 Can you have “too much” loft I insulation? I have 400mm at the moment and worried that if I add more it could introduce condensation.

[@Martindyna]

I would say that provided your roof is ventilated you can't have too much ....... unless you have pipework in the roof in which case i would have thought that 400 mm (16") is enough. N.B. I'm not up to date about the electrical regs regarding putting thermal insulation on top of lighting circuit wiring. I guess that, in general, power wiring doesn't usually run in the roof but worth checking.

[@davidsamways]

In a modern centrally heated house an open fire must be a net cooling rather than heating device. Great for ventilation, not so good for heat conservation - most of the draft from the gaps in the floorboards is going up the chimney. With a wood-burning stove, when the door's closed there's little draft from the flue when the fire's not lit.

[@anftrew3775]

My home is lovely and warm. I did the heating myself, entirely DIY, for a few hundred quid. It's very efficient and eco friendly. How did I do this? I fitted far infrared panels. One in the living room, and one each in the bedrooms. Each is a DIY installation. Each is independently controlled. And they only draw 750 watts when on full whack. Nobody seems to talk about this tech.yet it's efficient, convenient, cheap, and can be stylish. No annual inspection. Maintenance involves a wipe with a damp cloth to dust them. No pipes, no expensive installation, no reliance on gas. And if ever you decide you've mounted one in an inconvenient spot that interferes with your redecorating plans guess what, you just reinstall them yourself in the new spot.

[@gringotom242]

Thanks for this I'm finding it hard to find information on these

[@anftrew3775]

@@gringotom242 I was in the same position when I took a punt. I bought one unit first to try it out. That first unit, with the benefit of hindsight and lessons learned, needs to be repositioned to get the best effect. I think the very few reviews are very mixed, but I think the technology is fine, but some thought and planning does need to go into the positioning to get best effect.

[@erminmax]

@@gringotom242 not good. Any electro-resisting heaters are same. 1kw of electricity for 1kw of heat. IR panels are same. Pure marketing. And with them you get a lottnof cold spots. I have one in a bathroom, 400w for suplementing heat. Rest of the flat is heated by Nordic Mini split. (Won't tell manifacturers name, doesnt matter) Gues what, IR Panel draws 425wh for small bath, cc 8sqm. Mini split heats about 50 sqm with 700wh. Huge difference For example: if your house has, lets say 3 kw heat loss on 0 c. IR panel will need 3kwh of electricity to keep your house warm. In comparison a good Mini split optimised for heating will use about 1kwh to deliver the same amount of heat.(numbers can differ ofc) Simple, relative cheap solution which also provides cooling. You just have to choose those which are optimised for heating.

[@anftrew3775]

@@erminmax I'm sorry, you're wrong. They're not all the same. To understand why, you need to understand the relationship between bandwidths of light and heat for a start. That's a physics lesson that you'll find anywhere, including right here on KZbin. I too read mixed reviews before I took a punt. And the conclusion I've reached is the work well in the right settings. Sounds like you've had bad luck and so wrote them off. The IR panels were on about by the way are not what you've put in your bathroom (I hope, because they're not really designed for use in wet rooms), but I doubt they'd work well in a high humidity environment anyway. You'd be just heating airborne water molecules as they go past on their way to the extractor fan.

[@erminmax]

doesnt matter. 1 kwh of heat is 1khw. To reach some temperature in a room you need to add equivalent amount of heat that you room has lost. Does't matter if trough infra red(radiating) or convection etc With IR you get spot heating with a lott of cold spots. Pure marketing and very bad and expensive heating. Only reantable way to heat with electricty is trough heat pumps. Air-air(reversible mini split), air water, ground-water etc. Theory and my first hand experience says it.

[@5ThingsI]

Roger, I’d love your views on my house, room in roof setup and the upstairs is freezing in winter and roasting in summer. Once heating goes off the temp upstairs plummets. Would be happy to share the full picture of the setup. Only been in a year but need to get this sorted

[@paulfarghi]

It sounds to me that whoever constructed the room in the roof didn't insulate the remaining roof space and side walls with sufficient insulation. Strip back the plaster boards insulate with Kingspan board at least 120mm with an air gap between roof covering and the insulation, re plaster and do same to walls. If the walls are solid end walls then insulate onto the wall, batten off and her plaster board. It won't be cheap or convenient but that's what is required

[@SkillBuilder]

It sounds as though you have no insulation in the roof. A infra red camera would be a good way to find out. How old is the loft conversion?

[@5ThingsI]

@@SkillBuilder it’s 30 years old, was setup that way when the house was built. Having looked in the loft and eaves there is 70mm glass wool insulation but it’s seen better days, I’ll maybe renew with 300mm and maybe put insulation boards on the other sides of the interior walls where it meets the eves for belt and braces. Not sure if insulation boards on the underside of the roof in the loft space would be good as well

[@mbbrpgd]

Good video Thanks for info I have a question is it possible to install underfloor with a wood burning stove country cottage style no oil or gas Thanks in advance Rodger

[@jackrussel8898]

The open fire I have warms up the chimney stack and the upstairs bedrooms benefit from it.

[@CarNRadio1]

yes, you can. use a Zigbee remote radiator thermostats. and insulate those pipes in the basement or boiler room, no need to warm the basement or boiler room. If you need a warm basement put in a radiator and insulate the pipes.

[@geza96]

I have done the underfloor insulation. DONT USE ROCKWOOL the rats and mice love it. I use polystyrene sheets at 70mm tick between the joists. Easy and clean to install

[@SkillBuilder]

They use it for nesting materials and it makes them itch

[@ricos1497]

I'm surprised they don't make a rock wool flooring insulation with a thin layer of steel wool. That'd keep the mice out.

[@twmd]

i used sheep wool between two layer of breather membrane - the bottom hanging into the joist to also act as support. original floorboards restored and no draughts!

[@elobiretv]

Wont polystyrene sheets have a much worse u-value? I'm doing mine in a few months and probably going to use sheep wool

[@spencerwilton5831]

twmd Good luck with that once the clothes moths find it. Your house will be crawling with them and they are virtually impossible to eradicate. You have provided the worlds best buffet for them right under your house.

[@muhammadalkathir7842]

nice vids yet again quick question does aluminium radiators create sludge aswell as i thought magnetit was only a problem in steel rads

[@SkillBuilder]

You get other corrosion problems with copper and aluminium

[@loc4725]

I enjoyed that so thanks Rodger. My only issue is with log fires; these have been found to throw a lot of particulates out into the room and that isn't great for your health.

[@SkillBuilder]

You are right, I have had one for years and it concerns me. I am still trying to work out how this happens when the door is closed and the chimney is drawing well.

[@loc4725]

@@SkillBuilder My guess would be when you open the door air flows in through the new route, displacing some of both the heated air and the particles. It is a concern though; I only found out about it when I read the digest of a scientific paper where they tested several domestically installed fires, and that wasn't good reading. They noted that when shown the results more than half of the participants in the study stopped using their fires immediately whilst almost all decided to eventually get rid of theirs.

[@TheSpoovy]

I read that report, it said the vast majority of PMs are from the door being opened during operation to add more fuel. We make sure not to do this which limits its use as a heater unfortunately, and we always have a good quality air purifier running in the same room.

[@nataliebutler]

Would an air purifier help?

[@loc4725]

@@nataliebutler Not really. Once you open the door the particles go straight into the air; a purifier would get rid of them eventually as would opening a window but you still have quite a long period of potential exposure.

[@stevegrayson3719]

Letterbox flaps and keyhole covers help too.

[@johnpatterson7140]

you could do a similar video for a smaller house slightly different issues , my house is 960s timber framed ?

[@evanleebodies]

Your vids are superb viewing, they should be made compulsory for newly qualified DEAs and Retrofit assessors!!

[@SkillBuilder]

I hate the idea of compulsory viewing. Clockwork Orange syndrome, unintended consequences.

[@johnholkham2420]

Although not fashionable a reasonable thick carpet with high quality underlay will insulate the a ground floor rooms especially if there is a void underneath for ventilation . My son has bare floor boards on his ground floor rooms and complains the house is always cold, have told him reason but he thinks carpet is not fashionable . With heater bill as high as they are we will see if he still thinks carpet is unfashionable. Also lamented or wooden flooring with a quality underlay will improve heat retention.

[@traversrudd4976]

Roger, re-glaze all those windows with Pilkington Spacia, very thin vacuum double glazing that will fit in those ancient sash windows and have U values comparable to modern thick double glazing, you have to wait a while for it though, only made in Japan.

[@SkillBuilder]

And renew all the sash weights

[@robsmith2114]

I went for programmable TRV rather than separate zone for upstairs as expect it’s cheaper than changing the plumbing around and easier for DIY. Also shocking how many people are still using incandescent or halogen light bulbs rather than far cheaper to run led ones.

[@northeastcorals]

I was just considering putting in a separate zone, may have a look at the programmable TRVs as well

[@wattsupmike7593]

What I find baffling is that electric heating is hardly ever. considered as an alternative to gas. You're right to say how important lifestyle is when choosing how to heat our homes. I stopped using my gas fired central heating system in 1990 and fitted electric panel heaters with plug-in time switches in every room (NOT STORAGE HEATERS). I fitted an extra large hot water tank at the time everyone was ripping them out. Running costs, I pay at a guess 50% more per year than an equivalent gas system but in 30 years it has never cost anything to maintain or repair, 24hr cosy 20c warm and plenty of hot water.

[@spencerwilton5831]

Sorry but this is completely deluded. With electricity being four to five times the price of gas per kWh, the only way to keep bills anywhere near comparable would be by drastically cutting back on heating. If I use 150 kWh of gas per day to keep my house comfortable, I will need 150 kWh of electricity to do the same, and I'd be bankrupt after one winter! What's wrong with having modern controls on a gas system? And what's this maintenance cost of which you speak? A simple heat only boiler lasts for years (combis are a different story) and need nothing more than an annual service which costs under £100. I don't think I have spent more than £250 on heating system repairs in the last twenty years- a faulty three port valve and a noisy, worn out pump. That wouldn't cover one months electricity bill if I were to heat electrically.

[@wattsupmike7593]

Hello Spencer, interesting comment with many valid points. I wonder how efficient gas systems really are? Figures of 95% are for the boiler only and not the whole system which I venture is less, Have you looked at my video which details the work involved and its actual performance and running costs? My health needs require a 100% reliability - not 99%. No gas system can ever be totally fault free and I am lucky I can afford my all-electric heating.

[@nataliebutler]

I have plug in electric heaters in a rental flat. It's horribly expensive. This winter one heater will cost about £400 to run, if I switch it off at night.

[@nedperry8527]

Great video Rodger 👍 Have you or can you do a video on Water Softeners please

[@SkillBuilder]

Yes I can

[@ricos1497]

I'm a lenor man myself

[@Jack-fs2im]

I put a heavy curtain across my front door.thermal curtains in every room.closed rooms not being used and moved some of the furniture into used rooms,I bubble wrapped. side windows.Placed a pile if free neespapers in most used room,installed thicker carpet underlay.I got a £250 refund on my heating bill.SIMPLES.

[@ironclay3939]

Open Fire heating Room - as opposed to going up the chimney. Use 50mm pipe as your fire grate - back and top in a "Square C" shape the size of your firebox. For example an 18" wide open fire would have 8 x 2" pipes taking air from below the fire, being heated by the fire and dumping hot air at the top just before the smoke goes past them up the flew.

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

Great vid Rog but I disagree with shutting off heating to odd rooms leaving them to go cold, this will cause dampness in that area, I have been in houses many years ago in my younger days and there has been mould on the walls and around windows, first thing I notice is the radiator valves are off because the room isn't used. You can also smell it, musty horrible smell. Personally I prefer to keep the whole house warm and leave internal doors open or slightly ajar to encourage air circulation. I'm keen on your U/flr heating idea though, does your video detail a wooden floor installation? 👍

[@SkillBuilder]

I think that heating the bedrooms in the morning and evening if you are heating the downstairs all day is fine. The heat drift up there any way. We have never heated our bedroom, not one day in over 40 years and the windows are open. Zero damp.

[@tinytonymaloney7832]

@@SkillBuilder actually, we are the same with our bedroom, window is always open at night, I like the fresh air myself but the other bedrooms have a radiator in each on a sort of tick over or background heat. Deffo seriously thinking about underfloor htg though, got big side and rear extension planned for next spring so will be getting clued up on that. Have you ever installed them Danfoss rad valves that have an individual room stat per valve? Fair amount of control wiring involved but I did a new house in the 90s that had these and the owner loved it.

[@tmvvk]

@@SkillBuilder I have done exactly this, in combination with ventilation. Absolutely no mould, and the Bath room is warm when you need it.

[@petemoring67]

i live in a Victorian four-story house and I've kept a lot of the rooms with the heating closed down for years now - No Damp or Mould anywhere - I DO keep all the doors open though and the rooms I DO heat, I keep the doors closed - Works for Me :-)

[@craiggreenhalgh1082]

@@SkillBuilder That's Because You're Very Careful With Your Money Rodger 💰 😜👍