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Old Castle Farm
Old Castle Farm is a detached 4-bedroom house
Old Castle Farm is built on farmland overlooking the countryside of South Wales. The plot was developed by builder Steve Bushell for the farmer and his family. During initial research and specification of products, the client liked the idea of the comfort and economic benefits of underfloor heating but the instant heat of radiators upstairs, along with a traditional hot water cylinder.
To allow underfloor heating and radiators Nigel Sanger, Technical Manager for JG Speedfit, suggested a hybrid solution combining two of JG Speedfit's new heating solutions; the Energy Saver Plus, a radiator based system that centres around manifold plumbing for upstairs and an Underfloor Heating system for downstairs, with both systems controlled by the JG Speedfit Network Control Touchpad.
Energy Saver Plus
When the Energy Saver Plus was first explained to me it sounded complicated, why would you need thermostats in every room for a radiator system, and why use a manifold to plumb them in? But when Nigel used the analogy of would you just have one light switch for your house? It became clear that every room has a different heating requirement and therefore should have its own thermostat, and it is the use of a manifold that allows that control
The Energy Saver Plus was chosen for the upstairs. Unlike a conventional system where radiators are connected to a common flow and return, the Energy Saver Plus' use of a manifold allows each radiator to have its own individual hot water supply. Installing thermostats in each room enables the user to set time and temperature control in each room to suit individual use. The thermostats are then wired back to a wiring centre that in turn will open and close the actuator valves on the manifold. The result is the user can heat the individual room quickly when it is needed meaning significant energy savings can be made.
Although they may be seen as uneconomical, radiators can offer advantages that underfloor heating cannot, especially upstairs. Radiators can provide a burst of heat unlike underfloor heating. This can be useful in a bedroom when heat is only needed a few hours a day before going to bed and waking up. Which is where the Energy Saver Plus allows the homeowner to make their savings by being able to control room by room when these bursts of heat happen.
Underfloor Heating
Underfloor heating was the obvious choice for downstairs, the rooms would be used more allowing the lower water temperature but longer running time to give economic savings. The underfloor heating system would also offer a more comfortable radiated heat compared to radiator's heat. The installation of the underfloor heating system was relatively easy. First a waterproof membrane was laid, then the insulation with the pipe being stapled to the insulation. It took less than two days to lay the pipe. After the pipe was installed and the manifold fitted, the system was pressure tested at 2 bar for 10 minutes and 10 bar for 10 minutes. The pressure was then decreased to 6 bar for screeding. Once the screed had fully dried out the electrical controls were installed including the JG Speedfit Touch Pad.
Network controls
The Touchpad offered exactly the sort of control that I was looking for it looks great, is so easy to use and has some great features!
The benefit of choosing the Network Controlled Underfloor Heating System gave Steve the high specification controls he wanted, and allowed him to add value adding extras on such as a central touchpad control unit, and remote access over the internet or through text message from a mobile phone.
