© Ecotec Heat Pumps Ltd
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Installation Manual & User Guide
6
Hydronic Under-Floor heating systems
Underfloor radiant heating systems are well suited
for heat pump applications because of the lower
operating temperature (35°C typically) of the
heating medium. Unlike conventional boilers, a
heat pump can supply the heating medium at the
correct temperature to the heat emitters, without
the need for mixing headers. The system efficiency
is improved as power is only being used to raise the
heating medium to the correct working
temperature.
System configuration: The floor is the heat emitter
and is of considerably greater mass than other heat
emitters such as radiators. Because of this it takes
much longer to raise the floor temperature on
initial start up, although once operating it will stay
at the correct temperature due to thermal mass
Because heat pumps generate a lower temperature
heating medium there is a problem if the whole
floor area is opened up to the heat pump on initial
start-up of the system. The high heat losses into a
cold floor will prevent the heating medium
reaching the correct operating temperature and
ultimately could cause the heat pump to frost up.
To overcome this problem
the best solution is to
fit a thermal store between the heat pump and the
heating system so that the heat pump is raising the
temperature within the store and not directly
within the floor. In addition the heating system
should be split into a number of zones to allow for
variations in heat load and to improve start up at
the commissioning stage.
DIAGRAM SYMBOL KEY
EAS HEAT PUMP
