Under Tile Heating

Under tile heating would perhaps be a better name for a floor heating system because a tile, slate or stone floor finish emits the heat from under it best, because it has got very low thermal resistance. This allows under tile heating to run a few degrees cooler, compared with other floor finishes. This makes under tile heating a very cost efficient solution to heating your home.

A warm water under tile heating system works by running relatively low temperature water (35°C to 45°C) through a loop of continuous high quality plastic or plastic-aluminium pipes which are installed in the floor.

Now that the entire floor can act as a radiant heat source (under tile heating systems greatly rely on heat transfer, which radiates 50 to 60% more of the produced heat) it does not have to emit as much heat per square metre compared with a relatively small radiator on the wall, producing only 20% radiant heat.

The surface floor-temperature needed for the under tile heating is usually quite low and close to room temperature. It should be 29°C or less in all occupied areas to achieve an acceptable level of comfort under foot.

Warm water under tile heating systems are ideally suited to heat pumps (often known as the marriage from heaven) but can easily be used with any other heat source. The plastic pipes are installed in the floor construction which can be either a concrete screed (solid floor) or timber joist floor systems. There are no joints in the pipe loops and pipe lengths without joints are used throughout. These are then placed with measured spacing to ensure uniform warmth.

Warm water is now pumped through the pipes and around the rooms. Rooms can be individually zoned and controlled with thermostats. When the room temperature drops, the thermostat signals to the corresponding actuator on the manifold which will open a mixing valve. Hot water from the storage tank is now blended with the returning warm water from the under tile heating system.

This warmer water is pumped around the room until the air temperature within it reaches the thermostats set temperature and switches the zone off. The system process is fully automatic, delivering warmth in a comfortable and economic way.

With under tile heating the whole floor becomes a warm radiator under your feet, compared to one quite small 80°C hot radiator on the wall.

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