Setting up your underfloor heating, also known as adjusting or tuning, means getting your new underfloor heating to work. Did you install your underfloor heating yourself or have it installed? Then this is the next step to warm feet. Fortunately, this is not a complicated process and so you can do it yourself just fine! However, it is an essential part of getting your underfloor heating to work properly by following a few steps. By reading and following this blog you will ensure that your underfloor heating is set up correctly.
Table of contents
- Setting up a water-based floor heating system
- What do you need to consider before you can adjust your underfloor heating?
- How can you set your underfloor heating yourself?
- Quiet heating of underfloor heating
- How do you heat most economically with underfloor heating?
- What is the minimum temperature for your underfloor heating?
- How do you properly set up underfloor heating for winter?
- Is adjusting underfloor heating the same for supplemental and main heating?
- Does it matter what subfloor you have when setting up your underfloor heating?
- Easily lay your own underfloor heating with R Floorzz pre-milled underfloor heating plates
- Where can you order a complete floor heating kit?
- Need help installing underfloor heating yourself?
- The 7 essential tips for laying underfloor heating
Setting up a water-based floor heating system
What do you need to consider before you can adjust your underfloor heating?
Before you can adjust your underfloor heating, it is important to make three preparations.
The first step is simply to wait so that your floor is properly cured. With R Floorzz 's underfloor heating system, you have to wait 72 hours until you can start adjusting your underfloor heating. If you are using a sand/cement screed, it is wise to wait six weeks before you start adjusting your floor heating. The covering layer on the heating hoses needs this time to harden properly. The moment you don't wait for this, over time your feet will get colder and colder, which of course is not desirable.
After curing, you can proceed with the preparations for adjusting your underfloor heating. The first important thing to do now is to turn off and/or shut down all heat sources in the house, think of the radiator, stove, gas burner and pump. If you don't turn these off, the thermostat may turn off due to overload. By doing this, you are disrupting the setting of your floor heating system.
The last thing you need to do before you can really start adjusting your floor heating is to fully open the existing group valves and the foot valve. This reduces the temperature difference in the radiator which has a positive influence on the adjustment of your underfloor heating.
Request a quoteHow can you set your underfloor heating yourself?
Have you done all the preparations? Then you can start setting up your underfloor heating. Setting up your underfloor heating is done by following these 5 steps:
Step 1
Set the thermostat high; a good temperature is 30°C. This will keep the boiler burning properly while setting your floor heating.
Step 2
Turn the thermostatic control knob of the underfloor heating open, so that the underfloor heating gets going. By this we mean setting the thermostat underfloor heating. You may set the temperature to about 20°C. This way, the underfloor heating heats up slowly, which is good for the continuation of setting your underfloor heating.
Step 3
The underfloor heating system now needs some time to warm up. You really should give the underfloor heating system this time. You can assume that the underfloor heating is warmed up within 15 minutes.
Step 4
In between, check that the supply lines are delivering heat to the distributor. A manifold has a built-in pump that pumps water through the underfloor heating system. Through the distributor, hot water from your central heating boiler or other heat source passes through a thermostatic valve to the pump. In this way, the floor is heated and you get warm feet.
In doing so, you may also have or have a flow meter installed on the manifold. This makes it easier to adjust the water and check whether it flows well through the pipes. Provided you don't have a flow meter, you can skip this. Keep in mind, though, if you don't have a flow meter, you will probably need a little more time and energy to get the distributor to the right pressure.
Step 5
After 20-30 minutes, you should check to see if the return line of the underfloor heating is getting warm. It will feel less warm than the supply, but should still feel distinctly warm. You can set the return line to a maximum of 40°C. The thermostatic valve then ensures that the temperature always remains normal and does not get extremely hot if something were to break.
Request a quoteQuiet heating of underfloor heating
It is important that after these steps you let the heating up of the underfloor heating take place slowly. If you set the maximum temperature right away, it could potentially cause a lot of damage to your floor and that would be a shame.
First set the underfloor heating to a temperature of 20°C. We recommend building up the temperature by 5°C per week thereafter. You can also choose to increase the underfloor heating by 1°C per day.
The maximum temperature of 40-45°C will then be reached automatically. Do you have laminate or wood floors? Then the maximum temperature is 28-30°C. Certain types of wood start to work faster due to a high temperature, which can seriously damage your floor.
So setting up your underfloor heating requires some time and attention, but if you follow the steps then you can soon start enjoying your underfloor heating!
How do you heat most economically with underfloor heating?
If you want to heat as economically as possible with underfloor heating, it is essential to have good insulation. This preserves heat so you don't have to set the temperature of the underfloor heating as high. The underfloor heating plates of R Floorzz have noise reducing insulation. This means that you do still need to install separate insulation, because sound-reducing insulation does not provide complete insulation.
In addition to insulating your underfloor heating, it is recommended that you never turn off your underfloor heating. Instead, you should keep your underfloor heating at the same temperature to save costs and energy. The temperature you set is the temperature that is desired for you. The moment you turn off the underfloor heating, the floor has to be completely warmed up again. This costs a lot of energy and by the time it is warm again, it is time to turn the underfloor heating off again. This leaves you with high spikes in energy consumption when you haven't even been able to use it properly.
In spring and summer, consider leaving the temperature at the same level. The thermostat in the living room calls for heating. Then, if the ambient temperature is high, the boiler or heat source won't turn on either and you'll save energy.
Furthermore, it is convenient not to turn off the underfloor heating completely at night, but rather turn it down. This also only needs to be 2/3°C, then it takes less energy to get it back up to temperature when you need it.
Requesting a quoteWhat is the minimum temperature for your underfloor heating?
It is recommended that you set the water temperature to at least 30°C. You will automatically notice if this temperature is good or if it needs to be higher. This depends on the insulation of the house and the desired room temperature. With most waterborne floor heating systems, the water temperature is set at 30-45°C. The floor then gets a temperature of 25-29°C. Do give the floor heating system some time to warm up, this can sometimes take a while.
With electric underfloor heating, you can actually set the temperature the same way as waterborne underfloor heating. Again, you have to feel for yourself what temperature is ultimately ideal for your needs.
Should you have a wooden floor, it is better to keep the temperature around 25-40°C. Otherwise, the chances of damage to the floor are high because wood reacts to heat.
How do you properly set up underfloor heating for winter?
In winter, it is best to set the water temperature of your underfloor heating at 30-35°C and not change it much. This depends on the insulation of your home and the desired comfort. In winter, it is best to leave the underfloor heating on at night and turn it down 2-3°C. This way you save energy in the winter and your underfloor heating is quickly back to the desired temperature.
A tip: always have your underfloor heating serviced before winter sets in. That way you'll always have a properly functioning underfloor heating system in the winter, which is, after all, when you need it the most.
Get in touchIs adjusting underfloor heating the same for supplemental and main heating?
Most of the balancing is the same for supplemental and main heating. The difference comes at the point of determining where to heat properly. For an underfloor heating system that only needs to heat one room, it is set so that most of the heat goes there. Whereas with a main heating system, the distribution of heat must be carefully considered.
The temperature and flow rate can be set lower with a supplemental heater, making this system less expensive. The temperature that is often used here is between 25°C and 30°C. The adjustment of this underfloor heating is therefore a bit more flexible than with a main heating system that needs to heat the whole house.
Does it matter what subfloor you have when setting up your underfloor heating?
The type of subfloor definitely has an impact on setting your underfloor heating. Below we've explained the differences for you:
If you have a wood or laminate floor then it is necessary to increase the water temperature of the underfloor heating extra slowly. It is recommended that the final water temperature not exceed 30°C. These types of floors can react very violently to heat, which can damage the floor.
Do you have a concrete or stone floor? Then you can raise the temperature a little faster. Still it is important not to do this too fast, otherwise you will damage the system. You can also set the water temperature much higher, up to a maximum of 45°C.
Requesting a quoteEasily lay your own underfloor heating with R Floorzz pre-milled underfloor heating plates
With R Floorzz's pre-milled underfloor heating plates, you can easily install underfloor heating. R Floorzz has different systems for on existing subfloors.
Do you want to mount on a wooden subfloor on a ground floor or do you want a system with noise reduction? Both are possible to install yourself.
Read how to lay your own underfloor heating in this blog.
View floor heating platesWhere can you order a complete floor heating kit?
You can order a mono floor heating kit from R Floorzz at rfloorzz.co.uk or the webshop estrichvloer.co.uk
Need help installing underfloor heating yourself?
Do you need help installing underfloor heating? Or do you simply want to outsource it? Get in touch or make an appointment.
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