Electric vs Wet Underfloor Heating

Electric UFH is much cheaper to install. Electric mats cost £30-60/m² installed, while wet UFH costs £50-100/m² installed (including manifold, pipework and screed). For a single room like a bathroom, electric is the clear winner. For whole-house systems, wet UFH has a higher upfront cost but significantly lower running costs.

Wet UFH connected to a gas boiler or heat pump is much cheaper to run. Electricity costs approximately 26.11p/kWh vs gas at 7.33p/kWh (Ofgem Q3 2026). A wet system running from a boiler costs roughly 30-35% as much to run as electric UFH for the same heat output. Connected to a heat pump (COP 3.0), wet UFH costs about 8.7p per kWh of heat delivered.

Electric UFH mats add only 3-6mm to floor height (just the mat and tile adhesive). Wet UFH typically adds 50-75mm including insulation (25mm), pipe and clips (20mm) and screed (40-50mm). Low-profile wet systems using 15mm foil plates can reduce this to 25-35mm total. Floor buildup is a critical factor in renovations with limited headroom.

Electric UFH heats up much faster — typically 15-30 minutes to reach temperature. Wet UFH with a screed has high thermal mass and can take 2-4 hours to warm up from cold. This makes electric ideal for rooms used intermittently (bathrooms, en-suites), while wet UFH is better run continuously at lower temperatures for main living spaces.

There is no direct connection — electric UFH uses electricity while heat pump UFH uses hot water. However, surplus solar PV electricity can power electric UFH mats via a smart controller. For whole-house primary heating with a heat pump, wet UFH is the correct choice as the heat pump heats water circulated through the pipes at high efficiency.