Electric underfloor heating: measured consumption

What the rule says

In Wallonia and Flanders, the rule limits direct electric heating, and names electric underfloor heating. Wallonia: 2,500 W at most per home up to 150 m², then 15 W per additional m², on any fitting, appliances already in place included. Flanders: 15 W at most per m² in a renovation subject to a permit or a notification with an architect; in an extension, the cap is calculated on the extension alone. Brussels: we have not found a cap. One room remains possible; a whole home, not within these limits.

In Luxembourg, direct electric heating cannot be the main heating of a building that is new, extended or converted. Partial heating remains possible: the regulation cites the bathroom.

In the Netherlands, a heating system that is fitted or renewed must reach a performance that direct electricity does not reach. The guide published by the public agency RVO rules out electric underfloor heating as main heating; the agency’s page allows local electric appliances controlled room by room. For a room heated as a supplement, the official documents point towards local heating being allowed, without naming electric underfloor heating: to be confirmed by the municipality.

The rule, country by country, with the texts

The figure, first

Between 15 and 50 kWh of electricity per square metre per year, for heating alone: that is the range the manufacturer publishes, with a median of around 24. It took these readings at the meter, for at least one year, in homes heated by its system.

Its table, below, runs from 17.8 to 63.8. Ten readings out of eleven lie between 18 and 36; the eleventh comes from a house built around 1900, with no insulation.

These are not our measurements: they are its own, on buildings in Germany and Austria. We reproduce them and say so.

The eleven buildings

Heating consumption alone, read at the meter over at least one year. Household electricity, hot water and ventilation are counted separately, unless stated.

Building	Year, insulation	Area	Measured, kWh/m² per year	Energy certificate, kWh/m² per year
Apartment block, Frankfurt	1900, unrenovated, stone with no insulation	95 m²	22.8; 28.4 in a second apartment	144
Apartment block, Vienna	1973, façade and roof uninsulated	86 m²	34.3, hot water included	not given
House, Bavaria	2018, low-energy	214 m²	17.8, average over six years	42
Apartment block, Frankfurt	1890, fully renovated	50 m²	17.9; 19.0 under the roof	not given
House near Altötting	2022, timber frame	173 m²	22.6	44
House, Strem, Austria	2022, masonry with no external insulation	127.5 m²	21.0	42
House, Litzelsdorf, Austria	2018, central ventilation	178 m²	33.0	48
House, Burgenland, Austria	around 1900, 40 cm of brick with no insulation, only the ground floor fitted	53 m²	63.8	220
House, Burgenland, Austria	2020, timber frame	109 m²	24.5	51
House near Constance	2018, ceilings up to 4.5 m	220 m²	32.9	66
Apartment, Neusiedl am See, Austria	1955, converted in 2019	90 m²	36.2, at a constant 24 °C	not given

The “energy certificate” column gives the consumption that the building’s energy certificate stated.

For the Litzelsdorf house, the manufacturer also quotes a lower reading, 24.5 kWh over the 2020-2021 season: it is the one used in its calculation against the heat pump.

The manufacturer publishes a sheet for each building, with its readings: the eleven sheets, to download from its site.

By type of building

Building	Measured, kWh/m² per year
New, low-energy	18 to 25
Old, renovated	18 to 36
Old, unrenovated	23 to 64

This grouping is the manufacturer’s. The highest value is that of the house built around 1900, where only the ground floor is fitted.

The manufacturer also quotes three readings published by a wood flooring manufacturer, over whole heating seasons: 27 kWh in a new timber-frame house, 44 in a new brick house, 62 in an old, uninsulated building.

To convert to euros, multiply by your price per kilowatt-hour: the simulator does it with the prices in your country, and compares with your current heating.

Why it is less than the calculation says

The usual rule multiplies the power by running hours: 160 W per square metre for five hours, and you arrive at 100 or 120 kWh per square metre per year. The manufacturer puts forward three reasons for the gap:

The heating runs little. 40 to 90 minutes a day on average over the year, according to its readings; its technical data says 1 to 2 hours a day, depending on the building.
You heat on demand, room by room. One thermostat per room, and no screed to keep warm.
The whole surface heats. A large warm surface, rather than a small hot one.

The system is sized for this: 115 W/m² over 75 to 85% of the floor area of each room, which exceeds the room’s demand. That is what makes it possible to heat quickly, then switch off.

What these figures do not prove

These are the manufacturer’s readings, not those of an independent body.
The energy certificate is not a bill. It is a calculated demand, which overestimates the consumption of old buildings: the manufacturer says so itself. The gap with a real heating system would be smaller.
Eleven buildings do not make a statistic. They show what was achieved, not what you will achieve.
The climate matters. Frankfurt, Vienna and Bavaria are not Marseille, nor Amsterdam.
Use matters. A home kept at a constant 24 °C consumes more: that is the last row of the table.
A kilowatt-hour of electricity costs more than a kilowatt-hour of gas, and a heat pump uses fewer of them for the same heat. The page heat pump or carbon underfloor heating sets out the comparison.

The system’s other limits are brought together on the drawbacks page.

What about your home?

Send us your energy certificate and your bills: we tell you, before any order, which row of the table your home resembles. Describe your project.

Updated on 9 October 2026.

Frequently asked questions

Your questions on this subject.

Can electric underfloor heating be the main heating?

According to the manufacturer, yes: ten of the eleven readings come from homes where it is the only heating, the eleventh from a ground floor. The oldest has been monitored since 2012. The condition is a room-by-room design, not a film laid by the metre. The rule in your country counts too: in Wallonia, Flanders, Luxembourg and the Netherlands, a text limits this choice.

Why are these figures so far from the “power × hours” rule?

Because the heating does not run five hours a day. According to the manufacturer, it runs 40 to 90 minutes a day on average over the year, 1 to 2 hours according to another of its pages, room by room, on demand.

Do I need a more powerful electricity connection or a higher contracted capacity?

For the supply connection, very rarely according to the manufacturer: not all the rooms heat at the same time, and it allows 40% of the installed power for the consumer unit and the supply connection. For the contracted capacity, the electrician checks what you have contracted at the survey.

Do these readings apply to my home?

They give an order of magnitude, not a promise. These are buildings in Germany and Austria, measured by the manufacturer itself. For your home, it takes your insulation, your climate and your bills.

What about hot water?

It is not counted, unless stated: the system heats the rooms, not the water. Hot water needs a separate water heater.