Here is a blog post about my underfloor heating install in my small kitchen

I’ve been so busy with the renovations on the house since I moved in. So far I’ve made over the windows, a boiler install and sprinkled a little bit of magic in the garden.  

Now, I’m starting on the fun stuff which is making over THE KITCHEN. It’s been overhauled from top-to-bottom (which I am going to share on here soon). But I thought I would start with the bottom bit now – our underfloor heating install. 

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I’m in love with the end result – so I can’t wait to show you

My under flooring heating kitchen makeover

Before

Look at it! Shocking. And this is after I gave it a huge clean. Anyhoo – look at that floor. 1980s style terracotta tiles. Time spent in here was a quick dash in to make a cup of tea always with slippers on. Since moving in, I bought three pairs of slippers.  That’s how cold it was.  

We had a weird insect problem – slugs and earwigs would join us for breakfast in the morning leaving a little slimy trail in the wake.

As the kitchen was at the back of the house and had a concrete floor – there was no way I could put in piping for a radiator in here. And I didn’t want to risk not having in anything. Learning from the mistakes of our ghostly old kitchen – and splashed the cash on underfloor heating for our new look floor.

Choosing Underfloor heat system for my kitchen floor

As my room isn’t that big I thought I could afford to treat my kitchen. I did a spot of research for the best one for our budget and came across WarmUp.  I spoke to the team and they suggested I went for under-tile electric heating with a WiFi thermostat – fancy!

I just gave them my room measurements and my kitchen plans, and then they worked out how much I needed.

First step insulation boards

Our builder put down the WarmUp insulation boards all over the floor. (I got our step made at the same time – that is what the bag of concrete is for).

HALF WAY POINT

This is half way through. We’ve ripped out the kitchen, plastered all the walls and then our electrician laid down the insulation boards on top of our old flooring.

The heating cable is the thinnest out there – only 1.8mm. The small cross-section of the heating element allows it to be installed without the need for a layer of self-levelling screed.  It’s pretty easy to put down and as it is a flexible strip it’s perfect for irregular rooms or rooms with a lot of fixtures or corners like ours.

This is from the other angle. It took about one day to put down. Next, in a snake-like pattern the loose wire underfloor heating was taped down with special tape. They don’t go under where the units go (again saving the cash by using less).

The trickiest bit was deciding where to put the thermostat. In the end, I went for just outside the room. 

Choosing the underfloor heating settings

I’ve been tinkling with the best setting and I’ve gone for the ‘holiday’ setting. It comes on for a few hours in the morning and then for a couple of hours in the afternoon.  

With the smart thermostat – which runs off our wi-fi, I’ve not noticed a big jump down in our heating bills. In fact because the kitchen is warmer, I don’t crack the heating on so much in the rest of the house – so our bills have stayed the same.

The end result! I’m so pleased I went for the under floor option in. We’ve saved space by not having a radiator. The floor is always warm (the pets love it). Funnily enough, the underfloor heating is the first thing friends notice as they pad about on it. It feels pretty fancy, tbh.

THE COST

To give you a guide of costs for the underfloor heating, here’s how much it cost me. As a guide my full kitchen area is 6.6332 sqm but you have to minus the area where the kitchen units are going so the area we needed to heat works out as 3.9485 sqm.

For that size room we needed the following:
4iE Smart WiFi Thermostat in Bright Porcelain = £199.99
DWS600 Undertile Heater = £222.99
10mm Insulation Board Singles =  £245.80
Insulation Board Fibreglass Tape 90m = £4.49
Total = £673.27

If you want to find out your own underfloor heating costs you’ll find this article helpful!

THE LOW DOWN

Not super cheap, I know, I think I’ll save money on heating bill, plus it will add value to the house in the long run when we come to sell as it’s considered a bit of a game changer for potential buyers.  It was way cheaper than digging up the floor to put a radiator. Save me space in my tiny weenie kitchen. And the pets love it….which is the main thing.

Have I tempted you? What room would you warm up first? I’d love to know below.

Keep popping by the blog.  My kitchen is going to appear in Style At Home magazine in the May issue which I will share the finished results on here as soon as it is published.  Can’t wait to share it with you.