Well turn it down then!
Any house has an optimum comfort level. How its achieved is really fairly irrelevant.
The great advantage of UFH is the evenness of the heating which generally means you can run it a bit lower than normal heating, as there are no 'cold spots'
Its not that slow. Need to put the timer on about an hour or two earlier thats all.
What, even when it's cold outside and the unfortunates who have this type of heating need to keep warm?
Maybe, but it's still horrible.
So it *is* slow! That's about on par with a solid fuel Rayburn, also a ghastly method of "heating"!
Don't be daft.
Jeff Please dont get put off the UFH. It is extremely good, like any system it does have drawbacks, one being the recovery time. I run my system using geothermal and 150mm screed (way too thick) and it takes an age to come up to temperature. That said it is a very nice form of heating. Others who I know run it off a gas boiler and the recovery time is much better. Back in the 70's local councils would install UFH in schools which was crazy. They would only turn them on during the day and then off when school closed. The result was that it was freezing in the morning and really hot at the end of the afternoon. This was a control issue rather than UFH issue. Also, if your budget can stretch to it then I would buy digital room stats so that you can set them to slightly different temperatures depending on the time of day, you will recoop the outlay within the 1st 18 months. I am based in Scotland, but often travel to all parts of England with my Kitchen business. If I can offer any free help or assistance during your build then please do call me on 01556 690544. Calum Sabey (NewArk Traditional Kitchens)
Calum,
Thanks for the offer. I could exchange that advice for some accomodation in the Forest of Dean if you are in the area, to save you some money.
In my situation, I tend to keep it running 24 hours at a fairly low level, especially here in a valley where we've been known to suffer frost in July, because I've always considered it a false ecomomy to turn off and on, especially in the fairly typical local stone buildings which tend to act like storage radiatiors, it takes a long time to build up but once the whole building is warm, it's easy to keep it topped up.
If I need rapid radiant heat, the logburner can provide it, and the thermal bank can be topped up overinght on cheap rate electricity. I guess solar panels won't do much in the winter and produce more than I need in the hight of summer, but in spring and autumn I'll be getting reasonable returns. Navitron, who supplied for a recent TV series on "being green" are about 12 miles from here.
Actually, one thing you (or others) may be able to answer now, is on the subject of additive.for bonded thin screed. I've been reading about Fibrin being able to reduce risk of shrinkage and cracking. Would you use it?
Jeff
Jeff Fibrin is a good product in a sense a man made substitute to using horse hair- which used to be very common in walls plastered with lime morter. Personaly I would think the best thing you could do is to PVA the floor with a week solution (available by the gallon from any builders merchant) and then add a small amount to each mix that you do. Some people would also advise acid etching the existing, but on fairly recently laid concrete I dont see the need. Another important consideration is to make your new concrete slightly weaker than the previous mix... this will also help to avoid cracks due to shrinkage. At the end of the day it will only be taking foot traffic and the 100mm below will not be moving so I wouldnt be too concerned. After all outside rendering goes up and down in temperature and is only a few mm thick. Regards Calum NewArk Traditional Kitchens
01556 690544
Minm recc thickness of screed over UFH is 65mm and this can be reduced to 50mm with a fibre reinforced screed ... less than that will simply crack
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