1st switching on of UFH

[john306]

Hi, I've fitted UFH under tiles a few weeks ago now but have yet to turn it on.
My instructions say "start with floor temp of 20 - 22 deg c and increase by 1 deg c a day till desired temp is reached"
Question is....
What is a "desired temperature"?
The controller has a cut off setting of 40 deg c, so if its lets say desired temp is 35 deg c , then 1 deg c a day would take 2 weeks constantly on to achieve, I've read on here that its best to come back down the same too, so thats a month to set it all up?
Is this correct how I'm reading it?
Thanks for any info.

 

[Rookery]

My advice is to follow the instructions. If you go too quick, you risk thermal shock and that could mean taking it all up and starting again - very expensive. If you dont follow the instructions, you might invalidate the warranty.

 

[john306]

Thanks I thought so, just seems a bit excessive to me.
I might just wait till the colder weather comes before I run it continually for a month, at least I'll get the benifits of the heat then.

 

[Gazzer]

You shouldnt have to do 1 degree a day. My clients are told 3-4 degrees per day. I doubt very much that anyone runs down the same way but thats my thoughts.

 

[Ajax123]

You should run it up to maximum by throne degree per day then drop it back by the same one degree per day to its normal operating temperature. The maximum surface temperature shold be 27degrees centigrade so your stats will probably be set at around 22if measuring room temperature and 30 ish if measuring floor temperature. You will find it uncomfortable if itis much higher than this temperature.

 

[Rookery]

You should run it up to maximum by throne degree per day then drop it back by the same one degree per day to its normal operating temperature. The maximum surface temperature shold be 27degrees centigrade so your stats will probably be set at around 22if measuring room temperature and 30 ish if measuring floor temperature. You will find it uncomfortable if itis much higher than this temperature.

Once you've done this up n down procedure by throne (One?) degree per day and the floor has returned to cold, can you then wack it up to, say, 22 degrees in one go or should you wind it up gradually?

 

[Rookery]

How long would you leave the newly tiled floor before starting the conditioning procedure?
Oh and another question. What would you set the thermostat to at the start of the conditioning procedure?

 

[White Room]

At the very least 2 weeks....

 

[john306]

Thanks for the replys.
I've left it a good 3 weeks since tiling.
According to the floor sensor today the temp without any heating on was 19 to 20 deg C, I did turn it on and get it up to 22 deg C quite quickly but even if only going to 30 deg C floor temp and back again in 1 deg C steps will take more than 2 weeks and I'm off on hols before then so I'll leave it till the autumn at least now.

 

[Jas007]

i have a big area (40m across four stats/rooms) now with electric ufh.. Has been down over 3 weeks. Heating mat company say just run it at lowest temperature for a few days and that's it?? When you say do the up n down do you mean leave it constantly on for 10 days going up and another 10 days going down?

 

[Dan]

I would yes.

I used to say turn it on to the temperature that matches the existing floor temperature, leave it 24 hours, turn it up a degree, leave it another 24 hours, keep doing that until the floor isn't heating up anymore no matter what temperature you set it to (meaning it's reached its max - you can also make a note of that temperature then too which can help you use it economically by not turning it up to that temperature all the time). Then bring it back down a degree per day until you hit the lowest temperature again.

Then use it as you wish. Should take a few weeks to do that, so you'll be doing the floor some good getting it slowly used to the heating and cooling.

Heard a few different ways of doing it. But I've never heard of just turning it on to its lowest for a few days then using it as you wish. Surely that's going to give the floor a bit of a shock wehen you suddenly whack it up to full?

 

[Qwerty]

SLC / adhesive can be shocked if turned on too much too soon. I always advise my clients to establish existing floor temp and as Dan says, start here. I get them to set temp adding 1 degree per day to max, then down again. I have lost count of the number of clients who inform me via email "our new floor is lovely and warm!".....only 12 hours after I leave the house :yikes: Never been back to a failed job yet though :lol:

Please dont do it though......there is a first time for everything

 

[Dan]

12 hours is a bit dodgy! Products will have cured but not actually dried out much then. So you'd be forcing them to try, which can ruin their strength. And that might not fail now. But in a couple of years time.

How many threads have we seen that start "UFH has been down 18 months now and cracks are starting to appear in the grout and a tile has come loose"....