Monday, December 26, 2011
The step-by-step accession adviser to the DEVI underfloor heating solutions
Monday, December 19, 2011
Options For Heating Your Conservatory
Conservatory heating is a necessary expense if you wish to use your conservatory in the winter months or Autumn/Spring on overcast days or in the evenings. The are many different ways to heat your conservatory and we will look at some of them here, investigating the relative pro's and con's of each method including purchase prices, installation costs and running costs where possible. Below is a summary of some of the methods of heating your conservatory along with approximate costings on the assumption of a 10m2 area. Assumes 2kW heating requirement and average electricity tariff of 12p. Running cost is when on and not annual average.
Conservatory Heating Method
Fan heater
Cost - £10 Running costs - 24p
Oil Filled Radiator
Cost - £30 Running cost - 24p
Electric panel heater
Cost - £150 Running Cost - 24p
Night storage heater - economy 7
Cost - £175 Running Cost - 9p
Connect to existing home central heating system
Cost - £250 Running Cost - 9p
Split unit air conditioning system as heater
Cost - £500+ Running Cost - 24p
Air source heat pump + under tile heating
Cost - £2150 Running Cost - 6p
Reasons to heat your conservatory?
Maybe you use your conservatory as a breakfast room in which case it needs to be warm in morning all year round. If you conservatory is used throughout the day during Winter it is a good idea to have a heating solution that either has a very constant temperature or can be topped up during the day if required. Perhaps you keep sub-tropical or tropical plants in it which could not withstand the freezing temperatures we get in the winter here. Then it must not drop below a certain temperature. Types of heater fall in to 2 main categories
Electric conservatory heating Pro's
No ventilation needed Quickly adjust the temperature Easy to adjust Clean
Con's
Running costs can be high
Gas conservatory heating Pro's
Low running costs
Con's
Ventilation required Below are some specific ways of heating your conservatory
Domestic central heating system
You could simply connect a new radiator to an existing central heating system. Check with your conservatory supplier or local building officers to make sure this is allowed. If you have an efficient boiler already then this method will have a very low running cost. It is a requirement that the radiator you place in the conservatory has its own thermostatic control and can be turned off. For optimum heat circulation it is suggested to install the radiator near the dwarf wall though this is not always possible nor indeed convenient.
Pro's
Cheap to run - estimated 9p per hour for 2kW of heating assuming high efficiency boiler and heat transfer system in house.
Con's
Control of temperature may be an issue depending on how the thermostatic control of heat in the rest of the house is set-up. Your house and conservatory will heat up and cool down at different rates.
Fan heater
Go out to Argos or whoever and buy a fan heater
Pro's
Cost ~ £10-20 for a 2kW unit Portable
Con's
Noisy Air flow can be irritating High running costs ~ 24p per hour for 2kW of heating.
Electric panel heater
Buy and install a simple low profile electric panel heater.
Pro's
Easy to install- plug it in Fairly low cost ~ £150 Plenty of heat available - up to 3kW per unit Quick to heat up Slim line
Con's
Running costs can be high ~ 24p per hour for 2kW of heating.
Oil filled radiator
These are also available from 'most good retailers'
Pro's
Very cheap ~ £30 for 2kW unit
Cons
Not slim line Heavy to move High running costs ~ 24p per hour for 2kW of heating.
Night storage heater
Although not as vogue as they once were they are still available widely and now they are much more slim line than the huge brick filled blocks they used to be.
Pro's
Can operate of economy 7 ~ 9p per hour for 2kW of heating during the night. Fairly low cost ~ £175 for 2kW unit
Con's
Can be expensive to install Not easy to regulate Expensive to 'boost' ~ 24p per hour for 2kW of heating.
Tubular Heating
This is commonly used in outside rooms, sheds and greenhouses where the desire is to prevent the room from going below zero which could damage plants, pipes and other items.
Pro's
Frost protection kits available. Designed to operate in damper conditions e.g. glass house or garden shed. Splash proof if conservatory used for lots of plants that need watering. Cost ~ £20-40 including frost thermostat
Con's
Low power only really usable for frost protection
Free standing gas fire
A calor gas heater is an example but an be either butane or propane depending on design.
Pro's
No installation costs Portable Cost ~ £125
Con's
Can be bulky Heavy to move Sometimes smell Cause condensation
Heat Pump
Heat pumps come in two varieties air source and ground source. This defines where they extract the heat from. Heat pumps are commonly used as the source for a under floor heating system due to the low temperature water they produce. Air source heat pumps also use systems with a fan on the interior heat exchanger to blow warm air in. They operate using the refrigeration cycle. The inside of a fridge is cold and the back heat exchanger is warm. In a heat pump the outside world is cooled down and the heat is pumped into the inside. The advantage is that typically for every 1 unit of electricity 4 units of heat can be brought inside.
Pro's
Can also be used as a cooling means Can be wall or floor mounted. Low running costs ~ 6p per hour for 2kW of heating assuming 4 to 1 heat gain.
Con's
Generally expensive
Ground source heat pump Pro's
Able to better extract heat in very cold weather from the environment than air source
Con's
Almost certainly too expensive for conservatory cooling unless considered as part of a larger change in central heating system or in a new build construction.
Air source heat pump Pro's
Not as expensive as ground source ~ £1500
Con's
Still expensive
Conservatory under floor heating
Pipes are run either underneath the tiles or within the floor screed. These pipes carry a working fluid that can be heated thus heating the floor surface.
Pro's
Comfortable way of heating a room Invisible Doesn't take up any space Can be powered off central heating, heat pump, gas or electric source Low running cost even with electric as usually find ambient temperature can be lower and still comfortable.
Con's
Installation cost ~ £350 for install in 10m2 Cost ~ £250-300 for 10m2 kit under tile Cost ~ £200-250 for 10m2 kit in screed
Air conditioning
Either a portable unit with vent to outside world or a split system professionally installed and wall mounted. Air conditioning units are usually selected on their cooling capacity rather than their heating capabilities. Therefore running costs are tricky to calculate.
Pro's
Obviously is good for cooling as well
Con's
Noise Cost ~ £500+ for split system Cost ~ £250+ for portable system
How much heating do I need?
The amount of heating required depends on
Size of conservatory Insulation properties of the glass/frame - U value Required temperature differential - temperature inside to outside To complicate matters the shape of the conservatory and weather conditions such a wind speed will effect the heat loss but they are not considered here.
Heat loss is modelled using the following equation
Heating required (watts) equals U value * Area * temperature difference
Area is the glass area of the conservatory plus 1/3rd of the area of the connecting wall. It gets more complicated if the conservatory is constructed using different glazing options (e.g. roof) or is angled. So for a conservatory with a 10m2 floor area and 2.4m high walls and slightly sloping roof one would have an area of 37.3m2.
Single glazing has a U value of around 5 or more. Old style double glazing is about 3. Newer low-e coatings are closer to 2 with triple glazed argon filled (read expensive) units as low as 0.4!
Assuming you wish to have a minimum temperature of 18C in the daytime (with say an outside temperature of zero) we can then calculate the required best case heating requirement at about 2kW. With low-e glass it would be about 1.3kW.
Note: A dealer of conservatories or heating unit will be able to input more realistic figures but this is just ballpark. It allows us to compare different methods of heating the conservatory for price on a very typical size conservatory.
It's clear that a good way of heating your conservatory is to stop any heat within the structure escaping in the first place. However, extremely high performance glass (such as tripled glazed argon filled low-e variety) can be very expensive and depending on your conservatory usage you may never recover the investment in reduced heating bills.
Conservatory Heating Conclusions
There are a few different ways of heating your conservatory. Typically the lower upfront cost the higher the running cost. Ultimately its a hard call as to how much to spend on well insulated glass and how much to spend on efficient heating systems. Hopefully this breakdown of methods and costings has given you the information to make a better informed decision.
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Tuesday, December 13, 2011
Installing Radiant Floor Heating Step 1 - Install my Roll
Saturday, December 10, 2011
Fascia and Soffits, What Does it Involve?
Your house is the biggest investment you are ever likely to make so it seems obvious that you want to keep it a state of good repair. After all ,if it's falling down, you probably wouldn't sell it or if you did you would not get its true value.
Next time your in your garden take a look up to your roofline, that's the part that has the gutter attached to it, is it looking past its best, is the gutter sagging or has it come away from itself?, have you noticed birds nesting in the roof, these are just some of the things that could mean your roofline needs to be looked at before it gets any worse.
Birds nesting in between the rafters cause the truss ends to rot, this is from the birds bringing wet grass back to build their nests, the body heat of the birds as they nest and also from rainwater getting behind the fascia boards (the birds make holes in the felt). Rotten wood needs to be removed, it will not get any better.
Some people will opt to have the existing wood covered over, this is fine as long as the original wood is in good condition ie. absolutely no rot whatsoever, however if there is the smallest amount of rot etc. it must be removed no questions. There really is very little difference in price for having full replacement maybe a couple of hundred pounds.
For full removal the first row of tiles should be removed, approx 6 inches of roofing felt should be cut away. This allows the fitters access to the rear of the fascia board which in turn makes it easier to remove. Once the gutter and fascia has been removed, the soffit can be inspected, in most cases the soffit could well be asbestos in which case it can be left in place, it does not rot and is expensive to dispose of, if the soffit is wood it can be removed if needed, some fitters leave the existing wooden soffit in place and cover over it with the new soffit, this is purely down to the fitter and does not compromise the work. sprockets should now be fitted to the truss ends, these are basically wooden batons screwed in to the truss ends that the new nails that hold the fascia on are nailed into, this is to stop any new nails being knocked into existing nail holes, you do not get a solid hold and the new fascia board may move a little.
Once the fascia board has been attached, it is time for the gutter to be fitted. This comes in either round, square or ogee, round or square are generally fitted - ogee is quite expensive, the gutter normally comes in 3 different colours, Black, White or Brown, there should be no difference in the price for colours or style.
Now the gutter has been fitted it is time for the venting system and bird combs (to stop birds re-nesting), this basically sits on top of the fascia board and slips under the existing felt, this ensures that any rainwater that gets between the tiles actually runs down the felt into the gutter and does not fall behind the fascia, the venting system allows air to circulate the loft space and stops condensation forming. Please note: depending on the type of tiles you have birds combs may not be needed.
It now just leaves the downpipes to be fitted, if your home has gables with fascia and soffit, they be replaced in much the same way as the fascia and soffit (with gutter) although there will not be any need to remove tiles, felt etc.
All of this can be carried out for a relatively small amount of money, an average sized house with 20 metres of fascia, soffit and gutter and 2 gables with 10 metres of fascia and soffit should not come to anymore that £1500.
If you have a coloured fascia or a woodgrain effect be prepared to pay almost double the price for white, unfortunately coloured and woodgrain are extremely expensive so beware.
Any decent fitting company should remove all rubbish from you property, they should leave your property clean and tidy.
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Saturday, December 3, 2011
Basic Guidelines To Owner Home Building
Many South Africans are choosing to build their own homes instead of buying an existing property. Reasons for this vary but mostly for the cost saving (It is said that a saving of 25% can be made on the capital outlay of the proposed project when building yourself as oppose to buying), other reasons might include the great challenge of taking on a building project or the fact that it can create a great sense of self-achievement.
For a number of reasons the cost of building went up tremendously in the last couple of years. In 1998 an average house with regular finishes could be build for appx. R1800/sqm whereas at the time of writing this document (2006) the rate of building the same house would be around (R3500/sqm) This probably had a huge influence on the 'property boom' as perceived by South Africans in the recent years.
With the above in mind, it goes without saying that it is essential to hire a good contractor (for a list of good contractors in your area, contact the NHBRC - National home builders registration council) Also know that getting a building loan from a respectable financial institution would require you to hire a contractor who is registered with the NHBRC, a loan would not be granted otherwise.
The experience, skill, efficiency, and contacts of a seasoned professional contractor can yield dividends for years.
CHOOSING A SUITABLE STAND
Shape
Try to avoid irregular shaped plots, if possible a square or rectangular shaped plot lends itself to easier planning. Optimum shape are more or less a 4:3 ratio. If considering a pan-handle, know that the pan-handle makes up a lot of the size of the total area of the plot and that this is generally un-usable and would cost generally more to pave that a regular plot.
Slope
Generally flat sites are easiest to build on, but one might choose a sloped site as it often is accompanied by great views, but keep in mind that sloping sites, no matter how steep will often call for professional help in the planning stages.
Size
If you are planning to possibly extend the house in future make sure the site lends itself towards making this possible sensibly. It would often not make sense to extend if there is only open space on the western or cold southern side of the plot.
Orientation
North facing plots are the best in the Southern hemisphere as they get more sun, especially in the winter months when the sun is lower. Views or other advantages will influence a buyer to buy alternatively orientated sites, but never consider buying a western orientated site - you will seriously regret it afterwards.
Soil conditions
Do a proper soil investigation before buying, or ask the developer/seller to provide you with a soil test. The cost of building on un-suitable soil is surprisingly higher with the need for special excavations & foundations.
Access to site
Mull over the possible accesses to the site, this often becomes a huge headache during building and even more so in many cases once you have moved in.
BUILDING THE SUPERSTRUCTURE
Storage
Make sure your builder has a proper store for the building materials delivered to site to prevent theft and also to protect the materials from weather, especially cement should be kept free from all moist at all cost. Bags of cement could be stored on a platform lifted on bricks etc.
Don't construct the storage hut too far from the road for easy delivery. Make sure that the proper sanitation facilities are provided as well and make arrangements to have the water connection activated.
Setting out
This process involves the marking out of the building with lime powder, corner pegs and datum level references. Once the marking out is complete, make sure to double check that the proposed building does not cross building lines or servitudes.
If you are building on a sloped site the cut & fill excavations & filling will have to be done before hand.
Excavations & Foundations
Make sure that the excavations for the foundations are level and at least 550mm deep, most local authorities require the top of the foundation to de at least 340mm (4 brick courses) deep and see that the excavated trenches are free of water before concrete casting commences. For external walls the foundations are to be a minimum of 550mm wide for cement bricks and 600mm for clay bricks for a one storey building. The foundation depth to be around 230mm min. deep. These are for normal soil conditions. If you suspect that you have special conditions ex. Silt, Clay etc. consult your engineer as you may require a special raft foundation or even piles in cases where the top layer of extreme unusable quality.
When building on a sloping site, a stepped foundation may be required. Make sure that the top foundations ends overlap sufficiently (appx. 250mm) over the bottom strip for a normal strip foundation.
For unstable soils consult your engineer for a foundation design and have him do an inspection when the foundations are cast.
(Have a look at the details section for typical foundation details on the advice page of this site, you might also want to read the article on concrete construction in South Africa)
Waterproofing & floor slab casting
Residential ground floor slabs are usually only one brick course thick (Apprx. 75mm) and are layed on a well compacted crushed stone filling covered with riversand and on a adequate damp proof membrance (The dpm is often specified as a 250micron under surface bed layer). Make sure that the layer of riversand in sufficient in thickness and that it is well spread over the layer of crushed stone to prevent penetrations through the sheet. Also check that the final unfinished floor level is at least 2 brick cources (170mm) above the natural ground level to prevent stormwater or rising damp from entering the house and as required by local authorities.
See to it that the builder is keeping the floor slabs damp to ensure proper curing and that he has ordered his building sand and cement from sound suppliers who will supply him with the correct type of cement and aggregate mix for slab casting.
When the slab is cast check your plans once again to see that all conduits or pipes etc. are in place for the sanitary fittings (wc, whb, shr, sink, etc.) and for all the electrical fittings (plug outlets etc.)
Walls (Masonry work)
Before any bricks are laid check that the top of foundation is square and level once again.
Make sure you get good quality stock/face bricks from a sound supplier. When the bricks are delivered to site inspect them and see if more than 5 out of 100 are broken, if so the bricks might not be of optimum quality.
When using cement bricks/blocks make sure the bricks are dry before being laid as shrinkage might occur afterwards if they are laid wet which might result in mortar jointing getting loose. concrete based the supplier must supply a SABS certificate of compliance.
It is good practice to wet the bricks before laying them as the dust accumulated on them might act as a barrier between the mortar & the brick, also clay bricks might absorb a lot of moisture out of the mortar mix which it needs to cure (harden).
Before building of walls commences make sure that your builder installs a layer of 250micron Plastic sheet as wide as the wall as a damp proofing similar to the sheet below the floorslab. Where there are platform differences a vertical sheet should be installed to prevent damp to the lower levels.
When the building is in progress, see that the corner profiles (wooden masts with brick courses marked of at the corners of the house) are plumb and that brickwork is laid level as building proceeds. Make sure that the lines spanned between profiles are always level and stretched tight.
Bricks should be laid with brick-reinforcing every third to 4th course, and every course above door & window level.
Door & window frames should be built in and see that they are at the correct placement and height and that they are built in level. If you are building aluminium window frames, openings will be left and the openings will be measured on site and the windows built accordingly and installed just before plastering commences.
Make sure that lintels are resting at least 150 mm on both sides of openings for openings smaller than 1,5m, or 250 mm for openings wider than that.
Bricks must be laid plumb and level, with joints of about 10mm, properly filled.
With facebricks it is important that all joints are properly filled, otherwise water will leak through these joints into the interior skin of brickwork
Cavity walls (walls consisting of two brick skins with small gap - 40-50mm usually) needs to be build at all coastal residences with weep holes at the bottom for the moisture to escape. It is also good practice to build cavity walls at the western side of the building to eliminate the heat created on the walls by the scorching western afternoon sun.
Where cavity walls are built, wall ties are to be used between the skins, at a rate of 4 ties per square metre.
Roof covering
Roof design will depend on the type of covering and the span over which the structure is built.
A timber sub-structured roof typically rests on a wooden wallplate which acts as a 'ringbeam' around the perimeter of the building to evenly distribute the loads to the supporting walls.
The trusses & wall plate is anchored to the walls with metal roof ties and needs to be built into the wall at least 4 brick courses from the top.
The roof trusses should be graded and treated and bear a mark of approval typically by the SABS. An engineering certificate of compliance should be supplied to you by the roof contractor.
The battens are the cross pieces of timber spaced as per roofing material used. For tiled roofs they are 38x38mm and spaced at appx. 330mm centres and 38x50 or 50x76 for sheetmetal coverings and spaced at 1,2 - 1,6m apart depending on the manufacturer.
Brandering are similar to battens but is nailed to the underside of the trusses for the ceiling to be fixed to it. They are typically 38x38mm in profile and spaced at 450mm centres. Make sure to have a trapdoor fitted in between at a suitable place. (See also trapdoor detail - at the details page of this website)
Depending on the roofing type and manufacturer roof slopes may vary from 2 degrees to very steep angles. Typically tiled roofs will not have a smaller slope that about 17 degrees and will then require an undertile waterproofing membrane (this is typically done for roofs at a pitch greater than 45 or smaller than 26 degrees and also prevents dust from entering and act against wind loads that might be forced onto the roof),
Many sheetmetal profiles can be installed at a very small slope without difficulty.
Where ever there is a protrusion through the roof eg. A ventpipe, chimney shaft, parapet wall etc. these areas should be properly flashed with galvanized sheetmetal flashings.
Depending on the style of architecture or personal preference you might install a facia board and gutter or not; however if you decide not to, it is good practise and most local authorities will require you to build an apron of 900MM min around the house perimeter to prevent the falling water from corroding the earth around the house and cause rising damp or structural failure of the weakened brickwork by the moisture.
(For thatch roof information refer to the article on thatch roof design on this website)
Construction of floors / Stairs
When constructing floors it can either be a wooden floor raised and rest of wooden floor joists (beams) and be concrete which is the preferred method because of its better insulating qualities.
For concrete ground floors see also the section regarding slab casting earlier. If you are building a wooden floor, especially at higher levels consult a qualified professional to work out the live loads which will act out on the floor.
When considering which flooring material to be used also consider the fact that a lot of services needs to run in the floor and will need to be covered from below is using wooden floor for the upper floors.
Local authorities in SA require stair treads to be no less than 250mm and risers (vertical) to be no more than 200mm. These however are minimums and a comfortable stair should have at leas 270mm treads and 170mm risers. The 170mm risers also makes it easier if a concrete stair needs to be built into a wall module as 170mm equals 2 brick courses.
Other items and services
Plumbing & sewerage, electrical installation, landscaping, Special fittings etc. will not be covered in this document. Should you have any other questions please contact us and we will do our utmost to provide you with guidance.
Tuesday, November 29, 2011
Electric underfloor heating accession service
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Sunday, November 27, 2011
What Do You Know About Electric Radiant Floor Heat?
Actually, electric radiant floor heat is used to warm up our floors in cold or winter season with bone-chilled weather outside. That is done with the help of heating mats, which are designed to warm stone and tile floors in bathrooms, kitchens, entries and sunrooms, or wherever you need them.
There is an endless list of products available in online as well as offline markets when it comes to floor heating. For example, laminate floor heating mats are used for laminate floor and under-carpet heating.
By construction, they comprise of an ultra thin electric radiant floor heating system primarily for use under laminate, engineered wood, glued hardwood and other floating floors.
Advantage of using an electric radiant floor heat mat is the ease of use and installation including uniform heating of your laminate flooring. The special materials used makes it free from problems of 'Hot-Spots' or localized heating.
Actually, by construction they are made with fluoropolymer insulated heating cables. These are sandwiched between two layers of specially reinforced aluminum foil.
The main point here is that the uniform spacing of the heating elements, further backed by the aluminum foil, ensures even heat distribution. The heating element is connected to a power-supply cable, which exits the laminate mat from one corner. The power lead is a flat thin two core flexible cord, consisting of two insulated conductors with a metal sheath and an outer sheath.
Depending on your heating requirement, they are available in nominal heat outputs of 80 W/m² and 140 W/m². Most of them are available in predetermined lengths with cold tail - prefabricated & tested in a carefully controlled factory environment. In addition, next advantage is that they are also fully geared to meet any of your customized heating requirements.
The electric radiant floor heat mats are portable, easy to install and are suited to make any floor warm. They can be used on any floor, such as under tile; wood or laminate floors in bathrooms, kitchens, entryways and sun-rooms.
They are lighter in weight, extra thin, and portable that can be moved easily from one place to another or one room to another. They are designed with sturdy construction that makes them ideally suited for renovation of homes, offices or anywhere you want.
Nowadays, they are easily available at most online stores so you need not to leave your home in cold winter days. Therefore, they are easy to order, ship and are easy to install within no time. The ease of installation makes them an ideal 'DIY" project. Most of these heating mats come with an installation kit with clear instructions. Therefore, unlike other project at your home related to renovation or refurnishing or construction, there is no need to hire any technicians or experts.
As most of these electric radiant floor heat mats are flexible in design and installation, so you can fit them anywhere you want. They do not have any permanent installation, so you can move them from one place to another in your home.
So folks, forget about expensive installation and construction costs with these heating floor mats. They are built for common people with common requirements. Individual Requirements of heat-loads, voltage requirements, lengths & width can be designed & manufactured. They can be supplied with one-side adhesive with release paper for ease of installation.
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Friday, November 25, 2011
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