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When selecting a client’s thermostat, do you base it on the ease of use, aesthetics, price or maybe all three? There is a fourth point with UFH systems that is often overlooked and yet is the most important of all. Read on to find out why you need the right thermostat for your UFH system.

Older Controls Tech and UFH

As explained in a previous article, UFH does have a slower reaction time when compared with other heating types. Due to these slower reaction times, it is better to maintain a constant temperature and only make small adjustments.

Luckily room control technology has come a long way since the simple dial thermostat. Even though these are very easy for clients to use and extremely cheap, they are terrible for UFH as they suffer from over and undershoot of a minimum of 1 degree because of the way the thermostat is made. This level of inaccuracy helps with radiators as it ensures the boiler does not constantly fire. Unfortunately, with UFH, the residual energy left after the boiler fires can overshoot the system by more than 3 degrees. Similarly, once the mass of the screed cooled enough for the thermostat to switch. All the energy is lost, causing it to undershoot massively. But then it has to re-energise the screed again, making the building uncomfortable and highly inefficient.

Load Compensation

All modern UFH controls should have a version of Load compensation or TPI control. The load compensation feature forecasts where the system is currently measuring and reacts before it needs to. In this way, the system ensures it keeps closer to the setpoint without overheating and underheating, saving huge amounts of money in wasted energy and increasing comfort.

Why not talk to our team about our range of load-compensated controls today? And we will ensure your next UFH is not just easy to use, looks good and is cost-competitive but is also efficient. Click here to see our range of thermostats.