Underfloor Heating
What is a Underfloor heating?
That's easy to explain.
Underfloor heating is a great way to keep your home warm. It’s lovely to walk on, it distributes heat evenly around each corner of the room, and it frees your walls from radiators, making more space for paintings, shelf units or even picture windows – or allowing you to create a minimalist look if you wish.
How does it work?
Heated water flows through tubes or pipes that are set within the makeup of the floor itself. Typically, one loop of pipe will cover the whole floorspace of a single room. A number of these pipes are fed with warm water from a central manifold that’s connected to the heat generator. The temperature in separate rooms can then be individually monitored and controlled by room thermostats.
A heat pump water heater is an extremely efficient device that takes advantage of ambient heat in the air to heat the water. Heat pumps are not dependent on weather, roof space or other variables to operate and have been in common use commercially for more than 20 years.
Benefits of Underfloor heating
Whether you’re tired of waking up to icy-cold floors or you’re simply looking for a more cost-effective emitter system, there are umpteen reasons to install underfloor heating. We’ve listed below the main benefits of underfloor heating and what it can bring to your home.
Little maintenance required
Providing they’re installed correctly, underfloor heating systems need very little seeing to. Since they’re installed beneath the floor, they’re also less likely to be damaged.
Can be used with most floor surfaces
Contrary to popular belief, radiant heating can now be installed with the vast majority of floor surfaces provided you choose the correct system.
Increase the value of your home
As the preferred emitter system in South Africa, having underfloor heating installed may give your property the extra benefit over others’ when it comes to selling.
Ideal for open space living
Naturally underfloor heating eliminates the need for any radiators throughout the home and frees up space that can be used for extra furniture or even just to keep the room feeling de-cluttered.
Flexibility in room temperature
Thanks to each room having its own dedicated thermostat there’s no obligation for one room to be kept as warm as others.
Underfloor heating is more hygienic
With radiators and convection heating, floors remain cold and dampness at ground level can occur. This is the perfect breeding ground for the dreaded dust mite.
Speak to our Underfloor Heating Specialist
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Type of Floor System
Heated water is circulated along reinforced polythene piping with separate circuits for different rooms and areas. Each circuit is connected to a manifold with regulating valves and a thermostat so different rooms can be heated to different temperatures and at different times, minimising unnecessary energy use.
The manifolds distribute water at temperatures of 35-60ºC which in turn heats the floor to a comfortable constant between 18-29oC. When the room reaches a pre-set temperature the thermostat signals to a valve on the manifold to close the circuit in that room. There are three main types of wet underfloor heating:
Solid Floor
This is the common choice for new build properties. The underfloor heating is permanent as it is built into concrete or screed floors. Insulation is laid first, with the pipes then put down in a specific pattern before the concrete or screed is poured. Many types of floor finish can then be overlaid including wood, stone, tiles, vinyl or carpet.
Suspended Floors
The heating system is inserted between the joists or battens in the suspended floor, with suitable insulation below. The casing usually consists of a tongue and groove floor board to allow a range of floor coverings to be fitted, with the same considerations as above.
Floating Floor
This is the quickest type of underfloor heating to install as there is no requirement for screed or concrete to set. This system can also be used above an existing solid or wooden floor and so is ideal for retrofitting. However, the floor level could be significantly raised. The pipes are inserted into preformed heat plates which rest in grooves in the insulation.