Recently developed manifolds and control centres enable underfloor heating systems to deliver greater control , says Michelle Fleming
Underfloor heating has increased in popularity over the past 15 years thanks to benefits including energy efficiency, the increased level of comfort provided by the radiant heat it emits and the flexibility of interior design it offers.

But the greater level of controllability it offers is a lesser-known benefit and one that can only be enjoyed if the contractor is able to fully optimise the system at the commissioning stage.

System optimisation is achieved by selecting and integrating appropriate thermostats, control centre(s) and manifolds, ensuring that each component is able to operate at its most efficient when combined with the other elements of the system. Equally, understanding the customer's current control requirements at every stage of the process, will allow installers to offer the most appropriate system, while delivering a system flexible enough to cope with changing control needs.

Accurately specify temperature

Once the UFH system is installed, the occupier can accurately specify the temperature for each heating zone; a zone might be a single room, combination of rooms or region of a large open plan space. Real accuracy is achieved with the controls commonly supplied with UFH as they respond to an individual room thermostat which accurately measures the air and/or the floor temperature - to within 0.2 deg C in the case of our own systems.

This level of accuracy contrasts with the vague temperature adjustment achievable with thermostatic radiator valves (TVR) controlling a radiator system. This vague temperature control can lead to energy wastage, with every additional 1 deg C of heat generated leading to an additional heat loss of around 10 per cent.

As UFH systems are designed with multiple individual circuits of heating pipes, the system response to the individual thermostats is specific - the manifold will only allow more heated water through the circuits which require more heat, not the entire system. Importantly, this reduces energy wastage as the heated water only travels as far as it needs to; not losing heat unnecessarily on return to the manifold.

Modern thermostats can be altered easily and quickly, often incorporating a holiday mode or boost button to simplify a temperature requirement change. For those seeking to control all thermostats centrally, a networked system can save time and effort.

Networked systems can also control the heating system from a PC if desired; this can incorporate radiator system and hot water control too if combined with the UFH system in a single control centre.

An occupier's needs may change over time. Rooms may be divided or open-plan areas created leading to a need to reconfigure heating zones. Wherever an individual in-floor pipe circuit corresponds to the occupier's newly desired heating zone, this can be easily achieved, but the secret is for the installer to anticipate possible future living configurations at the system design stage.

Using wireless thermostats is a further step to allowing the arrangement to be altered at any time, as they can be simply repositioned and re-enrolled to the control centre, by following a simple procedure.

The two most important considerations that contractors should examine when commissioning a new UFH system are ensuring thermostats are not cross-wired and the system is balanced and commissioned correctly at the manifold.

• The author is category manager for service heating and cooling at Wavin.