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Underfloor heating brings true thermal comfort to your home and often financial savings, provided you choose the right control technology for the heating system. Find out how to effectively regulate underfloor heating with a thermostat.
Underfloor heating offers several advantages compared to radiators. The room is heated evenly, and the floors are pleasantly warm. We perceive the subjective feeling of warmth especially from our feet, so a warm floor provides the highest comfort. This is related to another benefit – with underfloor heating, you only need to heat to a lower temperature. Moreover, there are no radiators in the way, which quickly gather dust and are difficult to clean.
A disadvantage for some might be the more challenging regulation, as underfloor heating takes more time to heat a room and retains the accumulated temperature for a longer period after being turned off. However, if you choose a quality and suitable room thermostat for underfloor heating and set it correctly, you can enjoy optimal thermal comfort with minimal heating costs and completely effortlessly.
Unlike radiators, underfloor heating does not have classic thermostatic heads. Therefore, there are essentially only two options for its regulation. Both methods can be combined:
Thermostat for Underfloor Heating: This is the most common way to regulate underfloor heating, offering the highest comfort and efficiency for users. We discuss it in more detail below.
Weather-Compensated Controller: It regulates the room temperature based on the outdoor temperature and the so-called weather compensation curve. The weather compensation curve is a formula that indicates the relationship between outdoor and indoor temperatures and the temperature of the heating water. The weather-compensated controller itself does not take into account the changing needs of users and operates statically, so it is advisable to combine it with a thermostat in households. The condition for using this type of regulation is that the boiler or other heat source is compatible with the weather-compensated controller and properly programmed.
Underfloor heating can be either hydronic or electric and can use various heat sources – gas, electric or solid fuel boilers, photovoltaics, solar water heating, or a heat pump. Room thermostats can be used for any type of underfloor heating and heat source, while the possibilities for using weather-compensated regulation are limited.
Radiant heat from the floor is very pleasant.
The thermostat for underfloor heating communicates with the manifold that controls the heating circuits. The thermostat sensors continuously measure the temperature in the room or rooms. Based on the desired temperature you set, the thermostat opens and closes the valves of the underfloor heating manifold. Smart thermostats can also analyze various data that help optimize heating operation.
Thanks to this, you do not need to manually set or regulate the underfloor heating – everything happens completely automatically and with maximum efficiency. Average energy savings with smart thermostats for underfloor heating are around 15-20%, all while maintaining the same or achieving higher thermal comfort.
Always consult experts when choosing a thermostat, as they will recommend the most suitable model considering the type of underfloor heating, the number of rooms in the house, and your preferences. Besides the thermostat itself (i.e., the control unit), it is also necessary to choose the optimal number of temperature sensors and other supplementary accessories. If you choose wireless control for underfloor heating, you can control the room thermostat remotely, for example, from a mobile phone.
The thermostat is an integral part of the complex underfloor heating system, so we do not recommend installing it yourself under any circumstances. The thermostat should be installed by a heating engineer who designed and installed your underfloor heating or a heating engineer who is properly trained by the manufacturer of the smart heating system for the installation. All components must be compatible and correctly set, otherwise the heating system will not function properly.
The thermostat, including temperature sensors and thermal actuators, needs to be professionally connected to the underfloor heating manifold. In certain cases, it is also necessary to install an emergency thermostat or valve on the heating system, which regulates the temperature of the heating water, or prevents water hotter than 40 °C from flowing into the underfloor heating. Such hot water could damage the heating system.
The Honeywell smart thermostat is also suitable for underfloor heating.
The goal of properly setting the thermostat is primarily to save energy while maintaining thermal comfort. Energy can be saved by not unnecessarily heating at full power in rooms where you do not usually stay and at times when you are not at home or are sleeping.
The most efficient types of thermostats are those that offer the option for zonal and time settings. With these thermostats, you program the desired temperature for each room and time of day separately, and the smart control technology takes care of the rest.
Compared to radiators, an important factor must be considered when setting the thermostat for underfloor heating. This is the high thermal inertia. This means that with underfloor heating, it takes longer to heat a room, but the accumulated heat also lasts longer. Therefore, the heating cannot be quickly turned on or off, nor can the temperature be changed abruptly.
When setting the time schedule for underfloor heating, you can easily take this into account by avoiding large temperature jumps and preferring a more stable temperature throughout the day. During your absence, do not lower the temperature by more than 3 °C, which is the recommended reduction for radiators. Instead, adjust the temperature within the range of 1-3 °C depending on the length of your absence – for example, only by 1 °C during a workday and by 3 °C during a holiday.
This does not mean, however, that underfloor heating is more energy-intensive than radiators. As mentioned at the beginning, radiant heat from the floor provides higher thermal comfort, so you will naturally heat to a lower temperature. With underfloor heating and the right thermostat, you can significantly save on heating costs.
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