UFH commissioning

[icornish]

Hi all,

Background... multi-year renovation plan in progress, with first extension and 1 ground floor room stripped, floor removed and decent subfloor put in. Insulated, and have laid the pipework, connected to manifold, and filled with water and pressurised it all. Screed has gone in and is now slowly curing.

The next phase (2) sees the relocation of boiler and replacement of heating system, but that will be next summer (finances permitting), prior to starting the next extension and remaining ground floor renovation (Manifold etc was sized to support full system!).

Question - the manifold is mounted in our under stair cupboard, onto a solid wall. The other side of that wall is a radiator that comes out with phase 2. In the interim, I'd like to connect the UFH manifold and pump/control system to that radiator. The UFH system has a temperature controlled blending valve to control the temperature of the water in the UFH pipework.

Due to the age of the house, the heating is on almost all the time at the moment whilst we are renovating it (and living in it too!) and upgrading insulation etc etc

To summarise:-
1) Is it OK to connect the UFH pump/manifold to the existing radiator? Anything specific I should/should not do? Non-return valves?
2) From a wiring perspective, I plan to connect the control centre to just the mains and control valves. Its a Heatmiser UH1-W. Do I need to connect it to the Heating Enable Terminals on the boiler?

Appreciate guidance - I probably will not be able to do this all myself, and will be getting a sparky in for the electrical side, but just want to be a little clearer on what is feasible.

 

[icornish]

Should also have added that the UFH is only being added as a backup to the great big woodburner we have in the room already, and as a future-proofing investment in case we move on, so will not be main source of heat in that room/space

 

[Agile]

If you want the UFH to work properly then it will need to be connected properly and you dont know how to do that then you will need to get a professional to help you!

Tony

 

[freeflow]

As its only going to be a temporary set up the UFH will work if its supplied by the radiator feeds. I wouldn't bother wiring in the control centre either at this point, just provide power to the manifold pump to allow the loops to circulate.

The UFH will only warm up when the central heating is on!

 

[mysteryman]

Try it and see what happens. The UFH will be plumbed as a branch of the CH anyway. The worst would be that it could starve the adjacent radiator of heat. You could wire up the UFH pump so it runs only when the CH is on.

 

[Agile]

If the UHF is not properly connected up and commissioned then there is the possibility that the UFH could be supplied with water at too high a temperature and damage the floor!

 

[icornish]

System was plumbed in today and the floor is now being slowly warmed up.
As per a previous poster, there is a temperature control to blend the hot water coming in from the radiator with the colder water being returned from the coils.

As per screed instructions, I am keeping the temp low to start with (~30deg), and slowly ramping it up. According to the embedded thermometer, the slab is currently at 15 degrees, having gone from 10 degrees before starting to pump warm water around a couple of hours ago.

As I said, this is a temporary measure until I save the money to fund the full boiler relocation and plumbing re-vamp planned for next summer.

 

[freeflow]

Glad it seems to be working OK

The new extension looks excellent, just let me know when you want the boiler shifting.

Cheers Richard