Underfloor Heating - Cooling
The modern heating solution
Would you like your house to have a warm sense during winter and a revitalising cool sense during summer? Would you like the environment where you and your family live to be modern, hygienic, environmentally friendly and without aesthetic obligations?Would you like to take pleasure in all the above while saving money, energy and at the same time emitting less pollutants to the environment?
TEMPA's underfloor heating systems work with solar energy, oil, natural gas or a combination of the previous ones and are specifically designed for the Greek climate conditions. They achieve significant energy saving, uniform room temperature, relieving the house area of the anti-aesthetic and energy consuming radiators and air-conditioning units.
The secret...is at your feet - to be more accurate, under your feet.
What is underfloor heating?
A simple system of specifically formed heat and sound insulation plates are placed below the flooring of your choice (wood, tiles, marble, mosaic, etc).
ROTEX cross-linked polyethylene (PEX-c/DD) continuous heating pipe is held on the plates. In that way, heating water runs harmonically through the total floor area, offering you the most hygienic and convenient environment. The system has very large efficiency and requires significantly low water temperature (33-55oC), which results in major energy saving.
What does the underfloor heating system consist of?
A complete underfloor heating installation system consists of two different sections:
- The horizontal circuit installation which includes the products (heating pipe, insulation plates, edge insulating strip, expansion joints, heating circuit manifolds and screed additive) and the hydraulic installation work of the products and the screed which will cover the heating pipe, with specific depth, and floor finishing according to the selected flooring type (wood, marble, tiles).
- The boiler room installation which includes the boiler, the circulation pumps, the hot water storage (energy storage) tank, the oil tank, the heating autonomy components with the ascending pipes and their installation work.
What is underfloor cooling?
TEMPA gives you the chance to trasform the underfloor heating system into an ideal cooling system (underfloor cooling) during the summer period. Only by adding to the underfloor heating installation the following:
- An air-cooled water chiller, which replaces the boiler during summer operation and produces the required for the underfloor cooling system water.
- A dehumidifier, floor mounted or ceiling concealed, which regulates the space humidity, filters and dehumidifies the air, disabling possible intense condensations.
How does underfloor cooling work?
A cooling device feeds the underfloor pipe circuit with cooled water (15 – 17 οC), ensuring a low floor temperature (20 – 22οC). The rest of the structural elements (walls, ceiling) are influenced within very little time, acquiring a constant temperature (24 – 25 οC) much lower than the outside air one.
Due to the fact that the system is under constant operation - and due to the heat capacity of the structural elements - a comfortable cooling environment is achieved with a temperature close to 25 οC, without any major variations even under the worst case weather conditions (e.g. heatwave). At the same time, a humidity regulation system of the area offers a really comfortable and healthy environment. All the above require minor energy consumption at little installation cost.
The VARIOFLEX PEX -c/DD heating pipe
The pipe used for the underfloor heating application is the VARIOFLEX PEX-c/DD pipe of ROTEX, a plastic pipe made of cross-linked polyethylene with oxygen-tight barrier.ROTEX is one of the largest polyethylene pipe manufacturers, with an experience of hundreds of millions of pipe metres across Europe.
Varioflex pipe is very tough and not only is it non-corrosive, but it also protects indirectly the rest components of the installation due to its oxygen-tight barrier. VARIOFLEX PEX-c / DD pipe is DIN-tested in accordance with DIN 4726/29. The requirements regarding oxygen tightness in accordance with DIN 4726 are comfortably exceeded.
The insulation plates
The underfloor heating system uses insulation plates made of STYROPOR.
The advantages are:
- Precise location and leading of the heating pipe.
- Complete surrounding of the heating pipe by screed.
- Very good heat insulation with regard to the substructure.
- Excellent low-noise flooring properties.
- Easy to lay.
- Environmentally friendly, CFC-free and easy to recycle.
The naps of the insulation plates are located at 75 mm distance with one another. Thus, layers of 75, 150, 225, 300, και 375 mm can be achieved. Those naps have a specific formation for the secure location of the heating pipe, in order to be completely surrounded by screed. Thus, heat transer to the floor is optimised. Insulation plates' quality is under constant surveillance from the Institute of research for thermal insulation materials (FIW) of Munich.
The heating circuit manifold
Major component for the perfect function of the underfloor heating system is the heating circuit manifold. It gives the ability to regulate the temperature of individual spaces.The hydraulic balancing of the individual heating circuits can also be achieved within the heating circuit manifold. That is necessary in order for a uniform layering to be achieved.
The heating circuit manifold has a relatively large cross sectional area, and there is also a connection point of R=1’’. At that point between 2 and 14 heating circuits can be connected to a single manifold.
Together with the - centrally located - flow temperature regulation through an outside air temperature sensor (compensation), there is also the option of controlling the temperature at each individual space.
Thus, each space is equipped with electronic regulation. The heating circuit of the specific space has an electric regulator on the manifold at the flow side of the circuit. Thus, in a building, there is the option of regulating the temperature of each space independently and according to its use.