Underfloor heating, any plumbers?

isn't there an underfloor heating kit you could buy?

I'm just firing one in here as i imagine it would be a pretty standard kit, you would just need to say the type of flooring and size of floor.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Heating-Plum...t/utwundertile

[skeetly]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Yes for temporary fix I have my mate cutting me a decent slab of steel to replace the boiler.

New stove is not an option!

Fire cement it is then
Out of curiousity; what breed of stove is it?

You could give Eddie a call at Yorkshire Chimney Specialists at Huddersfield, hes pretty well clued up with solid fuel stoves and the like. Im not sure hes still trading as his web sites dissapeared, his details are here: http://www.build.co.uk/company_216159.htm

[skeetly]

Originally Posted by thefallenangel

isn't there an underfloor heating kit you could buy?

I'm just firing one in here as i imagine it would be a pretty standard kit, you would just need to say the type of flooring and size of floor.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Heating-Plum...t/utwundertile

Hmmm. Perhaps some sort of plated boiler and use the steam to drive a generating set ?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tF-0e...om=PL&index=53

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by thefallenangel

isn't there an underfloor heating kit you could buy?

I'm just firing one in here as i imagine it would be a pretty standard kit, you would just need to say the type of flooring and size of floor.

http://www.wickes.co.uk/Heating-Plum...t/utwundertile

Yeah, seen the kits but they're a fortune because they have more features than we need.

Originally Posted by skeetly

Fire cement it is then
Out of curiousity; what breed of stove is it?

No idea!

Parents picked it out, I think it is some cheap import. Can sort pics if you are so interested?

[skeetly]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Can sort pics if you are so interested?

Nah
If it had been a 'well known' type there was a slim chance I could have rooted about for some bits though...

[yorkie_chris]

Originally Posted by skeetly

Bet it would have to be pretty thick not to warp. I can see it glowing now

If the air cant move upwards because of a narrowed flue then its going to move faster; cue jet engine effect x 10.
Your exchanger would need to get rid of heat pretty quick
Normally you would control the burning rate by reducing the avilable air but thats not an option unless you seal the stove.

Well some warping you could live with so long as nothing cracks. But a fair airflow through it should keep it fairly cool.

Got to disagree with you about the narrowing the airflow bit though, surely a turbulent flow will create backpressure and reduce the amount of draught.

Have you seen the butterfly valves you can put in the flue? Ever used one?

[Rich]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

So, plan B. A seperate underfloor heating system just for the one room and part of the kitchen just to use the boiler and extract some of the waste heat from the flue gas.

I've got a reasonable grasp of thermodynamics, and have a fair idea of how to do it, but how would you do it?

P.S the stove has been in ages, but we removed the boiler part to avoid it burning through. It is a simple box welded up out of 1/8" plate 13" x 8" x 2" with a pipe spigot at the rear corners and a 1" hole through the middle of it. Can anyone guess at a rough heat output? And general idea of complexity and cost if we were to go with the original idea of fitting this into the main central heating circuit.

Cheers folks

The size of your boiler is approx the same size as ones we fit to the Charnwood LA20i which gives out 2.3KW so at a rough guess i'd say about 2KW at best for yours. It seems an odd way of mounting the boiler above the flames as it has a greater chance of burning through and warping up there. Normally they are surrounding the fire bed or at the back of it.

Personally i'd either hook the boiler up to a seperate cylinder connecting it into the HW, or i'd run the upstairs rads off of it (depending on how many and size). To save cutting the rads upstairs out of the combi system you could buy a few cheap rads and hook them up on seperate sides of the rooms up stairs. That way you have the choice of using the Gas or Solid fuel to heat your rooms.

If you keep the boiler running just the upstairs you'll get away without a pump where as if you try to run anything downstairs you'll need one to get any decent heat.

Some of the suggestions i've made are perhaps best explained with a diagram. So if you want any further info drop me a pm.

Rich

[yorkie_chris]

I understand, cheers.

Does the cylinder perform any function other than as an energy store?

[skeetly]

Originally Posted by yorkie_chris

Well some warping you could live with so long as nothing cracks. But a fair airflow through it should keep it fairly cool.

Got to disagree with you about the narrowing the airflow bit though, surely a turbulent flow will create backpressure and reduce the amount of draught.

Have you seen the butterfly valves you can put in the flue? Ever used one?

I've got a customer's holiday home with one of them dampers. Just finished a fortnights work there too. If you'd asked me last week ii could have tried it out with the doors open.....
With out being able to do the maths (but remembering some bits of physics) I think the available fuel and air is going to add up to quite a bit of airflow. I think you'd need to really strangle the flue (hee hee throttle) to stop it from going mad.
I'd say it was a very fine balance and I predict a lot of mucking about before you get it right
I'd love to hear about the progress though......