Underfloor heating has increased in popularity over recent years with both installers and end users alike and this trend is forecast to continue with manufacturers launching innovative ways of retrofitting underfloor heating systems, and bringing Hi-Tech energy saving controls to the market.

Underfloor heating has come a long way since the Romans first invented the principle. Today, there are various methods of underfloor heating, but this article focuses on wet systems.

A wet underfloor heating system comprises of a heat source, which sends hot water to a manifold and pump where it is blended down to between 40-60˚C depending on variables such as floor coverings, screed depth and the heat source that will be used. The water is pumped around a system of pipes laid in the floor, heating a thermal mass. The thermal mass is typically a cement screed on the ground floor, or aluminium spreader plates on floors with joists. The heat is transferred from the thermal mass to the room using convection as the primary heat transfer method. This provides the most comfortable and even warmth of any heating system.
Installation is relatively straightforward, and systems require little maintenance. Once the system has been installed, underfloor heating offers numerous benefits to the end user.

This makes underfloor heating the perfect partner for new economical and sustainable heat sources such as ground and air source heat pumps and bio mass boilers, which are becoming increasingly popular in both the commercial and domestic market place. Helped along by government legislation aiming to create zero carbon homes by 2016 and commercial buildings by 2019, the partnership between renewable heat sources and underfloor heating will continue to grow as the industry strives to reach these targets.

Control is key
Underfloor heating allows user control over both time and temperature of each individual room or zone within the building. This means that the heating patterns of the building can be customised to mimic the way in which the rooms or zones are used.

Separating the building into individual rooms or zones means there is no need to heat them all at the same time. For example, if only the lower floor of a building is used during the daytime and therefore needs heating, a traditional system, with a centralised thermostat would heat both floors. But the controls used in an underfloor heating system enable the user to decide what room to heat and when. So there is no need to waste energy and money heating the second floor of the building when it is not in use.

Manufacturers offer a variety of controls from simple dial temperature controls in the room, meaning that time is controlled at a central wiring centre, to state-of-the-art touch screen time and temperature programmers. A more recent development is networked controls, which can be connected to the Internet or mobile phone and controlled from outside the building. As with most things, the more accurately you can measure the variables, in this case temperature and time, the better control you have over the costs.

Conclusion
Underfloor heating has grown in popularity within Commercial, Domestic and Public new build and renovation. As the use of underfloor heating has grown, so has the technical support offered by manufactures to installers and designers. For architects and designers some manufacturers offer a design service for the system which produces detailed CAD plans of pipe circuit layout and detailed commissioning data, such as flow rates for the individual circuits to make sure the end user gets the best performance from their system. 

JG Speedfit, Horton Road, West Drayton UB7 8JL  Tel: 01895 425333
www.speedfit.co.uk