Continental Underfloor Heating heating under floor heating system radiant heat news 270206

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Energy Efficient Products

Underfloor heating (UFH) within the UK domestic market is commonly accepted as an aspirational alternative to radiators, acknowledged as providing greater comfort and interior design freedom. It is also recognised as being suitable for use in care environments, such as retirement homes, hospitals, nurseries and schools due to the absence of hot surfaces and manifolds, which can be easily located within locked cupboards out of harms way. Bill McConnel, Technical Director of Continental UFH considers a further advantage of UFH; its ability to provide a more energy efficient, environmentally friendly heat source than alternative methods.

Traditionally, the energy efficiency of heating systems has been overlooked. Most energy efficiency related legislation has considered the actual construction of a building opposed to the method of heating. It is only recently that the focus has shifted to making heating systems more efficient. This can be seen primarily with the advent of tighter requirements on control systems and the introduction of compulsory gas condensing boilers. The thinking behind the enforcement of condensing boilers is related to the general rule that, the lower the return temperature of water onto the boiler, the more environmentally friendly the boiler will be.

Traditionally, radiator-heating systems have a water flow temperature of 82ºC and a return of 71ºC. This has kept the return temperature high and above condensing temperature, allowing for smaller sizing of pumps and pipework with a slight increase in radiator sizing. UFH, on the other hand, has a much lower operating temperature than a radiator system, requiring only a maximum of 50ºC flow temperature, dependant on floor finishes and pipe spacing. The 50ºC temperature is easily below the condensing temperature of most gas boilers and thus the latent heat from the flue gases can start to be absorbed, leading to greater boiler efficiency and a more environmentally friendly system.

UFH by the nature of its low running temperatures also makes it more suitable for use in conjunction with alternative heat sources such as heat pumps. Heat pumps are most efficient when the temperature difference of the primary heating source (for example the water in the ground array of a geothermal heat pump) and the water flow temperature are not great. The efficiency of the heat pump can be as high as 400-500% if the flow temperature of the heating water is maintained at approximately 30ºC, but if the flow temperature increases to 50ºC the heat pump efficiency will drop to 300%. With careful design and consideration given to floor finishes, pipe spacing, flow rates and thermal insulation of the building then efficiencies of 400% can be achieved with an UFH system.

The benefits of installing UFH in combination with another heat source (such as a condensing boiler or heat pump) have been discussed with the goal of improving energy efficiency. However, UFH doesn’t have to be combined with another heat source to be effective. Used alone, it can also provide significant benefits in creating an environmentally friendly system.

UFH relies largely on a percentage of its heat being transferred radiantly. This means that the UFH heats objects in the room, opposed to the air within it, creating an effect that the room is warmer than the air temperature actually is. This in turn means that the thermostats in a room can be turned down by a degree or two, and are set at a lower temperature than they would be using a convective form of heating such as radiators. This effect alone reduces the energy loss from a building since the internal to external temperature is reduced. Additionally, UFH offers a far more even heat profile than other heat sources as it creates warmth from the floor upward rather than from the ceiling downward.

In summary, UFH used alone or in combination with a modern heat source can provide a more energy efficient and environmentally friendly system than other traditional methods of heating. Continental UFH offers the most comprehensive range of UFH systems in the UK and has an expert technical team on hand to provide customer advice.

Email: info@continental-ufh.co.uk