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Underfloor heating foil buying guide

Updated: October 2026

You are choosing a first foil heater for a laminate or engineered-wood floor in a UK home, and the products in front of you are not one item with three prices. This underfloor heating foil buying guide puts the decision in order: supply, the floor finish that listing names, the free area, the thermostat, then insulation and who connects the circuit. The [electric underfloor heating foil comparison](/hub/heating/underfloor-heating-foil) holds the nine amazon.co.uk listings, the shelf prices, and the star lines. If you buy through our links, a qualifying purchase can earn us a commission at no extra cost to you.

You are choosing a first foil heater for a laminate or engineered-wood floor in a UK home, and the products in front of you are not one item with three prices.

Our top picks

Adept Adept dial-thermostat foil kit

Best overall

Adept Adept dial-thermostat foil kit
9.6/10about £54.99
Adept Adept 10 m² foil kit

Preis-Tipp

Adept Adept 10 m² foil kit
9.0/10about £164.99
On this page

230 V kit, loose film, or 12 V

The first split is the supply, because a motorhome film will not stand in for a house circuit. In this set the Adept kits are treated as 230 V dwelling products even where the title does not print a voltage figure. The two Minco films do print 200–240 V at 50/60 Hz. Adept’s kept kits run from £54.99 to £164.99 and state 140 W/m², with aluminium foil over a heating cable on fibreglass mesh. Minco is a loose film you may shorten every 25 cm, with no thermostat stated and no star line, at £25.99 for 0.5 m² or £35.99 for 1 m². The 12 V underfloor heating film for a motorhome page stays with that single listing.

Floor finish the listing actually names

Warmup, a different maker, allows carpet on its own foil heater only with that brand’s overlay, and it does not recommend wood thicker than 18 mm for its own mat. No kept Adept listing states 18 mm. If your boards are click laminate, Minco is the listing that uses the words click laminates. Adept says laminate, and your board maker still has to allow electric underfloor heating under that product. Tiles are not named on these Adept rows, and this foil is not a cable you bury in screed. The timber floating floor is set out on the underfloor heating foil under laminate page.

Area, thermostat, and price bands

Adept says kits of 13 m² and larger, and the 11 m² kit, contain two mats. A review on the black touchscreen line, dated 17 August 2024, describes a large order that arrived as four boxes of 12 m with four thermostats for one living room. Where the title states an area and a thermostat, £89.99 buys 3 m², about £30 a stated square metre. £99.99 buys 3.5 m², about £29. £134.99 buys 7 m², about £19. £164.99 buys 10 m², about £16.50. That figure is £164.99 divided by 10. £129.99 states a 0.5 m width, not an area. Approved Document L, the 2021 edition with 2023 amendments, is the text in force on 15 October 2026. The 2026 edition starts 24 March 2027.

Insulation and who connects it

Approved Document L caps downward loss from a ground floor, or a floor exposed to outside, at 10 W/m². It asks for at least 1.25 m²·K/W where the system runs intermittently or the floor sits over an unheated room, and it points electric heating on an intermediate floor to not less than 0.5 m²·K/W. Warmup asks for at least 6 mm of soft insulation under its own foil heater. Adept’s listing does not state 6 mm. None of these listings states a saving on the electricity bill. The IET’s page points to BS 7671:2018+A4:2026. This page does not quote an RCD milliamp figure or a clause number, because that standard text was not opened. The laying sequence is on the how to install foil underfloor heating page.

Common questions

Do I buy a 230 V kit or a 12 V film?
Buy the 12 V film for a camper, motorhome, caravan, boat, or similar vehicle on a leisure battery. The Adept kits and the Minco films in this set are the 230 V house products. The listing does not describe connecting that film to a 230 V house circuit.
Does the Adept kit suit carpet?
Adept’s bullets name laminate or engineered wood, on concrete or wood floors. Carpet is not stated. Warmup’s overlay and the 12 V film’s carpet line do not clear an Adept mat. If the finish is carpet, this Adept set is the wrong shortlist.
What area do I measure?
Measure the free floor you will heat, and leave fixed units uncovered. A 3 m² kit matches a clear patch of about 3 m². Adept says the mat can be shaped, and kits of 13 m² and larger, plus the 11 m² kit, contain two mats. If the title does not state square metres, ask the seller before you plan the room around a guess.
Is a thermostat in the box?
The 3 m², 10 m², 7 m², 3.5 m², and dial Adept kits name a thermostat. The £129.99 Adept row, part HM140/7/T2670W, does not name one in the title, even though the part number ends in the same T2670W suffix as the white programmable kits. Both Minco films leave the thermostat unstated. The 12 V film includes a 12 V M3 thermostat. Approved Document L still expects a room thermostat with a manual override.
Is 140 W/m² enough to heat the room?
Every kept 230 V listing in this set states 140 W/m². Minco adds plus or minus 10% and a maximum surface of 45°C. Warmup’s line that 140 W/m² suits most heating needs is about Warmup, not a test of Adept. Adept’s position is that the whole heat load depends on the heat loss of the room. No listing states a percentage off the electricity bill.
When is the electrical work notifiable in England?
In England, regulation 12(6A) makes a new circuit, a replacement consumer unit, or an alteration in a bath or shower zone, or a room with a pool or sauna, notifiable. Laying the mat on a dry bedroom floor is not, by itself, that list. The connection still has to meet Part P and BS 7671. Wales, Scotland, and Northern Ireland use their own rules.

Related pages

Sources

Public UK sources and the amazon.co.uk listings in this comparison. Listings captured 15 October 2026. Page updated October 2026.

  1. Approved Document P, 2013 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  2. Approved Document L, 2021 with 2023 amendments (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  3. Approved Document L, 2026 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  4. Building Regulations 2010, regulation 12 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  5. Consumer Rights Act 2015, section 9 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  6. IET, BS 7671 (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  7. Warmup foil heater (retrieved 15 October 2026)
  8. amazon.co.uk listing extract, Adept 3 m² foil kit (retrieved 15 October 2026)