What does bathroom underfloor heating cost in Essex?
Our guide range in Essex is £750–£2,600 including VAT. Prices in Essex run at about 6% above the UK guide, based on East of England labour rates.
Electric mat
- Mat under the tiles
Electric, larger room
- Programmable smart thermostat
Wet system
- Screed or low-profile boards
Guide prices for Essex including VAT. Your itemised written quote after the free survey is the price that counts.
Which towns do we cover in Essex?
- Southend-on-Sea
- Basildon
- Colchester
- Chelmsford
- Harlow
- Grays
- Braintree
- Brentwood
- Clacton-on-Sea
- South Benfleet
- Canvey Island
- Billericay
- Rayleigh
- Stanford-le-Hope
- Wickford
- Witham
- Pitsea
- Maldon
- Waltham Abbey
- South Ockendon
- Harwich
- Hadleigh
- Walton-on-the-Naze
- Frinton-on-Sea
- Rochford
- Saffron Walden
Most of Essex has very hard water. Hard water leaves white marks on dark grout and gloss tiles, so matt finishes and stain-resistant grout are the practical choice. Hardness varies street by street, so check the figure for your postcode with your water supplier. Where a Southend-on-Sea home already has a heat pump, or the heating is being altered, a wet underfloor system is worth comparing with electric.
What the job includes
- Resistance and insulation tests on the mat before, during and after tiling, with the readings recorded
- Bringing the system up to temperature gradually once the adhesive and grout have cured
- A dial, programmable or smart thermostat, with the supply RCD protected, tested and certified by a qualified electrician
- A check of the floor construction, the room's heat loss and where the thermostat and supply will go
- Insulation boards over the subfloor, so heat goes up into the tiles rather than down into the joists or screed
- For wet systems, pipes in low-profile boards or screed connected to a manifold or single-zone kit, with any boiler work done by a Gas Safe registered engineer
Decisions to make first
Floor finish
Tiles and stone pass heat through well. LVT and vinyl can work, but check the maximum floor temperature the flooring maker allows.
Floor heating and towel rail
Underfloor heating warms the room; a towel rail dries towels. Many bathrooms have both, and a dual-fuel rail keeps working in summer when the boiler is off.
Insulation board thickness
Thicker boards warm up faster and lose less heat downwards, but raise the floor; the right choice depends on the door threshold and the next room.
Mat or loose cable
Mats are quickest on square, open floors. Loose cable is easier to route around awkward shapes, pipe boxing and a curved shower area.
Rules that apply in England
Electric underfloor heating in a bathroom must be on a circuit with 30 mA RCD protection under BS 7671, and the thermostat is positioned to suit the bathroom zones. There is no separate approval for the heating itself, but it should have its own thermostat and timer so it only runs when needed, and the electrical work must meet BS 7671 — in England and Wales it is notifiable as bathroom electrical work. Any work on a gas boiler for a wet system must be done by a Gas Safe registered engineer.
In England, a new circuit for underfloor heating is notifiable under Part P, and so is connecting it to an existing circuit in a room with a bath or shower. The electrician either self-certifies through a competent person scheme or the work is notified to building control.