Gary C Akers Technical Manager

* No wall clutter. * Reduced risk of clashes. * Aesthetically pleasing. * Site benefits. * Environmental benefits. * Cooling.

* The use of wall hung radiators and panel heaters present many coordination issues between skirting heights, window cill heights, electrical installations, door openings and the one thing that cannot be controlled: the purchaser’s furniture arrangement.

* Radiators are not only obtrusive but can also become hazards within the home. In order to meet the requirements of lifetime homes, radiator controls must be located within the 450 – 1200mm Approved document M zone. This means TRVs fitted to the top inlet on the radiator, or a more costly solution is to control all the radiators from a manifold and individual room thermostats, adding even more wall clutter.

With the walls clear from protruding heaters, and the risk of clashes with fittings eliminated the use of under floor heating produces a far more attractive environment to any purchaser.

* The benefits on site start with the first delivery. The volume of material and the space required to store it is far less than that of wet radiators or electric panel heaters. The materials are lighter and easier to maneuver around the site and into place. The use of copper is eradicated reducing the risk of theft from site of materials awaiting placement.

* Hot works are also no longer necessary reducing the risk of fire and improving working hours and reducing the burden on the health and safety staff to issue permits and check that site operatives are complying with stricter working conditions.

* The need for skilled labour is reduced since the underfloor heating pipework can be installed by unskilled labour. Even using unskilled labour an 80m² apartment only takes 4 hours to set out the underfloor pipework. Using a floating timber floor the whole installation is complete in two days using two men. Using a modified screed poured at the end of the day, this could be accomplished in a single day.

Once installed there are no radiators to paint around, no penetrations in the plasterboard through which air can leak. No potential cold bridges to the inner leaf via fixings. There is no chance of paint getting onto radiators or heaters which would then need cleaning off.

* Reduced risk of flooding, since the underfloor heating pipework is tested to 6 bar before being used, and due to the small internal diameter of the pipe, the amount of water which could escape is minimal.

* In our continual efforts to reduce CO² emissions you have to ask why put energy in to then disperse it unnecessarily….. * With ever reducing air leakage rates in new domestic dwellings it is far simpler to maintain a comfortable temperature and inputting less energy to achieve this.

* Under Floor heating operating at 45° will deliver a comfortable 21°internal temperature in any modern dwelling with an air leakage rate of 5 and a thermally efficient fabric. Requiring half the energy input into traditional radiators. Perfect for a heat pump energy source. Using a boiler to supply Under Floor heating would require a blending valve to reduce the temperature of the water in the Under Floor heating, resulting in the loss of 50% of the input energy before it got to its point of delivery.

* Underfloor heating pipework is made from polyethylene which can be easily recycled. * Recycling facilities are not as widely available as those for copper making it less desirable to criminal elements.

* Whenever cooling within a domestic building is required it makes sense to use an element that you already have. By utilising the underfloor heating pipework, cooling can be achieved at greatly reduced costs and impressive benefits.

* The use of traditional air conditioning requires space for plant, adequate free air for the condenser plant to operate efficiently and specialist installers. * Chillers within individual rooms require ceiling space increasing storey height, noise, draughts and they require regular maintenance. * The thermal mass of the structure is far greater than that of the air within the building, and a cool structure is far more efficient and comfortable than a chilled air system.