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.
Here are the main reasons for getting a professional to install UFH:
1. Preparation
Floors need to be prepared correctly, particularly when using liquid screeds. The area needs to be ‘tanked’ to ensure the screed doesn’t crack and the liquid screed isn’t wasted down gaps etc. If you would like more information on preparing your floor, click here.
2. Pipe spacing
Professional installers take care and note of pipe spacing to ensure pipe is fitted closer together near high heat loss areas such as patio doors etc.
3. Tools
As the old adage goes ‘The right tools for the job’! Professional installers use pipe decoilers to minimise waste and stop the pipe from kinking, they also use tacker guns, which dispense the pipe clips firmly into the insulation. Most importantly, professionals ensure that the system is bled of air (extremely important) and use a test pump to pressure test the system once installed – this ensures a good leak free system.
4. Experience
You can’t buy it! Knowledge of underfloor heating systems is imperative.
5. Speed
Many UFH installers can install a system in around half the time that a plumber or builder can, enabling the project to continue and getting the floor/screed laid.
6. Warranty
A lot of installers give a warranty that is in addition to the product warranty from the manufacturers.
7. Peace of mind
All of the points here ensure peace of mind – who wants to take up floors to look for damage etc. caused by inexperienced installers?!
If you are still thinking about installing your underfloor heating yourself, take a look at our installation video below:
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