Underfloor Heating

[pinkjudy45]

We have just had an extension on the back of our house and whilst we had all the mess we thought we would have underfloor heating put down on the whole of the ground floor, but it never seems warm enough downstairs - we have just one thermostat in the hall and the upstairs radiators are boiling hot (we've had to turn the thermostats down on them because they get too hot). Does anybody know of an answer to this lack of warmth downstairs because I'm fed up with going to the bedrooms to get warm.

[Old_Geezer]

It sounds like a need to balance the radiators to ensure they all warm up more or less together. But I have no experience of under floor heating. A plumber should be able to set it up properly though.

[ladybirder]

Are you saying you have only one thermostat to control your upstairs heating which is not underfloor and your downstairs heating which is?

[pinkjudy45]

We have one thermostat for the whole house which is located in the hall

[pinkjudy45]

I forgot to say the radiators upstairs have a thermostat on each of them

[ladybirder]

So you don't have a thermostat to control your underfloor heating? That seems odd to me but I'm no expert. Our flats all have underfloor heating. We have 3 thermostats which cover areas, i.e. one covers hall and bathroom, another covers bedrooms and one covers living/kitchen rooms. Without a thermostat I don't understand how you control it. Hopefully The Builder will see this and be able to explain for you.

[EcclesCake]

I'm surprised too that there is only one thermostat for both rads and underfloor heating.

We have a combination of both and have thermostatic control over various zones within the house.

[pinkjudy45]

Thanks for the answer Ladybirder, I think we will have to get the plumber that installed the heating back again.

[pinkjudy45]

Also thanks to EcclesCake.

[ladybirder]

Zones! That's the word I was looking for Eccles, not areas:-)

pinkjudy why not ring your plumber (shouldn't that be heating engineer?) and ask him how you control it.

[KARL]

It is not entirely clear from your description but presumably your underfloor heating is in the form of hot water pipes fed from the boiler which also feeds the upstairs radiators. OG's reply is correct in that as a single system a balance needs to be created between upstairs and downstairs - turn down the valves out of the radiators so everything heats up equally. But I would expect the underfloor heating to take more flow than the radiators but this depends on the pipe size and whether they are throttled and to what degree. ladybirder's implication is also correct in that it might be better operated as two separate systems, but that should not be necessary. However, underfloor heating is different in that for comfort reasons it is run at a lower temperature and the reaction time is therefore longer and, ideally, this means running it continuously. If you have rugs or carpets on the floor then you are actually insulating the room from the heat. The most efficient way to benefit from quick transfer of the heat in the floor is by tiling the floor, parquet is a mild insulator. In winter the UK is a cold place and to heat a dwelling intermittently (e.g. only morning and afternoon) will not keep it warm, especially if underfloor heating is below a parquet or carpet. No matter which form of central heating you use, intermittent heating is inefficient and also leads to problems such as condensation/dampness.

[pinkjudy45]

Yes your right Ladybirder I will ring the heating engineer/plumber and hope something can get sorted out.

[EcclesCake]

Not sure I agree with the last part of Karl's post.

My heating comes on twice a day, the variance between on and off is rarely more than 2.5C because we are well insulated.

Condensation is not a concern either as we have a ventilation system throughout the house.

[ladybirder]

Yes Karl, we were told to never turn it right down and we don't. My flat is always warm and the bills are very reasonable.

[pinkjudy45]

Thanks Karl for detailed explanation, and we have been turning the wall thermostat down at night purely because it's too hot in the bedrooms if we don't, perhaps a second wall thermostat downstairs would be the answer?

[ladybirder]

So if you turn the thermostat right down upstairs pj, what happens downstairs?

[pinkjudy45]

The heating goes off all over house when the wall thermostat gets turned off.

[Sipowicz]

Ladybirder, I read it as thermostatic radiator valves on upstairs radiators!

[Zacs-Master]

Yep, rounds like TRV's on the upstairs rads would be the answer.

[pinkjudy45]

That's correct Sipowicz

[pinkjudy45]

What are TRVs please ZacsMaster