Under floor heating

[loftus75]

As for humidity, why not have a small indoor fountain?

I too considered this until I discovered that the size of the fountain would have to be very large for it too maintain a reasonable level of humidity in relation to the room size. Our lower floor is only about 45 square meters and the waterfall/ fountains droplets would cause a damp zone...sorry guys it sounds a good idea but it won't work in a domestic environment unless you're prepared to have a damp area or a splash zone. A humidifier causes the water droplets to take the form of vapour and becomes airbound in such a way as to spread more evenly throughout the room, subsequently the room never actually feels damp.

the only trouble they find is that it is too slow, in that if it is hot out it takes a while to cool down and if it is cold it takes a while to heat up, in either case it can be up to 12 hours

This exactly why I installed small rads on the circuit. During my research period leading up to my own installation many people that I spoke to that had already installed UFH, complained about the warm up/cool down periods. Using small rads the room has a fine control feature. Of course if the weather has been cold for a long period and suddenly turns warm there is still a cooling off period. However the room temperature can always be reduced by opening a window.

Reiterating a point I made in an earlier post, the rads also allow me to use limiter valves, they look like the normal rad stat valves, but I can control the individual zones much more effectively than a room stat would.

 

[bignev]

Loftus,

I've been folowing your project with interest. I too have researched this for some time and have found a very good supplier with very reasonable priceses. I'm about to install UFH into an extension. I will keep the rest of the house as standard rads. There will be two rooms a conservtory and a first floor bedroom which is over a garage(which may be converted to an annex in the future). I don't quite understand how your system works with a small rad and a limiter valve, are there any diagrams on the net that you have used. I was going to opt for a 6 port manifold, pump and mixer valve (Is the mixer valve the same as a limiter valve). This would allow me to take one pipe run for the conservatory and two for the bedroom with spares for the annex in the future. However you mentioned the fact that you would use your system for larger floor areas! Can you run through your install. Some other questions are. What pipe spacings are you using. Are you closing up the spacing near to windows to take into account heat loss(is this needed). Have you used a metal meat difuser plate between the pipes and floor covering. What type of floor insulation have you used?. I was going to use Jablite, but have been advised to use Kingspan or cellotex (polyurathane)

 

[notb665]

I have wet underfloor heating installed on my entire ground floor, approx 45 sq. metres. It is 3 zones, with 2 timers controlling them (i.e. 1 timer controls 2 zones, and the other the other) via manifolds - this is how I wanted it.

I cursed and cursed and cursed when I dug the floor to about 150mm deep, after taking up quarry tiles. Chucking it all in skips via wheelbarrows and long walks to the skip. It was absolutely back-breaking and I wondered if it would be worth it.

Well, now that it is up and running I am pleased with it. Mine takes about half-an-hour to warm up if I choose to manually control it, otherwise the downstairs keeps at a nice heat due to the programmes on the timer (i.e. it comes on first thing in the morning and switches on and off throughout the day to keep a constant temperature).

The heat is a "different" heat to rads. It is much more homogenous and actually heats upstairs too. The feeling underfoot is amazing.

It was just digging the floor...