ᐅ Control Systems for Underfloor Heating – Are There Intelligent Options?

Hello everyone,

I am looking for a more intelligent control option for a planned underfloor heating system.

In our current home, we have a fairly traditional control setup: each room has a thermostat, and when the set temperature is reached at the thermostat, the corresponding heating circuit is switched off. Since underfloor heating systems are known to respond slowly, we mostly control the system based on the return water temperature and the mixing valve at the boiler.

Has anyone had experience with smarter systems for controlling underfloor heating?

Unfortunately, the heating installation companies in our area are not very helpful. They generally only install what their supplier designs for them. And the more complex the technology becomes, the more overwhelmed these companies seem to be.

Now I am wondering whether it makes sense for me to educate myself on this or simply accept the standard system installed by the contractor.

Thank you very much for your help!

ostsee schrieb:
Has anyone here had experience with more advanced systems for controlling underfloor heating?

Yes, it's called hydraulic balancing, and avoiding any additional control systems.
Boiler/heat pump, controlled on the return flow with an outdoor sensor. That’s all.

This is how it looks. Smarter than being controlled solely by outdoor temperature and hydraulically balanced (in equilibrium), it is self-regulating and hardly ever fails (without overcomplicating things).

Set it once and forget it. Always consistent indoor temperatures with comparatively low energy consumption.

At most, I would install an emergency shut-off in the warmest room or the one with the most south-facing windows, for example, some kind of thermostat with presence detection.

For our current house, the developer told us that a second control level is required in the rooms, that this is a regulation. Is that correct? Or can you do without individual room control without any drawbacks regarding the energy performance certificate or KFW funding?

I am considering whether to install some kind of control system in the heating circuit distributor (HKV) so that I can turn the individual zones on and off via network.

Yes, it is a (nonsensical) regulation. You can apply for exemptions or simply omit it... With a development project, you probably won’t be able to decide on this, so the only option is to remove it afterwards.

I kind of expected that... do you have any idea how the exemption application process might work?

And does the secondary control level have to be installed directly in the rooms, or can it also be placed in the heating control cabinet? Then I could check what the cost of minimal control technology there would be.