North Leeds Plumbing & Heating – Home Improvement and DIY Advice

Archive for the ‘Underfloor Heating’ Category

When installing your own underfloor heating system you need to follow 5 steps. Firstly you need to attach the pre-assembled manifold to the wall, then you must prepare the floor area with insulation; Marmox is an excellent product and lay the fixing rails, in uniform lines, to the base and the wall.

Step three is to lay the actual pipe work and this is where you must consider whether you have the necessary experience to carry out the work yourself. If you have pipe work skills then by all means lay it yourself, but if you have any doubts then you really need to consider employing a plumber, as the pipes need to snake in even rows from one side of the room to the other, with a break in the middle for the thermostat controller. All the bends must have watertight joints, as you certainly do not want to find that the system is leaking once you have laid the floor. You are advised to use one or more insulation clips on all bends. A plumber will weld the joints if he is concerned about leaks and the pipes need to be evenly spaced to ensure that the underfloor heating system runs to its optimum efficiency.

The pipe work should then be connected back to the manifold and finally, using the brackets supplied, fix the pipe work to the fixing rails to add stability.

There are five steps to fitting a wet underfloor heating system. Firstly you need to fit the manifold, which is supplied pre-assembled, to the wall.

Step two is insulating the floor surface and securing fixing rails to the floor. There are various options when it comes to insulation, but make sure that you get a good brand that is waterproof. The supplier that you buy your underfloor heating system from should be able to recommend a suitable product and this can be fixed to the floor with normal tile adhesive.

Once this is dry you need to consider the fixing rails, which need to be laid out in parallel lines along the floor to give the brackets that sit over the pipe work a fixing point. Remember, the pipe work will snake around the floor and rest against these fixing rails, so you must ensure they are suitable for the amount of pipe work you are going to use. There are various online sites that will give you pointers on how to set out your fixing rails, but you do need to make sure they are well fitted and that the ends are secured to the walls. They should also be fixed to the insulation with adhesive.

Make sure that the adhesive fixing all these elements dries out completely before you move onto the next stage or you could have unwanted movement, which could be detrimental to the efficiency of the completed system.

If you have decided to install your own water underfloor heating system you will need to follow the five main steps to achieve a professional result. Some of these steps you will be able to carry out yourself, while for others you may need to employ a local professional to assist you.

Step one is to fit the manifold to the wall. If you buy this from a specialist DIY underfloor heating company it will come pre-assembled, which is going to be a great time saver for you and reduce the level of knowledge you need to install it. This piece of equipment is the controller, which draws the required volume of water for the underfloor heating into the system from your main boiler and links to the thermostat sensor. This determines how much heating the water needs in order to match the system’s settings. The water passes through the heating pipes and the temperature is adjusted as necessary. From here the water enters the pipes under the floor and creates the warmth that passes up from the floor and warms the room. The temperature is set to a maximum of 65°C and cannot be increased beyond this.

The unit is fairly straightforward to fit, you simply need a drill, some rawlplugs suitable for the type of wall you are fitting it too and the correct screws to ensure that the unit is securely mounted.

Finding the best deal on underfloor heating system is no different than with any other product, it is all about research and shopping around. Start by deciding what you want, whether you are looking at having an electric underfloor heating system or a water underfloor heating system. Make sure you know the quantities you need and decide whether you are going to have the system installed from start to finish by professionals or whether you are going to do the donkey work yourself and just bring in a tradesman when necessary.

Next, you should use a search engine to find as many companies as possible that offer the service you are looking for and contact each one for a quote. Some will have a quotation system on their websites, while others will need you to call them. When the quotes start coming in, make sure you really are comparing like for like. Don’t overlook costs for items like delivery and fitting and make sure that you understand the quote.

Ask as many questions as you need, with each company, consider things like what happens if the floor takes longer to fit than their quote allows for and what will they charge; also be sure to check what guarantees do they give for the work. Sometimes it may not be the cheapest underfloor heating company that offers the best guarantee and workmanship, so it could be worth paying a little more to use that company, because in the long run, you may actually save money.

Marmox is a great example of insulation for your underfloor heating system and is specifically required in the case of electric systems. When installing an electric underfloor heating system you need to lay a layer of insulation onto the concrete floor, then lay the heating mat or wire on top, which prevents the heat being lost into the ground below and instead forces it in an upwards direction, which in turn heats the floor, giving the room a lovely warm feel.

Marmox insulation is made of waterproof polystyrene and is perfect for the job, as it is lightweight and easy to work with. Fix it to the concrete floor with the same adhesive as you use to lay the tiled floor. You will find that your cost savings will be enhanced by using the correct insulating material. Heat mats or wire systems are the simplest to install and fixing a layer of insulation board first doesn’t really add to the complexity of the project, but does make an overall improvement in the effectiveness of your underfloor heating system. 

The boards produced by Marmox are very strong and are specifically designed to be safe under the floor, so they will not cause the floor to sink or give. They are also waterproof, so can be used on walls and ceilings too, which will make heating the room very efficient. In the long run this will considerably reduce your electricity bills.

Floors of slate, marble and ceramic tiles are among the most sought after and luxurious additions to any bathroom. However opulent the room might already be, they look fantastic, instantly denote the homeowner as a person of taste and wealth and ensure that the bathroom is one of the centrepieces of the home.

However, there is a drawback to all these luxurious bathroom fittings. Unless you live in an extremely warm climate, at some time or other you are going to feel cold, either getting into or out of, the bath or shower.

To get around this problem and to rid the owner of the temptation to haphazardly distribute bath mats all over his or her palatial bathroom, more and more people are beginning to appreciate the benefits of bathroom underfloor heating. What’s more, today you do not have to be a millionaire to be able to afford one.

The actual installation is comparatively straightforward. Located just underneath your bathroom floor, a system of cables is embedded in mortar. These run off the normal domestic mains supply and heat the floor tiles, ensuring a constant source of heating.

While many will immediately telephone a certified engineer, installing the system is really no more difficult than laying a new floor. Indeed, the perfect time to incorporate the system in your bathroom is at the same time as you lay your new floor.

Just before your designer bathroom tiles are to be glued and grouted, the cables are laid out in a grid in a way that ensures the surface area is systematically covered. The entire system is then wired to an external outlet, the tiles are laid, the circuit switched on and there you have it, a perfect temperature-controlled bathroom.

There are two main choices when it comes to electric underfloor heating and heating cables and mats is one of them. Heating cables are an older style technology and can be quite difficult, especially if you are looking for a DIY underfloor heating system. You have to be accurate with the spacing of the heating cables and they have to be secured to the floor. You need a degree of experience to ensure that you get the cables spaced properly or you will create problems for the future.

Heating cables are excellent in small rooms, such as bathrooms, but not so clever when working with large areas. However, heating mats have been introduced and these have taken away some of the issues and made electric underfloor heating systems somewhat easier to install. Small heating mats have been used to keep pet reptiles warm for a long time and now the technology has been scaled up to be used in the home. As simple as it sounds, the heating mat is simply unrolled and laid across the floor. This is much easier for you to deal with if you are looking at a DIY underfloor heating system. In effect, the old style heating cables have been pre-laid into a mat and now you just have to lay the mat, which can be cut to work around obstacles like kitchen islands and doorframes. The speed and simplicity of laying this system is a definite selling point.

“The hearts that love will know never winter’s frost and chill, summer’s warmth is in them still,” said Eben Eugene Rexford. Since the physiology of a human person cannot stand too much cold, inventions that provide warmth have been given high priority. A wood underfloor heating system is a particular example of this claim.

Before a household can install wood underfloor heating, a number of considerations must be taken into account: ensure that the wood was bought from a trustworthy source and that it contains the least amount of moisture. Knowing the wood’s specific percentage of moisture content is essential since it is inversely proportional to the amount of surface temperature it can take; the higher the moisture, the lower the temperature. Wood with good quality having only between 8 and 10 percent of moisture can take an average surface temperature between 28 and 30 degrees. Apart from these considerations, expertise is also needed in installing wooden underfloor heating.

Many different ways of wood floor installation are possible. Some make use of the combination of raft, batten, and secret nail; or plyboard plus secret nail; while others use only glue. Among these methods, the use of raft and batten, bearing the measurement of 425 millimetre to 525 millimetre centres relative to the wood thickness, is most recommended. The most important point in installing this type of underfloor heating system is for the heating elements to be in contact with the underside of the floor once it is laid down.

The solid wood floor, although a little pricey as compared to the engineered board, also contains minimal moisture and can also be utilised in the installation of wood underfloor heating systems.

“In the winter, warmth stands for all virtue”, wrote Henry David Thoreau.

In an underfloor heating system, the floor radiates heat. It does not function like the central heating systems where the emitters are installed on the walls. In the underfloor heating systems, both water and electricity based variants are available. The former version makes use of electric cables whereas with the latter, warm water flows through a duct to heat the floor. There are many benefits of an under floorheating system especially the water variant which makes an efficient use of electricity.

In the rooms heated with underfloor mats, the amount of comfort is the same even if the room temperature is 2 degrees less than in those heated with conventional radiators. Since there is no need to mount the convector on the wall, there is a large space in the room for placing furniture. It is also easy to clean the rooms as there is no appearance of dust traps in the spaces occupied by radiators. Since the radiator is installed under the floor, the wet portions of bathroom, kitchen and shower areas dissipate easily due to the heat. There are also some simple disadvantages of using these radiators like a slow response time.

The wooden floor installed with such a system takes a time period of 30 minutes to warm up completely, whereas a concrete floor takes several hours. When the underfloor heating system is used to provide background heating, a high heating time with concrete floors causes problems. The method of construction of the floor is quite important as a chunky underlay with laminates can block the emission of heat. A very important thing is not to use a rug with these systems as it insulates the floor and decreases the emitted heat. So, what are you waiting for? Get underfloor heating today.

Stone floors are usually expected to be cold, but not with travertine floor tiles.

The use of travertine tiles as a construction material has a long history. Even the builders of our past were captivated by the beauty and practical use of travertine. The use of the stone in today’s construction industry is a mere continuation of a process begun long ago.

Travertine is one of many kinds of sedimentary rocks, formed long ago, thanks to the non-stop accumulation of matter in hot springs and rivers.

Widely used in the construction of homes, travertine is a popular means of enhancing the look and overall design of a dining area, kitchen or bathroom. The sheer beauty of the stone’s appearance, in addition to its light weight, are some of the many reasons Travertine is so widely used.

The porous nature of travertine makes it an excellent material for underfloor heating. A travertine tile has natural openings and indentations where water once flowed. So, for an area that requires heating, travertine tiled flooring is perfect.

Heating materials are usually placed right beneath the material, which serves as the floor covering. The heating materials, a mesh sheet or ribbon, are usually designed to be very thin. This allows them to be easily inserted and installed beneath the coverings, (in this case, travertine tiles).

The travertine tiles are then placed over the heating material and the heating process can proceed without any hindrance from the covering. The heat then simply passes through the many openings and grooves of the tile, making the term ‘Stone-Cold’ an inaccurate description!