Best Electric Underfloor Heating Mat Kits On A Budget

Intro

Underfloor heating is often seen as a luxury that only the lucky few can afford, but this simply isn’t true. There are some fantastic kits on the market, and many of them are a great deal cheaper than you may think. With this in mind, we decided to take a look at some of the best electric underfloor heating mat kits available today that won’t break the bank.

In fact, for less than the price of a pair of designer jeans or a night out at a decent restaurant, you can have a nice warm floor to stand on every time you step out of your shower! Sound good? Great, let’s take a look at some of the cheapest underfloor heating kits around:

Living Heat Underfloor Heating Mat Kits

electric underfloor heating kit from living heatPros

  • Lifetime guarantee
  • Self-adhesive matting
  • Powerful enough to be used as a primary heat source
  • Slim profile

Cons

  • Standard thermostat only available in white EDIT: Choice of thermostats now available!

Living Heat have been manufacturing underfloor heating products since 1999 and they specialise in electric under floor heating systems. Their latest range of matting is huge, with all sizes covered – right the way up to 24m². Naturally, we are looking at the lower end of the size chart when considering inexpensive underfloor heating, but all of the larger sizes are manufactured to the same high standards.

One of the key benefits to the Living Heat range is the fact that they offer a lifetime guarantee on all of their matting kits which shows just how confident they are in their product, giving you the peace of mind that you need when undertaking a DIY project like this.

All of their mats have double insulated, fully sheathed and earthed elements incorporated into their design, yet they haven’t compromised on thickness to achieve this. The single core mats have a depth of 2mm, while the dual cores come in at 3mm, not bad at all when you consider the job that they’ll be doing.

The width of the matting measures up to the industry standard 500mm so you get decent coverage for each ‘lane’ and Living Heat advertise their mats as being perfectly capable of standing alone as the primary heat source. This allows you to do away with your old radiators which, in a small room, can give you a lot of valuable space back.

Of course, this is providing your home, and the floor itself, is properly insulated and the matting covers at least 70% of the flooring in question. However, without these two factors taken care of, any UFH system would struggle to be the sole source of heat and maintain comfortable levels of warmth. Nevertheless, if you are going to use underfloor heating as the primary source of heat, we would recommend going for the 200W/m² rather than the 150W/m². Unfortunately, the 200W/m² doesn’t come in kit form, though.

Our only gripe is that the thermostat isn’t all that much of a looker; in fact, it’s a pretty boring box and there are plenty of better looking thermostats on the market these days – important if yours is going to be in a position where it’s on show all of the time. EDIT: Living Heat now give you a choice of thermostats at the point of sale, including a bang up-to-date touch screen option.

Overall, the Living Heat range is impressive and well worth taking a look at. To find out today’s price, click here.

What’s in the box?

  • Underfloor heating mat
  • Programmable air and floor digital thermostat
  • Acrylic floor primer
  • Roller for the primer
  • Fixing tape
  • Comprehensive installation manual and warranty card

CU Heating 150W/m² Matting Kit

CU heating floor kit Pros

  • Stranded cable
  • In-house repair service available for installation damage
  • Fully adhesive mesh, not strips
  • Strong and durable cable jackets
  • Specially designed tear-off film for easy laying
  • Simple control system makes programming effortless

Cons

  • 10 year guarantee not as long as some of their competitors
  • Thermostat looks a little on the cheap side even if it does function well

Select your size and order yours today, click here for the latest price

The CU Heating 150W/m² mat works great, but we would expect no less from this reputable company. The quality of cable used is exemplary and the core of the heating element is made up of stranded cable which gives the wiring added integrity and is far stronger than the solid conductors found in some other kits.

But, it’s not only the internal elements that are strong. To protect them, CU Heating have wrapped the stranded cable in an outer jacket that is very tough indeed. As cutting and trowel use is almost inevitable when laying underfloor heating mats, this added strength will help to prevent any accidental damage from occurring.

That said, should you accidentally damage the wiring when installing, CU Heating offer an in-house repair service for all of their customers who are under warranty. They have invested heavily in their diagnostic equipment and they can narrow down, with pin-point accuracy, whereabouts the problem is in the cable – even underneath a finished floor!

As with all heating mats, the convenience is unbeatable. It’s so easy to lay, even those of us who are all fingers and thumbs can do a great job and the fully adhesive mesh helps to keep the mat in place perfectly – no curling up! 500mm width is standard but gives good coverage and allows for a speedy install time.

However, the real star of this particular show is the control system. Unlike so many others that are on the market, CU Heating’s box is very simple to use. To set up the basic programmes takes no more than 30 seconds (seriously) and they’ve kept all of the unnecessary settings found on other systems out of theirs, which helps to keep confusion at a minimum. Just a shame they couldn’t have made it look a little swankier.

The downside of this particular product is the guarantee. 10 years is not a long time when it comes to underfloor heating mats and it surprises us a little that they have chosen to go down this route. The product itself seems capable of lasting far longer so why not up the guarantee? Do they know something we don’t? We doubt that there’s anything surreptitious about the decision but it does seem a little stingy.

What’s in the box?

  • Underfloor heating mat
  • Digital thermostat (choice of colours: white, silver and graphite)
  • Floor probe
  • Probe conduit
  • Fixing tape
  • Floor primer
  • Full installation instructions

To get yours delivered to your door, simply click here and choose your size

ProWarm Electric Underfloor Heating Kits

electric radiant heating kit from prowarmPros

  • Choice of outputs with 150W/m² & 200W/m² available
  • Multi strand, dual conductor heating cable
  • 100% earth shielded for negligible EMF radiation emissions
  • Ultra-thin profile
  • Lifetime guarantee
  • CableSafe™ installation guarantee

Cons

  • Higher retail price than many competitors
  • Same thermostat as the Living Heat kit, standard model only available in white but upgrades are available

For the full ProWarm range and today’s prices click here

ProWarm’s offering is of a very high standard, but this does mean that you won’t get a lot of choice at the lower end of the price range when it comes to size selection. However, if you’re lucky enough to only need the very smallest of rooms heated, ProWarm’s mats could be your answer. Obviously, larger mats are available as well, but they get progressively more expensive with every size jump.

The quality of cabling used in these mats is first class. Not only are they multi stranded (meaning that you’ll get that all important extra strength), they’re also two of them sheathed together in one very low profile jacket.

The advanced fluoropolymer – Teflon to you and me – insulation and armoured earth braid do not affect the profile of the cabling which stands at a mere 2mm. This ultra-thin cable means that you have the option to tile straight over the matting if required and they will operate quite happily within the tile adhesive itself.

The choice of outputs is another attractive feature of the ProWarm range. The 150w/m² is capable of being a sole source of heat (providing full insulation is in place throughout the home). The 200w/m² is a great option for those of you who are thinking of laying a tile or stone floor. Powerful enough to offer fast warm up times and be a primary heat source, this output is ideal for colder areas of your home, such as conservatories.

For the DIYer, probably the greatest thing about ProWarm is that not only do you receive a lifetime guarantee on your matting; you also get their CableSafe™ guarantee too.

This means that should you be unfortunate enough to cut through your cable when installing it, ProWarm will replace the mat with a new one – free of charge! You can’t ask for more peace of mind than that. However, be aware that they will only replace one mat, so go easy with the scissors.

The recurring moan strikes again, though. The thermostat is the same as the one that comes with the Living Heat kit and it’s a boring white box that doesn’t feel as though it matches the quality of the rest of the kit. It should be said, however, that this can be easily rectified with an upgrade, but you will naturally be increasing your spend if you do choose to go for a better model.

That being said, it’s still one of the best electric underfloor heating mat kits out there.

What’s in the box?

  • Underfloor heating mat
  • Digital Thermostat
  • Floor probe
  • Probe conduit
  • Floor primer
  • Primer roller
  • Fixing tape
  • Full instruction manual and guarantee certificate

Check out the range of ProWarm kits here

Ambi-Heat Electric Underfloor Heating System

The electric underfloor heating kit from Ambi-HeatPros

  • Great selection of outputs – 100w/m², 150w/m² & 200w/m² available
  • Twin wire elements
  • Decent fluoropolymer insulation
  • AUBE TH232 thermostat included making the kit great value
  • Excellent customer service

Cons

  • More expensive than some of the other brands, so less choice at the lower end of the price spectrum
  • 15 year guarantee is OK, but it’s not a lifetime

To see all of the Ambi-Heat mats click here

Ambi-Heat, or Ambient Electric Underfloor Heating if you want their full name, are next up on the list. This Essex based firm have been supplying the UK with underfloor heating solutions for over a decade and this kit is a cracker.

Twin wire cables are used across all three output ranges and the fluoropolymer (Teflon) insulation that houses the wiring is up there with the ProWarm kit. However, the Ambi-Heat does come in slightly thicker at 3mm as opposed to the 2mm profile of the ProWarm.

As with all of the mats included in this post, the Ambi-Heat mat measures 500mm wide so you can be sure of a quick install time. Double-sided adhesive tape helps to keep the glass fibre matting in place when installing. It does what it’s supposed to do, but we prefer the full mat adhesion of CU Heating kit if we’re going to be picky.

The AUBE TH232 thermostat not only works well, it also looks far superior to the other kits thermostats. Neatly hidden away buttons and slimline display panel make it perfectly acceptable in any room of the house.

It’s not just aesthetically pleasing, however. The AUBE TH232 is easy to programme and has a wealth of features including the automatic adjustment to the autumn and spring clock changes. Plus, when you consider the price of the thermostat itself, the kit becomes extremely good value, especially the smaller sizes.

The kit comes with a decent enough 15 year warranty, but in comparison to the lifetime coverage of some of the other kits listed here it comes up a little short on that front. Other than that, this is great value and one of the best electric underfloor heating mat kits money can buy.

What’s in the box?

  • Underfloor heating mat
  • Digital Thermostat
  • Floor probe
  • Probe conduit
  • Floor primer
  • Primer roller
  • Comprehensive instruction manual and guarantee certificate

To get today’s price for the Ambi-Heat mats, please click here