UFH Design

[RichS]

Is there any free software available that will design the layout of underfloor heating pipework, and if not what is the alternative.

 

Like a number of others on the site I have found it hard to decide on whether first floor heating will be required. I have now come to the conclusion that at least the master bedroom, which sits directly above a 45m sq unheated garage, will probably need some along with the en-suite and bathroom. On the advice I have seen from Nick I realise that the manifold would therefore have to be on the first floor, but trying to work out the pipe runs seems to be a bit of a nightmare.

 

Any ideas ??

[dogman]

I think Loopcad is free

 

I have decided not to put UFH upstairs but will run some 22mm to each room for some sort of heatcoil rad or low temp rad if i need it in future

Edited March 1, 2017 by dogman

[Nickfromwales]

28 minutes ago, RichS said:

Is there any free software available that will design the layout of underfloor heating pipework, and if not what is the alternative.

 

Like a number of others on the site I have found it hard to decide on whether first floor heating will be required. I have now come to the conclusion that at least the master bedroom, which sits directly above a 45m sq unheated garage, will probably need some along with the en-suite and bathroom. On the advice I have seen from Nick I realise that the manifold would therefore have to be on the first floor, but trying to work out the pipe runs seems to be a bit of a nightmare.

 

Any ideas ??

Can you upload floor plans? It's not as much of a nightmare as you think. . 

I bullied Hugh ( @Bitpipe ) until he caved in and fitted it all between himself and the eversohelpful chaps of MBC. 

Draw it out a few times, get it wrong a few times, buy some more paper and keep going until you have no crossed pipes and  just keep pipe runs to <100m and you'll be an UFH designer / fitter in no time. 

It really isn't rocket science, just a bit intimidating for the newbie as most look at it from a whole of house PoV, whereas it seems far more digestible if you just do it one room / space at a time ??

[PeterW]

Loopcad is free for 30 days - it's very good too as you can model all the rooms and also get 3D visualisation of the whole building.  

 

I've done mine 4 times now - proof is in next week when it goes in..!! 

[Jeremy Harris]

With an unheated space below I think a little heat in the bedroom above makes sense.  I've been logging temperatures around our house for a few months now, and with both our bedrooms over heated rooms they stay a pretty constant 1 deg C cooler than downstairs, in winter.  The floors aren't, apparently, cold to walk on upstairs, according to my other half, who tends to walk around barefoot, but I bet they would be if sat over a garage, no matter how good the insulation is underneath.

[RichS]

Thanks for the speedy responses.

 

I will try to attach the floor plans to give some idea of the layout. The boiler, which is now decided as a Vaillant combi will go in the utility and I reckon I can get the ufh pipework up into the cylinder cupboard via the kitchen/utility wall without it being seen.

Ground floor.pdf

First floor.pdf

Edited March 1, 2017 by RichS

[Nickfromwales]

You can get away with just one manifold upstairs ( serving up and down ) if that helps   

[PeterW]

1 minute ago, Nickfromwales said:

You can get away with just one manifold upstairs ( serving up and down ) if that helps   

 

@Nickfromwales if this is only for providing heat to the one room surely using a tee with an automatic air vent above the level of the final floor would be fine ..??

[RichS]

25 minutes ago, Nickfromwales said:

You can get away with just one manifold upstairs ( serving up and down ) if that helps   

Yes, I think that would be best as the only other place for the manifold would be in the utility and that is not very central.

[Nickfromwales]

57 minutes ago, PeterW said:

 

@Nickfromwales if this is only for providing heat to the one room surely using a tee with an automatic air vent above the level of the final floor would be fine ..??

Yes, is the short answer . 

As long as it can be accessed then it's a 'get out of jail' card. 

32 minutes ago, RichS said:

Yes, I think that would be best as the only other place for the manifold would be in the utility and that is not very central.

And  there's MY get out of jail card

upstairs manofold : 1

tee and air vent : 0

 

On a more grown up point, consider @PeterW's solution, as the manifold pump upstairs may give you some noise issues which wouldn't be so evident if it were downstairs. That said, they should be near inaudible anyway as the pumps run very quietly TBH. 

[PeterW]

Just now, Nickfromwales said:

 

On a more grown up point, consider @PeterW's solution, as the manifold pump upstairs may give you some noise issues which wouldn't be so evident if it were downstairs. That said, they should be near inaudible anyway as the pumps run very quietly TBH. 

 

Grown up...? 

 

Has made me consider the options though for the room above the garage as although it's unheated it has a lot of insulation all round it. 

[Bitpipe]

11 hours ago, Nickfromwales said:

I bullied Hugh ( @Bitpipe ) until he caved in and fitted it all between himself and the eversohelpful chaps of MBC. 

 

To be fair, I bought the kit (alu spreader plates and a 500m coil of pipe) plus a pipe decoiler which got returned as I used MBCs.

 

I then started to lay the alu sheets while MBC were finishing joisting out the suspended timber floor over the basement. 

 

I got about half of them down before MBC took over the whole job as I was too slow