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Let UFH1 help you choose the right underfloor heating controls for your project.

1. Price At UFH1 we don’t have expensive glossy brochures, large flashy show displays, several sales managers, high spec offices or National Merchant rebate schemes (which are ultimately paid for by customers) – So we can keep prices low!

Underfloor heating as you may well know usually consists of warm water in plastic pipe embedded in a concrete floor, in-between floor joists or in some form of specialist board. All of these make it very important for the UFH to be installed with care and professionalism to ensure it’s a ‘fit and forget’ system.Done correctly, UFH should give excellent heat output and efficiency - more so than radiators – and it requires no more maintenance than any other heating. The old adage ‘what happens when it goes wrong?’ should simply not apply to UFH; however it must be designed and installed correctly to ensure peace of mind.

Preparing your floor for underfloor heating is highly important, failing to prepare your floor thoroughly may cause problems in the system later down the line. This guide is for solid floors only

Probably one of the most frequently asked question we get is "what type of flooring can I have with underfloor heating". It's a good question as there are a lot of variables to consider with each flooring option. Simply put, we would rank the types of flooring that are most commonly used in the following order:1.    Tiles/natural stone – Porcelain, ceramic, granite, marble, travertine etc.2.    Vinyl – Karndean, Amtico etc.3.    Engineered wood – usually 14mm-18mm4.    Solid wood – 22mm max5.    Carpet – max 2.5 tog ratingBut why are some more popular than others? There are a lot of variables to consider when choosing flooring to lay over your underfloor heating, such as thermal conductivity, insulation properties, style, etc. Lets break it down into those 5 types of flooring.

We often get asked the question, “….how much is it to install the UFH?” It is difficult to give an accurate answer without specifics as the variables are wide and varied. To price an installation, we would need to know the following as a minimum:

We often get asked the question, “….how much is it per m²?” It is difficult to give an accurate answer without specifying the system to the exact requirements of each individual, for example: Our 1 port kit (£299.97+vat with thermostat) will cover: 20m² with 200mm pipe spacing 15m² with 150mm pipe spacing Or 10m² with 100mm pipe spacing (which is often used for conservatories, heat pump use etc.)

The use of aluminium ‘spreader plates’ is common in installing water underfloor heating to joisted floors.There are pros and cons of the use of spreader plates that should be considered for water underfloor heating:Pros1.    Easy to install for the novice installer as they set the pipe spacing2.    Lightweight – where biscuit mix can’t be used3.    Clean installation – less mess than biscuit mix4.    Quicker – generally faster to install than biscuit mix5.    Spread the heat evenly when used with insulation alone

We have supplied a wall heating system for a brand new, purpose designed home for Valli the Temple Elephant in Skandavale monestry. Valli has been with them since 1981, and for the last 30 years has been living next to the Shakti Temple with her keeper Swami Karuna. Progress on Valli the Temple Elephant’s barn was really quick. They built her new barn from hollow polystyrene bricks; they stack up on each other just like Lego, so they could build a whole wall in a day. They then pumped concrete into the bricks to make them strong. This system has been very successful, firstly because it is so quick to erect, and secondly because the polystyrene provides good insulation to keep Valli warm during the cold winter months.

A test is performed at a pressure of 5 bar before flooring, screed or biscuit mix is laid to check for leaks and ensure the pipes are at their most expanded. This pressure is to be maintained until screed application is completed in order to ensure that any leaks are identified immediately and prevent the screed cracking later. 6 bar is a lot higher than a system would normally run.This action can be pressurised for testing purposes with mains water in most cases. REMEMBER: You must be extremely careful to avoid frost unless anti freeze has been added to the water. The flow from the mains tap to the filling point on the flow rail (red) of the manifold and the return/waste hose connected from the drain point of the return manifold (blue) to somewhere the return water can drain to.