General UFH query

[Moggaman]

Hi. I will be putting UFH downstairs and upstairs in new house. Just wondering 

1. Is UFH downstairs generally one zone..what I’m asking is will there be one stat downstairs ... if so how can u guarantee a constant temp between the kitchen abs back bedroom for instance .

2. What parts of floor do you not put UFH under?... under kitchen island?.. kitchen cabinets?, bathroom /walk in shower?.

 

thanks

 

 

[recoveringbuilder]

We have ufh downstairs, it has 13 zones, large rooms have 3 zones each, bathroom 1 and smaller bedrooms downstairs have 1 as does kitchen, utility and small sitting room. There are no pipes under kitchen units or island and we don’t have it under shower tray.

[Adsibob]

13 zones on one floor! Wow, that must be a big floor. I’m planning 3: one zone for front room and hallway, which has easterly facing windows, one zone for bank of the house which is an open plan kitchen diner and has westerly elevation and one zone for middle of the house which has no windows but should be warmer anyway with less heat requirements due to wood burning stove that will be used occasionally.

[ProDave]

I think people are confusing "zones" and "loops"

 

It is normal to make up anytihing other than very small rooms from a number of different loops of pipe.  13 such loops in a large house in not unreasonable.  But this does not mean each loop is individually controlled.

 

It is common for each room to have it's own thermostat, and this is what is usually called a "zone"  So the thermostat in the living room may control the water flowing to 2 or 3 loops of pipe at once.

 

An alternative strategy is with a modern house being so well insulated is just control each floor as a whole from a single room thermostat.

[joe90]

I have no individual zones just the ground floor (6 loops) controlled by a stat in the hallway, to make the lounge a little warmer I upped the flow to that loop from the manifold.

[Moggaman]

2 hours ago, ProDave said:

I think people are confusing "zones" and "loops"

 

It is normal to make up anytihing other than very small rooms from a number of different loops of pipe.  13 such loops in a large house in not unreasonable.  But this does not mean each loop is individually controlled.

 

It is common for each room to have it's own thermostat, and this is what is usually called a "zone"  So the thermostat in the living room may control the water flowing to 2 or 3 loops of pipe at once.

 

An alternative strategy is with a modern house being so well insulated is just control each floor as a whole from a single room thermostat.

Is the problem  with having stats in multiple rooms, that for instance , u might leave the spare unused room at 17 degrees and then set the other zones u frequent more often to 21 degrees and this in effect causes an airflow from a lower temp to a higher temp?

 

the alternative strategy u refer to is having the whole downstairs on one stat?..and likewise upstairs and hope the house is so well insulated that it retains the heat well?

[Dudda]

In a modern well insulated, airtight house with MVHR, lots of different heating zones are less useful. I'm on about houses insulated to passive or near passive level with an ACH of 1 or lower. If you've the main living areas set at 21 degrees and an unused room set at 17 degrees then the MVHR unit (depending on efficiently and other factors) is probably supplying air to the unused room at 19 degrees. Having all these thermostats and zones then becomes pointless.

 

Depending on the design of the house (eg open plan/ an atrium / gallery / double height / etc. helps heat rise) you might not need heating upstairs. Between the heat rising and the MVHR unit dispersing the heat around the building the upstairs will probably be warm enough. Again this is presuming its well insulated and airtight. Otherwise you've one stat downstairs and another upstairs.

 

 

[Temp]

One zone downstairs is probably fine if they are all living rooms. I would put each bedroom and bathroom on its own zone so it can be turned on/off/up/down at different times.

 

We find it nice to crank up the bathroom temperature in winter but leave bedrooms at 18. You can get stats with remote sensors for bathrooms.

 

Now our kids are away at university the UFH in their rooms are off and their doors shut.