Underfloor Heating Frequently Asked Questions - Water underfloor heating

Why should i use warm water underfloor heating ?

Warm water Underfloor heating has been around for over 2000 years, the concept behind Underfloor heating is very simple, using a much larger floor area the Underfloor heating pipes generate a much more evenly spread heat source, meaning the system can run at a lower temperature saving you costs on your fuel bills, Underfloor heating acts like a big evenly spread out radiator gently heating the room from the ground up, this requires approximately 20% less energy to achieve the same level of comfort experienced by a traditional radiator.

Do i need a special boiler ?

No, nearly all types of boiler systems will work with warm water underfloor heating systems they just need to be able to provide enough power, its best to check with your installer who can carry out a on site evaluation to see if your boiler is suitable

Is warm water underfloor heating better than conventional radiators ?

There are many different advantages to using warm water Underfloor heating, the main one is the energy saved by heating a larger floor space at a lower temperature, other advantages include, more freedom of design from the developers point as radiators take up valuable wall, also the convection style heating from a radiator systems means the warmest part of the room is the ceiling void, this obviously being a waste of heating and energy. As the warm water underfloor heating radiates slowly through the floor it gives off a much more even heat.

How does it work ?

Warm water is circulated from the boiler to the electrically switched zone valves this is for all radiators and underfloor heating. When the room stat calls for heat the water then passes through the zone valves and then into the manifold where the water is circulated through continuous lengths of plastic pipe incased in the floor, which is run at a lower temperature (typically 50°C) whereas radiators are (70°C).

The Extension kits are designed to provide a solution for underfloor heating to single zone extensions + conservatories with a proposed concrete or sand and cement screed floor area up to 40m2, the manifold setup provides excellent water temperature control, blending the hot water from your heating system down to the safe temperatures used in warm water underfloor heating systems.

Our kits include the electrical controls and valves that enable your warm water underfloor system to operate independently from your existing heating system, in line with current building regulation part L.

Is warm water heating better than electric heating in new developments ?

For new build extensions and new property developments where the sub-floor is not yet down, the warm water underfloor heating pipework can be incorporated within the cement screeded subfloor, this means that the pipework can be installed directly onto a foil faced insulation i.e. kingspan/celotex,
This means that no further insulation products are required saving both money and installation time. Another big advantage of warm water underfloor heating over electric systems in large areas is that most houses will only have a 100amp fuse rating meaning that a whole house system could possibly draw to much current.

Can a warm water underfloor heating system be fitted into any floor construction ?

Our warm water underfloor Heating kits are primarily designed for fitting into a solid screeded cement based sub-floor. Timber suspended floors do not conduct heat as efficiently as screeded sub floors.

Lots of manufacturers use aluminium emission plates to try to achieve an even floor temperature. This is a very expensive way of installing underfloor heating in timber suspended floors, and at the end of the aluminium plate the temperature is not going to be very high. Clearly there should be a cheaper solution that works without using the very expensive aluminium plates, normally the first floor is usually a suspended timber floor and less heat is usually required as the first floor is supplemented by the heat radiating from the ground floor up.

Between the joists, a 50mm insulation board is normally installed and is supported by battens attached to the joists.
 
Our pipes are then clipped onto the insulation with our special pipe clips, the floor boards are laid on top of the joists, please note the recommend air space distance between the insulation boards and floor boards is 25mm . The joists will need to be notched where the pipe is run.

If your building is 20 years old or has a ground floor suspended floor we recommend getting the timber suspended floor to act as a screeded floor and it will give out more heat, we recommend air gap between the insulation and the floor boards should be filled with a light weight screeded mixture, this infill is normally required in most older type property’s

What are zones ?

Zones are individual circuits of pipe up to a maximum of 100 metres of continuous heating pipe laid without joints each zone can be independently controlled via a thermostat or if required 1 thermostat can control everything

If you require larger heated areas of 20m² or more our multi-zone manifold kits can be used, each zone is laid as a single circuit within the room up to a max of 100 linear metres of pex pipe; multi-zone systems for single rooms can be controlled using a single thermostat.

Multi -zoned manifold kits are also used to heat individual areas, pipework is laid out within the room as 1 or more circuits, with each circuit being no greater than 100 metres of pipe or up 20m² depending on the pipe layouts i.e. conservatories requiring closer spacing’s.

Can i install warm water heating in my new conservatory ?

Our warm water under floor heating is ideal for use in new build conservatories. To comply with the Part L of the new building regulations you must install controls that allow the switching off the underfloor heating when it is not required.
As most conservatories are built with a dwarf wall construction there is not much wall space left to integrate an effective central heating radiator system, making our under floor heating the ideal solution all round.

How do i work out pipe quantity ?

To work out your required pipe length you will need to use the following calculation based on your required pipe spscing being at 150mm centers and covering an area of 70m2

1000/150 =6.6 linear meters of pipe
6.6lm x 70m2 = 462lm of pipe
you would then round this up to the closet full length, in this case you would require 500lm of pipework to cover 70m2 @ 150mm spacings