Underfloor Heating Control Pack Specification – Reliance Water Controls (RWC)

Description

A compact, modular control pack for underfloor heating

systems up to 14kW.

Designed to be lightweight and compact in order to connect

directly onto a standard manifold without the need for extra

brackets or support.

The control pack consists of a mixing valve, circulating pump,

return elbow, manifold adaptor and all necessary seals.

Product Range

UFHC 970 200 Thermomix UFH Control Pack

Specifications

Maximum static pressure 16 bar

Maximum temperature 110°C

Adjustable control range 35°C to 65°C

Factory pre-set 35°C (minimum)

Materials

Valve body – Gunmetal

Seals – PTFE

O-Rings – Silicone rubber

Spring – Stainless steel

Danfoss Wiring Centre FH-WC Technical Information

FH-WC

Instructions for the TP5000 Si Danfoss Room Thermostat for Underfloor Heating

TP5000 Si

Underfloor Heating Manifold Sizes and Weight

MANIFOLD DIMENSIONS AND WEIGHT

(Width required with standard CST)

2 port         510mm       2.1kg

3 port         565mm       2.4kg

4 port         620mm       2.8kg

5 port         675mm       3.4kg

6 port         730mm       3.7kg

7 port         785mm       4.1kg

8 port         840mm       4.7kg

9 port         895mm       5.1kg

10port        960mm       5.5kg

      11port        1015mm     6.1kg

12port       1070mm     6.4kg

CST                  5.7kg

Single Kit          5.2kg

Henco Pipe  22kg

Max Tog…1.5

Moist Content…9%

Warm Water Underfloor Heating

Our underfloor heating system only need 45 degree C temperature in concrete floors.

Underfloor Heating and Floor Boards

Our customers are often relieved to finally find a company that knows what they are talking about! We have lots of experience with supplying wooden floors to be used over underfloor heating and can now share the benefit of our experience.

EXPANSION & CONTRACTION:The most important point to realise, is that a wooden floor is subject to expansion and contraction, according to the amount of moisture in the local environment. Hence your solid hardwood boards may contract slightly during winter months (as central heating produces a much drier atmosphere) and expand slightly during the summer when windows are open, heating is turned off, and the atmosphere within the house has more moisture. This expansion and contraction is magnified when dealing with underfloor heating as the wood is subject to a higher than usual temperature and degree of moisture loss. There are two main structural options to consider before choosing which type of oak flooring to lay over your underfloor heating.
OPTION1: ENGINEERED BOARDSTraditional engineered boards have a softwood core and are resistant to movement under normal conditions. However, for the more extreme conditions of under-floor heating we would recommend Chauncey’s TECTONIC engineered wide plank flooring. TECTONIC flooring has a unique structure; layers of water-resistant birch ply are glued together in opposing directions to form a 14.5mm base and finished with a 6mm hardwood layer. This gives not only the appearance and the durability of a solid wide oak board (180mm face width), but also ensures even better stability than a traditional engineered board (see more details on TECTONIC). In addition the boards are unfinished, leaving you the opportunity to apply a lacquer or oil of your own choice, to produce a more natural looking floor. We can also pre-finish these boards with lacquer or oil if a pre-finished board is required. TECTONIC flooring has been successfully used in many situations where different types of under-floor heating have been used and is extremely resistant to movement. TECTONIC boards can be glued directly to screed floors (using SIKABOND glues) or secret nailed to battens (please see fixing below).

OPTION 2: KILN DRIED SOLID OAK BOARDS Generally the wider the board the greater the expansion and contraction and more likelihood of unwanted movement. Thus we would recommend that the width of the boards is kept to a maximum of 130mm, if using solid oak boards, to minimise gaps.

Our solid hardwood boards are normally air-dried and then kiln dried to between 8 and 11% moisture content. We would not usually recommend further kilning as it can dry the boards too much and damage their structure. If you are using solid oak boards (remember: the narrower the better), then we would recommend ‘loose laying’ the boards first. This means your fitter will lay the floor, cut it to size and simply push the tongue and groove boards together rather than fixing or nailing. The floor can be lacquered or oiled like this and then used as normal (although it may squeak as the joints move). The under-floor heating should then be GRADUALLY increased over a period of a couple of months until you reach the normal operating temperature of your under-floor heating. This will gradually acclimatise the boards to the extra heat & moisture loss rather than the severe impact of extra kiln drying. Once a normal heating temperature has been reached the boards can be taken up a few at a time and fixed either by gluing or nailing (see below).

FIXING THE BOARDS We would recommend either secret nailing or gluing boards depending on the method of under-floor heating and the widths of the boards. If laying onto battens, then the flooring can be secret nailed to this but great care must be taken around any areas close to the pipes. It may be advisable to use the SIKABOND T2 glue (supplied in cartridges or sausages) to glue boards to any battens that are close to pipes to ensure that there is no damage to the pipes from nails.  Any resultant water leaks from pipes are disastrous!

If a concrete screed has been used, then gluing boards using either SIKABOND T54 or T52 is the best method to ensure a rapid heat transfer. (Any layer of air left when using ‘floating’ boards will act as barrier to the heat transfer – this is another reason why traditional engineered boards are not as suitable for under-floor heating, as they are usually laid as a ‘floating floor’.)

FLOATING FLOORS: Although TECTONIC Oak flooring can be laid as a ‘floating floor’ (ie where the joints are glued together to form a ’skin’ over the sub-floor, but is not fixed down directly to the sub-floor) this is not the best choice, due to the possibility of air gaps above the subfloor which would have a detrimental effect on heat conduction. NOTES: There are many different manufacturers, types and styles of under-floor heating on the market today. The above advice is general, so you should consult with the under-floor heating manufacturer who may have specific laying guidelines. GUARANTEES It is advisable to be extremely suspicious of any ‘lifetime’ guarantees given with wooden flooring. Inevitably, the wear of a floor depends on many factors, for example: how well the wood is machined and stored in the warehouse; how carefully the wood has been stored on site prior to laying; how well the floor is laid; what finish is put on top of the boards; how well the finish is maintained; how much usage the floor receives etc etc. In our experience the guarantees are usually fairly worthless once all the small print has been examined.  At CHAUNCEY’S we rely on our good reputation. The majority of our business comes through word of mouth and recommendation. We don’t offer worthless guarantees, but we will do our utmost to keep our customers happy and in the unlikely event of a problem arising, we will always do our best to resolve it.

We have worked with many different underfloor heating companies and used Tectonic boards over a wide range of types of underfloor heating systems. Underfloor Heating Systems Ltd. have an informative website for gleaning more information.

Underfloor Heating and Carpets

Underfloor heating systems and Brintons carpets

Water Underfloor Heating Kits

We do kits for smaller areas, ie 20 sqm kit, 40 sqm kit.

Please contact us for prices.

Underfloor Heating Fault Finding

FAULT FINDING SHEET

Here are some points to check if the underfloor heating system (UFH) is not working correctly.

-         Check that the air is completely out from the system.  Do not fill from the boiler; fill the UFH system as described in the instructions.  Many times the plumber might still inject air in the system afterwards when connecting to the boiler, so even if the UFH installer has flushed the system, you might need to do it again.  The most common problem with UFH systems is air in the loops!

-          Check that the pump is running on speed 3 (max). Also installed right way.

-          Check that the mixing valve is not set at minimum.  Normal setting is 45 degrees C for concrete floors and 55 degrees C for timber suspended floors.  The indication mark is below the mixer cap.  Turn anticlockwise for higher water temperature and clockwise for lower temperature.  If rooms are a bit cold, then increase the water temperature to the UFH system.

-          Check that flow and return to the mixing valve is correctly fitted from the boiler. Flow is closer to the wall on the mixing valve, i.e. the one marked ‘H’.

-          Check that correct room thermostat is doing the correct loops, i.e. the correct actuators!!!  This is quite a common problem.  One room will always be cold as the wrong room thermostat is doing the wrong actuator.  A simple electrical test will clarify the problem.

-          Many times the plumber that fits the boiler/radiators does not flush through the system and rubbish will get into the boiler pump, mixing valve and the underfloor heating pump.  Take out the mixing valve and clean it with hot water, flush the system before fitting the mixing valve back again.  This is quite a common problem.  The flow gauges on the manifold will show very low flow rate, which means that not enough flow is getting into the UFH system as the mixing valve is full of rubbish.

-         If one room is a bit cold, then you can adjust some of the other loops by reducing the flow to them.  Less flow to the loops means less heat to them.  This could happen if the longest loop is struggling to heat up, then by reducing the flow for the shorter loops, you will have more water going into the longer loop.  See manual for adjusting the loops.  Also you can increase the water temperature on the mixing valve.  Note, if you have radiators in your house it is very important that you adjust them, else they might take all the water from the UFH system.

-          Remove the red clips on the actuators.  Sometimes the electricians forget to remove them.  This means the actuators are always open.  Also note the actuators take 4 minutes to open when a room thermostat is calling.  It is important that the actuators are screwed tightly to the return manifold.  When the room thermostats call for heat, the UFH pump will start and the actuators will start to open.

-          All room thermostats should be set at 20 – 21 degree C.  This is normal UK design temperature for inside climate.

-          The system should be on 24 hours a day during the heating season, use the set-back to lower temperatures at night, which normally means that the heating system does not come on at night, but is very quick to respond in the morning.

-          Max heat output for any UFH system is 100 W/sqm for concrete floor and            70 W/sqm for timber suspended floor.  The property needs to be built to current building regulations for any UFH system to work correctly.

-          In a Conservatory you might loose more heat than 100 W/sqm, so the UFH system will extend the time you can use the Conservatory for, not keep it at 20 degrees C all year. 

-          If you have a combination boiler check that it will work with a secondary pump before fitting the UFH system.

-          The correct way to fit an UFH system is with an S-Plan system, i.e. a two port valve for each system so you can have independent control if you are mixing UFH and radiators.

-          It will take 24 h for the UFH system to operate correctly when started for the first time.  Same will apply if you do any changes on the controls.

-          If you have a large one zone system without actuators, always check that the blue caps are fully open. 

-         When the system is running check that water is running through the flow meters on the flow manifold.  If there is no water coming through the flow meters, then you have air in the system.

-          If the pump is not running, check that the electrician has wired it in correctly (see our manual).  This is a common problem.  L and N does not go into the relay, see our manual.

-          The boiler relay normally gives power to a two port valve and the volt free contacts on the two port valve will start the boiler, i.e. like and S-Plan system.  If no two port valves are fitted then use the boiler relay as a Volt free contact.

Water Underfloor Heating

Please send us floor drawings for a free quote.  Quotes are normally done within 24 h.

With order you get full set of instructions, project information and a hand sketch.