UFH manifold in a stud wall

[Moonshine]

Has anyone installed a manifold in a studwork wall cavity before with an access hatch.

I am using 89mm studwork which gives a decent space and also the location i am thinking i could make this cavity a bit bigger.

My main worry is making the access panel looking o.k in a plasterboard wall, though it would be behind a door that would mainly be open.

Thoughts?

[Moonshine]

It would be a 6 port manifold

 

[Moonshine]

1656013646919_Unitherm Data Sheets V4 Manifold.pdf

[PeterW]

Pump won’t fit in a stud wall. 

[Moonshine]

17 minutes ago, PeterW said:

Pump won’t fit in a stud wall. 

 

I have the oppotunity to make the cavity deeper, this pump looks 125mm if i made the cavity 140mm could i fit the manifold and pump in?

 

[TerryE]

23 minutes ago, Moonshine said:

Has anyone installed a manifold in a studwork wall cavity before with an access hatch.

I am using 89mm studwork

 

As Peter suggests this doesn't really make sense practically.  The manifold might only be 50cm wide but you've got the pump return on the LH side so you are going to have to cut out at least one stud vertical which will then need cross bracing top and bottom and the bottom bracing will then impede the UFH out and return runs.

 

Have you got 60 or 40cm stud centres? If 40 then getting it in is going to be problematical.  OK if you really want to lose your UFH out and return runs within the studwork, then you may be able to notch back the CLS uprights to 40mm and brace/support the two cutouts sections lengths of CLS at 90°.  That would allow you set back the manifold and pump 50mm or so and allow the UFH pipework to run cleanly within studwork, but then so you will still need to box out the manifold and pump area with a shallow cover maybe 80-100mm deep.

 

Even so, this is all very tight and for very little gain IMO.  Also heaven help you if you need to do any maintenance !! 

[ProDave]

I fitted one of mine in a void made for it about 160mm deep.  To achieve that I rotated the pump for least protrusion forwards.

[MikeSharp01]

I would take care mounting a pump on / near thinned out studs as vibration / transmission of the hum may be an issue. 

[Moonshine]

one of these has caught my eye

 

https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/underfloor-heating-manifolds-and-pump-sets/underfloor-heating-manifolds/medium-recessed-waterproof-manifold-cabinet/

 

https://cdn.wundatrade.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/T08-Waterproof-Manifold-Cabinet-1.pdf

 

Has anyone used one of these?

[Kelvin]

In the last house I created a deeper void on the stud wall and used the top of the void as a shelf with a nice bit of oak I picked up for free. We had two manifolds but the other one was in the downstairs loo and I did the same in there again creating a shelf. I couldn’t make it all fit in our stud walls. 

[Trw144]

53 minutes ago, Moonshine said:

one of these has caught my eye

 

https://www.wundatrade.co.uk/shop/home/underfloor-heating-manifolds-and-pump-sets/underfloor-heating-manifolds/medium-recessed-waterproof-manifold-cabinet/

 

https://cdn.wundatrade.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/T08-Waterproof-Manifold-Cabinet-1.pdf

 

Has anyone used one of these?

I've used manifold cabinets - look neat and give easy access if/when needed.

[Moonshine]

8 hours ago, Trw144 said:

I've used manifold cabinets - look neat and give easy access if/when needed.

 

What pump / cabinet did you use. Some of the cabinets dont look that deep.

[Trw144]

All my kit was supplied by Giacomini. I'll see if I can find the specific details of the cabinet (I don't have a pump in the cabinet as I have a seperate electronic mixer/pump unit).

 

edit . 110mm or 150mm versions available

Edited July 26, 2022 by Trw144

[Moonshine]

40 minutes ago, Trw144 said:

All my kit was supplied by Giacomini. I'll see if I can find the specific details of the cabinet (I don't have a pump in the cabinet as I have a seperate electronic mixer/pump unit).

 

edit . 110mm or 150mm versions available

 

Thanks, very interested to see your arrangement. One oncern i have is thst the cabinet will be in a corner of the livingroom and i am concerned pump noise will be a disturbance

 

Edit, found the 150mm version which will be best for me

 

https://www.giacomini.com/en/products/r557i

Edited July 26, 2022 by Moonshine

[Kelvin]

They are generally quiet when running but not silent. I doubt you’d hear it above the TV. You could also acoustically treat panel

[TerryE]

The main source of sound is the pump circulation, and this depends on the flow rate that you need to dump the heating to the slab.  You can either work this out using math, or by trial and error. In general you want the flow to be as low as you can get away with, as this will generate the least noise.  In my passive house I only have three loops covering the entire ground floor slab and I can get way with the pump on the lowest setting.

 

Our manifold is in a cupboard in the ground floor toilet, and I can just about hear it when sitting on the can. 🤣

Edited July 27, 2022 by TerryE

[Nickfromwales]

Why not mount the pump at the source of the 22mm flow and return pipes instead of in the wall? It’ll be virtually silent then. 

[Moonshine]

1 hour ago, Nickfromwales said:

Why not mount the pump at the source of the 22mm flow and return pipes instead of in the wall? It’ll be virtually silent then. 

 

After a fair bit of faffing around, this is what we are going to do.

 

Ufh manifold in the cabinet in stud wall i  living room behind a door that is going to mainly be open and 22mm pipes going out to a remote pump mounted on the opposide of the wall behind / in a cut out of the back of a kitchen cupboard for maintainance

 

It also means that the cabinet in the wall can be smaller.

[Adsibob]

Is the Location of your manifold already fixed? If not, consider moving it elsewhere, maybe on the other side of that same stud wall, and hiding it with a self made MDF cupboard like this: