The Way We Heat Our Homes Is Changing...
To keep your energy bills lower and for your heating to be as efficient as possible – you will have to make some changes. Now is the time to rethink your heating habits.
When your home has an underfloor heating system it makes more sense to keep your heating on constantly at lower temperatures, rather than turning it off and on again like you would with radiators. Learning to use your new underfloor heating system in this alternative way will certainly go a long way to helping keep your heating costs down.
Benefits of UFH For Homeowners
UFH is becoming more popular and accessible than ever before. This growing market trend is a direct result of the following benefits:
Life Expectancy: UFH is expected to outlive the life of the building with a 50 year warranty on the pipework.
Running costs: UFH is proven to be between 15 – 40 % cheaper to run (vs. radiators) as it covers a greater surface area, it can therefore run at lower temperatures (from 35- 55°C rather than 75°C), which makes it much more efficient.
Maintenance: UFH requires very little maintenance. It does not need to be checked for air in the system or bled.
Interior Design: With UFH being concealed there is freedom of design to configure furniture.
Safety: There are no hot surfaces or hard edges with UFH, providing a safe environment for young children and the vulnerable.
Health Benefits and Cleaner Homes: In the UK each day on average 1 in 8 people in the UK are currently being treated for asthma. Underfloor heating is one of the many ways helping to reduce these figures. UFH uses radiant heat, unlike radiators or Air Conditioning (which use convection heat), this reduces the movement of dust (and dust mites) making it a far more comfortable environment for asthma suffers. Less dust movement also leads to cleaner homes, an added bonus!
Sale of Dwelling: UFH has become more expected in homes worth over £300k and is considered a valuable feature in any home, thus estate agents will normally list it on the highlights of the particulars.
Floor Finishes: Tiles and stone can get very cold. Radiators only heat upwards from where they are installed so the floor is cold and uncomfortable. With underfloor heating the whole floor essentially becomes one big radiator meaning the floor finish can get warm.
The Carpet Foundation carried out research with the Underfloor Heating Manufacturers Association and proved conclusively that carpet can be used over underfloor heating without impairing the performance of the system. This showed that a carpet/underlay with a combined thermal resistance of less than 2.5 togs allows underfloor systems to operate efficiently.
TOP TIPS FOR GENERAL MAINTENANCE
- We recommend turning your system on once during the summer months so it is not dormant for long periods. Just 10 minutes will be fine. Become familiar with your thermostats’ functionality and how your system is controlled. Setting up your comfort settings correctly will maximise efficiencies.
- Check the water in the system is clean. You will be able to observe the colour of the water in the flow meters on the top of the manifold – if this has discoloured to the extent that the red meter is no longer visible, we recommend you contact your plumber to clean the water in the system.
- Rugs and similar temporary floor coverings are not recommended, they will trap heat beneath them and make the system work harder to heat the room. Any temporary coverings are especially NOT recommended over sensitive floors (i.e. Timber) for risk of overheat and damage.
- The system can take quite a long time to heat up from cold. This operation should only happen once or twice a year when moving from summer to winter, however this length of time is to be expected. This will not affect on-going use unless the system is turned off to go cold before reheating.
- Check the system is holding pressure. This can be seen from the pressure gauge on the boiler or the manifold. If the pressure has dropped below 1 bar, top up the system. If it is repeatedly dropping then contact your plumber to discuss this further.
Problem solving
In the unlikley event that you have a problem with your system, please contact us via email on customerservices@wms-uk.com in the first instance including the following details: Name, Address, Postcode, Contact Number, Contact E-mail, Issue(s).