How do I control my underfloor heating?

Kenney

Hello there,

I moved to a new home couple if years ago. The whole house is run from a combi boiler and heats via radiators. It's had an extension and loft conversion (bungalow) and at a later date a conservatory fitted with underfloor heating. Outside there is a little tap/valve which I assume bleeds the pipes of the underfloor heating, but I can not find any controls to turn it off.
I recently invested in some smart TRVs so I can run the house more effeciently, however, this has backfired. If the boiler is on, then so is the underfloor heating. I don't know how to turn it off or down. I don't want the conservatory heated 24/7. The only way I can turn it off is to turn the thermostat right down so it turns the boiler off, but then I can't heat the house. Surely, there must be a way to control/isolate the underfloor heating. I've looked everywhere and the plumber who fitted a new radiator for me said there were no valves on the boiler itself.

Please help?! It's completely counter productive having smart heating if the healting will run constantly to heat the garden room.

Any advice will be much appreciated.

psb75

You'll need to have a bit of re-plumbing done near the boiler with some new devices and a separate thermostat for controlling that radiant floor zone, done by a heating professional.

Kenney

Ah, OK. I was hoping I was missing something. I was certain they couldn't/wouldn't install it without being able to control it independently.

hot_rod

I can't imagine it just runs wild? At the very least it should have a mixing valve to lower the supply temperature to the radiant floor areas.

A separate room like that should be on a zone of its own. A few pics of the boiler piping may help determine what is going on.

Kenney

Thank you. I will get a photo of the boiler so you can see. You might spot something that my uneducated eyes can't. 

Jamie Hall

It's also entirely possible that someone who put it together didn't add the necessary valves and controls. Shouldn't have happened — but we've seen wilder stuff.

Not to panic. It really won't be all that hard to add the necessary controls and valves, assuming that somewhere in the piping there is access to either the supply or return (preferably both) from that area. Not the best — there should be an independent pump for that radiant zone, and a mixing valve — but sometimes you just have to do the best you can with what you've got.