Floor heating comes in two main types Electric and Warm water, in this section we are concentrating on Warm Water . This type of system works by pumping a controlled amount of water at a controlled temperature through a series of pipes embedded in the floor. The Water can be heated by any heat source or combinations of heat sources many of which can be easily integrated within our Stainless Steel Thermal Store Cylinders. Underfloor heating is by far the best system to use with Heat Pumps and Condensing Boilers as it can operate at the low water temperatures that increase the efficiency of these appliances. Because the floor is a large surface area it only requires to be heated to a low temperature normally around 24c and this is normally enough to supply the total heating requirements for a building. It is a fact that in the coldest areas in the world like Canada and Scandinavia underfloor heating accounts for more than three quarters of central heating systems. Whilst the most suitable floor finishes for floor heating are hard finishes like Ceramic Tiles , Stone , Marble , Slate and Terracotta etc. it will work well with virtually any floor finish. As well as saving on running costs and giving complete of freedom of interior design an underfloor heating system provides a better comfort feeling than a radiator system which works by convection. A floor heating system provides radiant heat which heats the area of the room used by the occupants unlike a radiator system which heats by convection heating the ceiling first.
Heat Distribution diagrams of Underfloor and radiator heating systems - Click to enlarge
Interior Design
A Building with underfloor heating is an interior designers dream with freedom to do what they want with decor without a radiator appearing in the middle of it and freedom to place furniture and drapes without restriction. As the owner of the property the above will no doubt be very important but equally important may be that you will be able to use all that build space that you have spent a lot of money on without restriction.
Design
Good design is very important with an underfloor heating system as very often you only get one chance to get it right. You may be very capable of designing a system and our on line shop gives you a chance of purchasing the materials required at very competitive prices from the comfort of your home or office. On top of this when you purchase our product you get the benefit of the many years of experience in the industry absolutely free just call us or e-mail us and we will help.
Bespoke System Design
Whatever type of property you are building or renovating and no matter where it is we will supply you with a quotation free of charge for all the floor heating materials you need for the project. All our materials are off the best quality available and are tested and approved to the top European and world standards and at the same competitive pricing shown in our on line store. Building Type and Location will be taken into account in our design and we will work guarantee you the temperatures and comfort you need. Floor Type will also be taken into consideration and you can see the most popular ones in our Floor sections but there are many more . If you have a floor type you want to use give us details when submitting a plan and we will design to it or tell you its not feasible. (click for floor sections)
Floor Finish most floor finishes can be used with underfloor heating , some are better than others having less resistance to the heat coming through. However as it natural for heat to rise and the insulation underneath the heating tube has a much greater thermal resistance than virtually anything you can put above it and a common sense approach is taken there should be no problem. We have a list of floor finishes and our comments but if you have another idea please let us know and we will advise you. During the design stage we allow for the worst possible case and then you are free to alter your floor covering.
Zoning
A zone is a heated area of separate control , normally by a room thermostat , we normally use a programmable room thermostat for complete and accurate control of individual zones.
A zone may be a single room or a group of like rooms and zoning is very important in the design of a system as correct zoning will lead to increased comfort and lower running costs. In our quotation we will list what zoning we recommend but the final decision would be yours , however if we feel you are making a mistake we will tell you. As a minimum zoning requirement rooms with an additional heat source such as a cooker or stove should be zoned separately as should areas with a potential for a large solar gain like a conservatory. It is not a good idea to zone rooms with a vastly different floor type or finish together.
Tubing
We use a composite pipe which consists of a continuous welded aluminium pipe between two layers of raised temperature polyethylene pipe . This pipe has many advantages over PEX and Polybutylene pipe in that it is form stable , bends without spring back , and has a complete oxygen barrier. In screeded floors the tubing can be clipped to the floor insulation using either Manual clips,Tacker clips or Clipping rail
Our manifolds are solid brass type as manufactured by Watts Dumser in Germany. They are supplied fully assembled in pairs , Flow and return , and range in size to facilitate connection of underfloor tubing loops from two loops to 12 loops. Each return connection has valve with adjustable flow fate and facility for connection of electrothermatic actuator. Each flow connection has a flow indicator.
The manifolds are supplied complete with :- Brackets with pipe sound deadening connection to manifolds and screws and rawl plugs and stick on labels to identify loops. 1 Pair ball fix lever valves complete with dial thermometers and flat union connection to manifolds. 1 End piece for flow manifold complete with automatic air release valve and hose connection fill point with on/off valve and flat union connection to manifold. 1 End piece for return manifold complete with manual air release valve and drain valve with on/off lever valve and hose union connection. The correct number of cone connectors for easy connection of 16mm tubing . ( 16mm are supplied as standard but can be changed to 18mm or 20mm on request ) Manifolds don’t have to be installed close to a boiler or Thermalstore cylinder , it is best to locate them in a central area probably in a cupboard or under the stairs etc.
Some UFH companies supply mixing valves and pumps as separate items and leave you to figure out how to integrate them and then go and look for and buy plumbing fittings to do so. Our approach is different , for your convenience and peace of mind we supply a Reliance Thermomix this is a prefabricated Underfloor Heating Manifold Control Pack manufactured by Reliance Water Controls . This unit will supply temperature controlled mixed water at a correctly maintained flow rate to an underfloor heating system with a heat output up to 14KW. The unit is supplied complete with:- 1 Thermomix UFH Valve complete with adaptors for quick connection to return manifold ball valve and pump plus ¾ inch BSP connections for heating flow and return pipe work. 1 Grundfos 25/60 Pump Fittings for quick connection of pump to flow manifold ballvalve. Installation guide. The pack can be assembled in a few minutes and the only fittings you need is for connection of the heating flow and return to the two ¾ inch BSP Threads on the mixing valve.
Underfloor heating zones are normally controlled by room thermostats which detect the heat of the room and if the room needs heat the wiring centre is activated and opens the electrothermic actuator(s) for that zone and at the same time it switches on the underfloor heating pump and the boiler* , when you have a number of zones the first zone to call for heat will start this process and the last zone to reach its set temperature will shut down the pump and boiler etc. When using our recommended programmable room thermostats you will be able to set each individual zone at a different time and temperature. With programmable stats you are also able to control the temperature in rooms when they are not being used , we call this set back temperature , set back will let the temperature drop a few degrees when a room is not occupied for example during the day when at work or through the night when you are in bed. We recommend the set back to be 3-4 deg c so the heat will come back to the comfort temperature quickly. Some of our programmable stats allow you to set every day differently while others have a 5day/2day setting. Once you have decided your comfort and set back temperature for each zone there is no need to alter them as the seasons change , remember they are time and temperature stats and when the weather is warm in summer the room will be warm anyway and therefore they wont come on. If there is an area where you want the floor to be warm we can supply a model with a floor sensor so that you can have a floor at a controlled temperature so that it is warm underfoot. If the floor is at or below the ambient room temperature it wont effect the room temperature. see our control section
• This switching described here relates to a system where the heated water is supplied direct from the boiler. If using our Stainless Steel Solar ready Thermalstore Cylinder the wiring centre switches on and off the underfloor heating pump. The boiler is switched on or off by the thermostat on the thermalstore cylinder , the boiler will not be switched on if the heat is maintained in the cylinder by solar gain and or any secondary heat source that may be connected to it for example wood burning stove etc. integration and thermalstore cylinders
• Heat pumps have their own method of control using internal, external and return water temperature sensors. In all cases we will design your system including integration with any heat source or combination of heat sources you decide to use and we will supply you with all the necessary drawings and schematics.
Programmable Wiring centre Electrothermatic actuator Room Thermostat attached to manifold
Insulation
It is very important to have a good level of insulation in a building as it lowers heating bills. The UK Building regulations have consistently increased their recommendations for insulation in buildings over the years and while constructing a property these regulations have to be met. Perhaps it is prudent to go beyond the current regulations as you can be sure that they will catch up on you before long. One thing for sure is that the cost of heating fuel won’t get any cheaper and money spent of insulation now will continue to save you money in the future. The building regulations Part L recommend the use of 70mm Celotex or similar insulation under the underfloor heating tubing and a maximum of 65mm screed above it and this structure will significantly improves the overall DER of a dwelling This recommendation concurs with our criteria for screeded floor installation. We don’t supply insulation except for tracked insulation for floating floor sections
System Cost
We believe that underfloor heating is the best system for any property for many reasons many of which we have talked about already like the freedom of interior design , use of total build space , greater comfort , lower running costs and compatibility energy efficient boilers and renewable energy systems . However we also believe that you should be able to purchase underfloor heating materials or a fully designed bespoke system at a reasonable price. Materials can be purchased from our on line store or we will provide a free of charge without obligation quotation when you submit a plan.
Our quotation will include everything you need for the complete underfloor heating system and a complete list of parts will be supplied with the quotation , you can use this list to compare with other quotes , this will insure that you get value for your money. You will also receive our unique guarantee that we will beat any other like for like quotation.
We believe that it is important to provide a full parts list , you wouldn’t hand out a cheque bricks for your project without knowing how many you were getting so an underfloor heating system should be the same. We will fix the price for a reasonable period which can be extended with a CAD deposit.
We don’t sell boilers but will advise you the boiler output you need and will integrate it into the system for you and supply all necessary schematics. We can quote you for a suitable heat pump but if you want to use a different one we will integrate it into the system including supply of all necessary schematics etc.
We can quote you for a Solar system and our Thermalstore Cylinder is an excellent way to integrate any solar hot water collector into a combined underfloor heating and mains pressure hot water system
As our bespoke systems are supplied with all design work and easy to follow installation manuals and CAD Tubing layout they can be installed by a hands on self builder with the help of a local plumber , and if you encounter a problem you can email or call our help line. We can provide on site training at a reasonable cost , we feel this is cost effective as the job is being completed with the training. We will be happy to provide you with a quotation for commissioning of system at a reasonable cost We will be happy to provide an installation quotation on request.
Guarantee
All our system materials are the very best available and their manufacture is approved to top European and world standards. Our system has a 25 year insurance backed warrenty.
Accessibility Options
Click on the icons below to change the size of the text on the page
Customer Accounts
Personalise your experience by logging in or creating an account below...
