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Underfloor heating on a boat?


stuart

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Thought this was mentioned a long time ago, recently been looking for a system to do my Kitchen at home.

 

Found B&Q now have DIY kits available which can be put on top of your existing floorboards/concrete - would probably work wonders in a boat too - only 18mm thick and a "wet" system rather than electric.

 

Have a look at http://www.freeyourwalls.com/

 

PDF doc here http://www.freeyourwalls.com/Consumer_Brochure.pdf

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I have seen reports of boats being fitted with underfloor heating but don't remember any kind of feedback. I think it is a little surprising the systems come back into fashion from time to time, they were in common use in council houses in my area in the 50's and 60's, they were very unpopular with the tennant's and I think most were taken out. They all said 'your feet get hot and the rest of you stays cold'. May well be different on a boat though.

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Never heard about in used on a boat before, but i guess it could be made to work. Obvously you would have to properbly insulate the floor. But i see no reason why not to have a (wet) underfloor heating system in a boat?

 

We have underfloor nightstorage electric in our house which works well, and my uncal has (far more modern) gasfired wet system in his house in bolton, which he is also very happy with.

- He then also traditional radiators upstairs, with several thermostaticlay operated valves to control temperature (flow rate) around the system, with a large manufold under there stairs for controling and ballencing the underfloor systems.

- We just rely on the priciple of heatrising, and above standard insulation thought the house. The only heating upstairs being a old highvolume storageheater in the 'guest bedroom', which is on the northeast corner, with two external walls.

 

 

 

Daniel

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Never heard about in used on a boat before, but i guess it could be made to work. Obvously you would have to properbly insulate the floor. But i see no reason why not to have a (wet) underfloor heating system in a boat?

 

We have underfloor nightstorage electric in our house which works well, and my uncal has (far more modern) gasfired wet system in his house in bolton, which he is also very happy with.

- He then also traditional radiators upstairs, with several thermostaticlay operated valves to control temperature (flow rate) around the system, with a large manufold under there stairs for controling and ballencing the underfloor systems.

- We just rely on the priciple of heatrising, and above standard insulation thought the house. The only heating upstairs being a old highvolume storageheater in the 'guest bedroom', which is on the northeast corner, with two external walls.

Daniel

 

 

In order to accommodate both pipes and insulation you are going to lose a bit of headroom, I would think. I have not heard of peoe insulating the floor though. Perhaps we ought to think about it even for non underfloor heated boats.

 

Nick

 

In order to accommodate both pipes and insulation you are going to lose a bit of headroom, I would think. I have not heard of people insulating the floor though. Perhaps we ought to think about it even for non underfloor heated boats.

 

Nick

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In order to accommodate both pipes and insulation you are going to lose a bit of headroom, I would think. I have not heard of peoe insulating the floor though. Perhaps we ought to think about it even for non underfloor heated boats.

 

Nick

 

Why not lay an acoustic screed so all the stomping around doesn't affect the fishes? :banghead:

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I have not heard of peoe insulating the floor though. Perhaps we ought to think about it even for non underfloor heated boats.

 

Nick

 

I did wonder about buying some of that new 'paint on' insulation that Bath Narrow boats are marketing (cant think of the name but there was another thread running about it) to insulte the underside of the flooring....not sure if I will or not but its an idea to consider

 

Les

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We got all geared up to do it using Hep2o the consensus here didn't think it would work very well while Hepworths said it "might". The customer bottled out and didn't have it!

 

The thought was that in conventional use it warms up very slowly the floor "mass" on water you would first have to insulate this mass from the water or you would simply be creating a method of warming the surrounding water. (Well it would keep the ducks warm at least!)

 

There were a lot of pluses and a lot of minuses, I sat on the fence a bit hoping we had a guinea pig after all he wanted to do it and it would have proved it one way or another.

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We got all geared up to do it using Hep2o the consensus here didn't think it would work very well while Hepworths said it "might". The customer bottled out and didn't have it!

 

The thought was that in conventional use it warms up very slowly the floor "mass" on water you would first have to insulate this mass from the water or you would simply be creating a method of warming the surrounding water. (Well it would keep the ducks warm at least!)

 

There were a lot of pluses and a lot of minuses, I sat on the fence a bit hoping we had a guinea pig after all he wanted to do it and it would have proved it one way or another.

 

 

Seems like over-complication for its own sake to me, but I would be keen to hear from anyone who has undertaken this.

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I have underfloor heating in the shower room on 'ELEMIAH'. The piping is placed in the same circuit as the radiators - because my boat has been with Kinver Boat Services since last summer I've not had a chance to try it out for effectiveness. I am moving 'ELEMIAH' in the middle of March so, if I remember, I'll report back.

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We got all geared up to do it using Hep2o the consensus here didn't think it would work very well while Hepworths said it "might". The customer bottled out and didn't have it!

 

The thought was that in conventional use it warms up very slowly the floor "mass" on water you would first have to insulate this mass from the water or you would simply be creating a method of warming the surrounding water. (Well it would keep the ducks warm at least!)

 

There were a lot of pluses and a lot of minuses, I sat on the fence a bit hoping we had a guinea pig after all he wanted to do it and it would have proved it one way or another.

 

The key thing with this new product is that you would fit it on top of the 22mm flooring ply - therefore you dont need to insulate the bottom of the boat. The overlay tiles have built in insulation to reflect the heat into the room.

 

You would loose some cabin height - but only 18-25mm max.

 

Prices are here... http://www.inspiredheating.co.uk/acatalog/...Y_PRODUCTS.html

 

Think it would cost about £500-600 per 5m2 but no wall space is taken up, no radiators to bump into (or burn your legs on!)

Edited by stuart
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Just had a meeting with the supplier of a form of low voltage underfloor heating. It's like very thin sheet of clear plastic with heating elements running through it, you lay it on top of the floor below the floor covering.

In the demonstration it definitely did warm up running off a small 12v PSU you can find out more about it HERE.

 

The consumption although not huge would seem to be the downside to me.

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Just had a meeting with the supplier of a form of low voltage underfloor heating. It's like very thin sheet of clear plastic with heating elements running through it, you lay it on top of the floor below the floor covering.

In the demonstration it definitely did warm up running off a small 12v PSU you can find out more about it HERE.

 

The consumption although not huge would seem to be the downside to me.

 

 

Sounds like exactly the same stuff as I find in squatted properties following evictions.... In this case it is used to heat soil/growing medium where a skunk factory has been set up.

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Sounds like exactly the same stuff as I find in squatted properties following evictions.... In this case it is used to heat soil/growing medium where a skunk factory has been set up.

apparently they use it in buses to stop the ice. I'm wondering if its those old converted residential coaches misleadingly described as buses for the general public to understand it easier.

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  • 3 months later...

I'm in the process of putting together a design for my new NB. :) I really, really don't want radiators. So I've been researching under floor heating. But having read this thread I'm having seconds thoughts. :D While surfing the inter-web I came across this product: www.discreteheat.co.uk

 

It looks fantastic and has the added benefit of covering the gap between the floor and wall and also provides a channel for running speaker cables etc.

 

I've never installed central heating in a NB before, although I have installed complete systems in a couple houses. What do the NB heating experts think?

 

Anyone used this product?

 

Your views greatly appreciated.

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I'm in the process of putting together a design for my new NB. :) I really, really don't want radiators. So I've been researching under floor heating. But having read this thread I'm having seconds thoughts. :D While surfing the inter-web I came across this product: www.discreteheat.co.uk

 

It looks fantastic and has the added benefit of covering the gap between the floor and wall and also provides a channel for running speaker cables etc.

 

I've never installed central heating in a NB before, although I have installed complete systems in a couple houses. What do the NB heating experts think?

 

Anyone used this product?

 

Your views greatly appreciated.

 

Hi,

 

Not used it but 'finrad' is similar:

 

http://www.aquafax.co.uk/html/products.asp?ID=132

 

cheers,

Pete.

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I suppose you could always put a layer of that Thinsulate stuff underneath it to aid the heat being reflected back upwards.

 

I like the idea, but still wouldn't want to be the first to try it unless someone else was paying for it ....

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On the subject of fin rads I have still to see an installation that I would be happy with.

 

They just don't seem to live up to the claims people make and can also cause you some real fun and games with the water heating system where the theoretically correct size heating units will not run correctly because the fin rads will not dissipate the heat quick enough for the heating unit to run correctly.

 

The popular solution from the heater manufacturers after a bit of head scratching on this is to use a smaller under rated unit which will run hard trying to keep up, that does work but service intervals and life expectancy might be worth considering.

 

It's a shame really because from a builders point of view fin rads are cheap and easy which makes them rather attractive.

Edited by Gary Peacock
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  • 9 months later...
Hello,

 

Does anyone have any experience of underfloor heating on a boat? Would like to hear your views on it.

 

Cheers,

Robbo..

 

I've got a friend who installed it on his boat under a tiled slate floor in his kitchen & bathroom. It's ok for what he & his girlfriend want (a floating apartment permanently on shorepower), but personally I wouldn't have either underfloor heating or a tiled floor on my boat.

 

I suppose if they just go away for a week or two in summer then they won't need to run it anyway, but those tiles will be freezing if they ever have to move the boat in winter - where would the power come from? Not the batteries/inverter surely? The grouting between the tiles themselves has already cracked when he drydocked the boat for blacking recently. He can regrout easily enough but it will need doing everytime the boat comes out the water or takes to ground.

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I've got a friend who installed it on his boat under a tiled slate floor in his kitchen & bathroom. It's ok for what he & his girlfriend want (a floating apartment permanently on shorepower), but personally I wouldn't have either underfloor heating or a tiled floor on my boat.

 

I suppose if they just go away for a week or two in summer then they won't need to run it anyway, but those tiles will be freezing if they ever have to move the boat in winter - where would the power come from? Not the batteries/inverter surely? The grouting between the tiles themselves has already cracked when he drydocked the boat for blacking recently. He can regrout easily enough but it will need doing everytime the boat comes out the water or takes to ground.

 

Just to confirm I was looking at wet underfloor heating using a diesel boiler but also linked upto a solid fuel stove with back boiler (I've seen the thread on using these inconjuction with each other).

 

I was mainly after warm up times with a solid wood floor and running cost compared to radiators, etc.

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I put it in my house, I would say that it's not worth considering anywhere unless you can get at least 2" of polyurethane insulation (3" polystyrene) under it. You also need a large mass over it too to make it most effective, and no carpets, or if you have carpets you need even more insulation under it.

 

This thinsulate stuff appears to work, but the staff at exhibition's can't explain how. Theoretically it has a poor u value, but in practice it can be shown to be effective. This makes me suspicious.

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We did look in to his 3 years ago when first got the boat. The problem is that the boat is in water which is very cold. We have all wood floors on the boat but they are very cold to walk on in winter. Now if you have a system that heats the floor it's going to have to fight the cold underneath. As someone already mentioned proper underfloor heating has at least 3 inches of insulation under it. This makes it efficient as there's nothing to cool the heating element down. On a boat however even laid on 18mm ply and thinsulate, the floor of the boat will still be very cold, therefor not a good starting position for an element weather electric or water. As someone else mentioned although heat rises some heat will dissapate through the floor to the bilge. Having said that it would be great for moring and a 240 volt supply, but cruising it would need lots of energy to generate enough heat in cold weather. Possibly a good idea for mooring but have some back up heating for cruising.

 

With ref to wood floors, we just lay a really heave duty quality rug in the saloon to help keep the saloon warmer in winter. Pack it away for the summer.

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We did look in to his 3 years ago when first got the boat. The problem is that the boat is in water which is very cold. We have all wood floors on the boat but they are very cold to walk on in winter.

 

With ref to wood floors, we just lay a really heave duty quality rug in the saloon to help keep the saloon warmer in winter. Pack it away for the summer.

 

I originally wanted a wooden floor on my boat but after checking different samples of insulation/wood/carpet tiles, I found the wood far too cold in winter even when laid over underlay. I suppose wood's nice in summer, but since most people with wood floors are trying to avoid carpet, if you then have to cover it over with rugs in winter it seems to me you're back to square one!

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I put it in my house, I would say that it's not worth considering anywhere unless you can get at least 2" of polyurethane insulation (3" polystyrene) under it. You also need a large mass over it too to make it most effective, and no carpets, or if you have carpets you need even more insulation under it.

 

Thanks for the info,

 

I've got about a foot under the floor to play with, so can quite easily have a good 3"+ of insulation here. Compared to radiators how quick was it to heat a room?

 

I will most likely use a solid fuel stove for the majority of the time with a back boiler linked to the clarifier, radiators and/or underfloor heating with using the diesel heater in summer to heat the hot water (or to pre-heat the boat so it's nice and warm when I get back from work :D )

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