ᐅ Individual Room Control with Cooling Function (Is Underfloor Heating with a Water-to-Water Heat Pump Practical?)
Created on: 8 May 2019 21:21
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MadameP
Hello everyone,
our plumbing specialist wants to know if we want a cooling function for the underfloor heating’s individual room control.
My husband doesn’t want cold floors, while I personally hate heat inside the house. We’re wondering how effective this cooling function really is, whether the floor actually feels unpleasantly cold, and if the investment (not really significant – 900€) is worth it. We plan to fully glue down 10mm (4 inches) solid hardwood flooring (vertical grain) in the living areas.
Looking forward to your opinions.
our plumbing specialist wants to know if we want a cooling function for the underfloor heating’s individual room control.
My husband doesn’t want cold floors, while I personally hate heat inside the house. We’re wondering how effective this cooling function really is, whether the floor actually feels unpleasantly cold, and if the investment (not really significant – 900€) is worth it. We plan to fully glue down 10mm (4 inches) solid hardwood flooring (vertical grain) in the living areas.
Looking forward to your opinions.
It depends...
We also have passive cooling and think it's great. Tiles can feel uncomfortably cold, so in summer I stick to walking on the bathroom tiles. The rest of the house has hardwood flooring, which is very comfortable and effective. Of course, it’s not air conditioning, but it’s ecological and practically free to operate!
There are mixed opinions about passive cooling because it doesn’t provide additional dehumidification. However, I don’t know anyone with passive cooling who is unhappy with it. We use it almost all summer because we find it very comfortable and it keeps the temperature down.
By the way, I don’t understand the connection with individual room control... With or without it, the heat pump can cool if it can cool.
We also have passive cooling and think it's great. Tiles can feel uncomfortably cold, so in summer I stick to walking on the bathroom tiles. The rest of the house has hardwood flooring, which is very comfortable and effective. Of course, it’s not air conditioning, but it’s ecological and practically free to operate!
There are mixed opinions about passive cooling because it doesn’t provide additional dehumidification. However, I don’t know anyone with passive cooling who is unhappy with it. We use it almost all summer because we find it very comfortable and it keeps the temperature down.
By the way, I don’t understand the connection with individual room control... With or without it, the heat pump can cool if it can cool.
Tego12 schrieb:
By the way, I don’t understand the connection with individual room control... With or without it, the heat pump can cool, it can cool Thanks, Tego. I was told that it can cool in any case, but with the thermostats that are installed as standard, you can’t actually use that function. That’s why there are more expensive thermostats with a cooling feature. Did my general contractor tell me a tall tale again?Keep in mind, without proper shading, the cooling function of underfloor heating is as ineffective for you as the geothermal heat exchanger is for me. If you let sunlight enter freely through the windows, nothing other than an air conditioner will really help. Especially with a south-facing terrace, the shading must come from the outside.
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boxandroof9 May 2019 08:38Without knowing your heat pump:
Cooling is generally possible without individual room control. Depending on the manufacturer, there may be specific requirements that could lead to additional costs. The only really important component is a dew point monitor, unless you are only cooling very lightly and can guarantee that.
In general: A heat pump is most effectively operated with a well-balanced hydraulic system and no individual room control (equivalent to setting all thermostats to maximum). However, the balancing for cooling is different. In my opinion, it is sufficient in summer to simply shut off a few rooms, for example, the bathroom and north-facing rooms, while leaving the others open. Special room thermostats are not necessary for this. We don’t have any thermostats and simply keep all rooms running during the rare times we cool. If we were to cool regularly, I would install thermostats in a few rooms to comfortably exclude those from cooling, allowing “more cool air” to reach the more relevant rooms.
Ask your heating technician if cooling also works without individual room control.
As for cooling comfort, you will need to judge that yourselves. With parquet flooring, it is certainly not too uncomfortable. I would want passive cooling, as that is technically brilliant. Cooling with a heat pump does not perform miracles. External shading, preferably automated, achieves much more.
Cooling is generally possible without individual room control. Depending on the manufacturer, there may be specific requirements that could lead to additional costs. The only really important component is a dew point monitor, unless you are only cooling very lightly and can guarantee that.
In general: A heat pump is most effectively operated with a well-balanced hydraulic system and no individual room control (equivalent to setting all thermostats to maximum). However, the balancing for cooling is different. In my opinion, it is sufficient in summer to simply shut off a few rooms, for example, the bathroom and north-facing rooms, while leaving the others open. Special room thermostats are not necessary for this. We don’t have any thermostats and simply keep all rooms running during the rare times we cool. If we were to cool regularly, I would install thermostats in a few rooms to comfortably exclude those from cooling, allowing “more cool air” to reach the more relevant rooms.
Ask your heating technician if cooling also works without individual room control.
As for cooling comfort, you will need to judge that yourselves. With parquet flooring, it is certainly not too uncomfortable. I would want passive cooling, as that is technically brilliant. Cooling with a heat pump does not perform miracles. External shading, preferably automated, achieves much more.
First of all, thanks to everyone. So, we are getting an air-to-water heat pump from Rotex – if I understand the system correctly, it only provides active cooling, right? Since we don’t have geothermal or ground-source heating. I wouldn’t have active cooling in areas with tile floors (like the bathrooms and hallway), but I would want it in the living areas with wooden flooring.
Shading is the alpha and omega anyway and comes before cooling. We have no south-facing windows (due to the party wall in a semi-detached house), but we have full external venetian blinds planned for the west side. I actually only want to use the cooling in summers like last year, when it’s otherwise hard to get a restful night’s sleep. I think with the venetian blinds, controlled mechanical ventilation with summer bypass, and optionally the cooling function, we would be well prepared...
Shading is the alpha and omega anyway and comes before cooling. We have no south-facing windows (due to the party wall in a semi-detached house), but we have full external venetian blinds planned for the west side. I actually only want to use the cooling in summers like last year, when it’s otherwise hard to get a restful night’s sleep. I think with the venetian blinds, controlled mechanical ventilation with summer bypass, and optionally the cooling function, we would be well prepared...
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