Connecting Water To Conservatory Underfloor Heating

[DIYPlumberJools]

Hi, I hope someone out there can advise me on what (if any) problems I could cause myself by connecting my conservatory underfloor heating in the following way;

For access and clearance, it would suit me to tee off the hot water supply and return for the UFH in the pipes before (yes BEFORE) the main system circulation pump and Y plan zone valve.

In the main central heating system (as fitted) the boiler is situated remotely in a front bedroom. It then has a long copper pipe (25mm diameter) run across the loft, to a back bedroom. This is where the main circulation pump, Y plan zone valve, hot water tank and electrical controls are fitted in a small cupboard.

There is not much room in the cupboard (or even under the floor in there) to tee off the UFH in the pipes after the pump and zone valve.

However there is loads of room to put take off tee's in the pipes in the loft between the boiler and that cupboard.

My UFH system has its own self contained controls, mixing valve and circulation pump set up.

I imagine this way of plumbing in, may mean that UFH takes priority over the rest of the system for hot water flow (which may be a benefit as I think the conservatory will require more heat than the rest of the house). But is there anything else I need to consider?

Thank you all for your thoughts!

 

[Agile]

Assuming its the normal configuration the UFH system expects to have a positive flow created by the house circulating pump.

You MIGHT get a little circulation but dont expect it!

Tony

 

[doitall]

Tee off the hot water supply, you don't mean the domestic hot water at the taps.

Other than that asking for trouble, you need another zone from the main primary pipes complete with a pump, MV etc.

 

[DIYPlumberJools]

Hi, Thanks for your replies,

I am talking about taking from the central heating hot water pipes, not my domestic hot water supply.

Looking at the UFH kit, it has a WILO GOLD R550 pump

The main heating has a DAB VA5/100 pump

It seems - on paper/internet at least - that these are comparable in performance, so would they 'share' the hot water supply or would one 'win' causing the other to run dry?

The underfloor heating system is designed (out of the box) so it will only ever run with the main heating system in operation (it has a sensor to detect supply of hot water). It will only ever switch on if there is a hot water supply, but can switch off whenever it is satisfied.

I am thinking that if the UFH kit can work when the main system is on, either for heating or hot water I am happy with that.

This is secondary/top up conservatory heating, so I am more concerned that I don't cause any damage to the main system than achieving the best UFH output.

Thank you again!

Julian

 

[muggles]

You might cause yourself a problem if you ever come to sell your house as your installation will contravene Building Regulations...

 

[DIYPlumberJools]

Hi, I am not too worried about Building regs. As I started building conservatory pre 2008, I believe it is acceptable to connect to the house central heating as long as it has independent controls.

I know when the council felt the need to check my conservatory complied for size and eves height etc, they accepted that the pre-2008 rules applied (which is good as it wont pass the current rules as the side nearest the neighbors is too tall).

Either way, I will be fitting isolator valves, so the pipework could easily be removed if it became an issue.

I am really hope somebody can tell me what technical problems my proposed plumbing method could cause though.

 

[DIYPlumberJools]

On installing the first part of this system, I pulled up a few more floorboards and found the room to tee off the supply and return pipes from the radiator circuit as normal.

Now it's piped up, I can see why the UFH would not have worked, had I gone with my initial plan (I know you told me - but being a novice at this, there's nothing like a practical demonstration).

Thanks guys!!