How do I secure the mats to the insulation material? 

All mats have double-sided adhesive tape on the short sides to hold the mats in place prior to the floorcovering being laid. You can of course use additional adhesive tape along the longer sides or even use staples (through the fibreglass mesh - not the mat itself).

Can I put my sofa and other large furniture items on a floor with UFH? 

It is perfectly okay to put furniture on a floor with UFH as long as the furniture allows some airflow at floor level (i.e. has castors or feet). Any furniture with a large/flat “footprint” such as a filing cabinet with no feet, or a futon style bed that sits directly on the floor, will cause thermal blocking and should not have UFH below it. Similarly – beanbags placed in a room with UFH will cause a “thermal block” and will compromise the efficiency of the system.

What are the advantages over a "wet" underfloor heating system?

Many! A wet system will cost more to buy, more to install and more to run than the Accolade system. It will also take much longer for a wet system to respond to thermostatic control (anything up to 4 hrs compared to just a few minutes for the Accolade system)

With an electric system you do not require a cupboard full of control valves, and because the electric system is not embedded in concrete or screed, it is easy to access – so in the unlikely event of a fault it is a simple task to source the fault and effect a repair without digging up tons of concrete. It doesn’t leak and as there are no moving parts, there is no costly servicing of the equipment.

I’m installing 18mm solid wood flooring – can I still use UFH below this? 

The responsiveness of any UFH system is dependent upon the thickness and density of any surface laid above the heat source. For example:

UFH in a conservatory with a 6mm laminate floor finish will heat the room space quicker than the same room with a 15mm ceramic tile floor.

So… it is perfectly acceptable to put UFH in a room with 18mm solid wood - and although the responsiveness of the system will be compromised to some degree when compared to a thinner flooring, will still heat up quicker than any other electric wire or water based UFH system.

I’m considering a vinyl floorcovering for my kitchen – can I still use UFH? 

Yes – although you will need a 6mm self-levelling screed on top of the UFH system before the vinyl is laid.

The reason for this is simple: An inherent characteristic of vinyl floorcovering is that it will soften slightly when heated. This, through time will show the shape of the mats through the floorcovering (commonly referred to as “ghosting”) and the only effective way to overcome this is to use a 6mm screed prior to the vinyl being laid.