I have pretty much decided to have wet UFH in new extensions to kitchen & d ining room.
Although they will be part of a larger single kitchen-diner, they are no t directly adjacent. Would 2 separate zones be advisable?
We haven't finally decided about a (new) floor - either ceramic tiles or engineered wood. From a UFH point of view I presume tiles are preferable, being better heat conductors. But how does engineered wood perform with UFH , both thermal properties and long-term stability?
I don't have any experience of UFH with engineered wood - only with ceramic tiles, and that works pretty well.
If you are going to have two areas with different floor surfaces, you may want to run the two sections at different temperatures to take account of the different conductivity. Coupled with that, if the two areas are not adjacent, it would make sense to plan for two separate zones which can be individually controlled.
not directly adjacent. Would 2 separate zones be advisable?
or engineered wood. From a UFH point of view I presume tiles are preferable , being better heat conductors. But how does engineered wood perform with U FH, both thermal properties and long-term stability?
No idea about long term, we only moved in last year, but fairly soon after put down engineered wood flooring with a suitable UFH underlay. It worked a treat through the winter, no problem at all.
Id say nhot as they are not insulatedd one from another.
The key to understanding this is to understand that firstly there is a limit to how hot you can pump a screed, with 50C being an absolute limit, and secondly the efficiency is then dictated by the ratio between the conductivity down to the ground versus to the conductivity up to the room. Adding an insulating layer like wood carpets and indeed a sofa, makes the floor hot, not the room.
So when you add layers that are semi-insulators, the floor get hotter and loses more downwards.
So you need to double up on underfloor insulation really. Ive got 60mm polystrene., I'd have done better with more.
You also need to double up on pipework., I've got mine rated for 50W/sq m & pipes around 300mm spacing. If have done better with more. Like
150mm spacing.
Do that and its fine to use rugs over an engineered floor.
You must zone the UFH zone separately from normal CH and I would NOT bother about a time switch., It takes so long to spin up to temp that once its on, leave it on 24x7 and control it via its own thermostat and temp reducing valve. You may need a separate pump and a relay so that the call for heat that drives the pump also drives the main circulation pump and the boiler without the reverse happening - i.e. driving the UFH pump when all you wanted was normal CH!
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