underfloor heating by solar is it possible ?????

magolina


Joined: 06/12/2008
Posts: 461

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 15:46

my bathrooms are freezing like so many i am sure, is it possible to have them with underfloor heating powered by solar?? we seem to have sun every day even in Jan and Feb and it is just so cold inside.

thanks m

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 15:57

Welcome to the land of "Concrete Tents"! Yes it is possible but finding someone "competent"There's the rub

magolina


Joined: 06/12/2008
Posts: 461

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 16:06

i am sure lots of us would like to try it out

m

deputydawg


Joined: 30/03/2010
Posts: 1727

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 16:08

Solar heated floors. Don't give builders more ideas or they will expose the floors to sunlight by omitting roofs ! Evidently under floor heating is not very cost effective. However, there is a Company which is doing very well with a prototype system which involves hot water pipes to and from a boiler hidden inside specialised skirting boards. The benefits are that the problem of pipes being under floor is negated as is the problem of costly radiators taking up valuable space. You may wish to research this on the internet.

arrry



Joined: 19/08/2008
Posts: 1235

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 16:12

They have started using Geothermal in Spain . You have to drill down underground a long way to use the earths natural resources. It is a big hit in Spain at the moment. Don't ask me how it works !! There are several companies in the UK specialising in it but not sure about North Cyprus .

paddywack


Joined: 04/05/2009
Posts: 959

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 16:19

We have underfloor heating in our house here in Ireland,much more cost effective than radiators, water only runs at 40 degrees. Be prepared for massive electric bills with geothermal.

oldshep


Joined: 02/11/2008
Posts: 609

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 16:30

dont know but offsatsan are going to import solar heating panels for swimming pools ,which are like a big carpet with water flowing though so if you had enough of them flowing though the floors of a concrete building though out the day then at night it would release heat like a storage heater , our houses are too hot at night in the summer because the concrete is warmed in the day, so may work as long as you switch it off at night the whole house would be a store of heat ,would this work? think it might if it can heat a lump of water in the ground then a lump of concrete child,s play one would think ,input anyone ?

yrret


Joined: 17/08/2010
Posts: 761

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 17:06

Will certainly be efficient in the summer!



Geo thermals - If you dig down about 8-10 feet, the earth temperature hardly varies at all, but the temp is dependent where you are on the earth.

So, if you dig up a small field, to about 10ft deep, and bury hundreds ( a couple of kilometers will do) of meters of pipe, you can then fill it in again, plumb the pipes under your floors, and circulate water and heat your floors for only the cost of the pump, which can run very slowly. In fact if you position it all correctly, it could even run by convention.

Double bonus is it will cool your floors in the summer down to the same temp.

Tenakoutou



Joined: 27/07/2009
Posts: 4110

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 17:13

Simple, really - just get about a dozen Irish navvies to turn the house upside down during the day - then back again at night!

colly


Joined: 31/07/2008
Posts: 297

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 17:29

Old shep,

not quite sure whether I understand correctly but think that first of all the concrete floors will not get warm enough and secondly where would you store the vast amount of heated water if you were able to extract heat from the building?



I believe underfloor heating works very well as the heat warms you as it rises, radiators tend to have to heat the room from top to bottom. Underfloor heating lends itself well to geothermal because it requires a lower water temperature, geothermal with radiators means you have to have much larger radiators than with a conventional system.

It is possible to store solar energy in large insulated water tanks but judging by peoples comments solar often does not heat enough for their domestic hot water so a large number of panels would be required.



That all being said unless your building is of new construction using the best of design to be well insulated then it all would be a waste of time anyway.

magolina


Joined: 06/12/2008
Posts: 461

Message Posted:
16/01/2011 22:50

wow I am confused now, I have solar water heating already and was wondering if it could some how been added to just to do the bathrooms. I wish to re decorate them anyway .the rest of the house is covered log burner etc it is just i dont like cold bathrooms.



m

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 09:14

msg10 colly.......Unfortunately "NO" houses in the TRNC are constructed using as you call it "the best design and well insulated",Any form of heating Without Insulation is, as you say a total waste of money ,is not fully effective and does nothing to improve the Environmental issues of the modern World..

racoonchic



Joined: 17/11/2008
Posts: 3223

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 09:22

even with efficient solar panels there wont be enough heat generated in the winter to make it cost effective. a boiler is an option but as martin said the properties lack insulation so your best option is a fire or wood burner..

MartinM


Joined: 03/10/2009
Posts: 166

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 12:13

We are having a hybrid central heating system installed, whereby the water circulating in the radiators will be warmed by the sun during the day and "topped up", if necessary, by a gas boiler in the evenings. The installer suggested using the same system for under floor heating but we decided against this system since we feel that it is slow to respond to temperature changes. We shall be using 3 solar water panels with the option of adding more as we see fit.



These are relatively new ideas here and so there is not much in the way of recommendation or existing systems to make a comparison. We feel it is "logical" and want to save money on future gas bills.



Inshallah

elko2



Joined: 24/07/2007
Posts: 4400

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 12:18

When I was building my house about 25 years ago I did look into solar heating and apparently its a big hit around California in the States. However I did not have the courage to trust the crafstman here to do it properly, so I gave up.

Basically you have solar panels on the roof (double glazed with hot air trapped underneath) and a round well under the house filled with gravel and various airducts to blow the air. Hot air from the panels is pumped into the well during the day so as to store the heat there due to gravel stones warming up. You have an automated system to blow the air from the top of the well into the rooms and from the rooms back to the bottom of the well. Also possible to blow air directly into the rooms from the sun panels during the day. In the summer the sun panels may get too hot and create fire hazard, thus there must be provision for automated vents.

This was the basic system and I had the plans to do it plus the addrtesses for obtaining the automated system. I think I bought the plans from Foyle's Bookshop at Charing Cross, London at the time.

ismet

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 12:28

elko2" I did not have the courage to trust the craftsmen here"....Good Call!!



What you go on to describe is a modern take on a Roman "HYPACAUST"...They were building quality houses

1000 years ago.Makes you wonder what happened here??

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 12:58

You may be interested in:

http://www.altherma.co.uk/heating-products/solar-supported-thermal-store-with-gas-boiler/default.jsp

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 12:59

This uses a solar pre-heated water source heatpump combined with a gas fired condensing boiler to provide domestic hot water.

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 12:59

We will be installing these systems in apartments soon to be built in TRNC.

Daikin is one of the top, if not the top, air conditioning companies in the world.

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:08

http://www.altherma.co.uk/binaries/Daikin%20Heating%20Renew_PL_28pp_2_tcm275-169227.pdf

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:09

For further info on this, please contact me on:



vaughan@sunnycyprus.net

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:14

Will you be using these for Under Floor Heating application in the New apts ?

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:18

Depending on the final design, we will be using one of the Daikin Altherma systems for LTHW heating and DHWS sanitary water.

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:22

And the connection to Under Floor Heating is?

flightholiday


Joined: 19/07/2007
Posts: 3217

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:23

Magnolia Msg 1- when you have read all the rest of the ideas many good (ie 14 & 15) you are as you say in Msg 11 confused.

Simple - in a recently constructed or older house not cost effective

1] From your current solar panels, probably not. They would struggle in the cold months to supply you enough hot water anyway.

2] At a high expense with some (maybe a lot) of construction work you could create a new solar based system to heat your bathroom but it would probably not pay off in even the medium term (5/10 years). As well as not being a sure fire thing to sufficiently heat the bathroom anyway.

3] Possibly the most cost effective short term solution would be the infra-red lamps that used to be available working with an ordinary pendant light just using it to take the chill off for the few months that you need it.

oldshep


Joined: 02/11/2008
Posts: 609

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:25

What i was thinking is if you had enough of these swimming pool heating panels and warmed the floors of my house its got cavity wall ie two walls with foam 50mm sheets inside ,so the whole house would act as a storage heater switch it off at night then the house would give off that heat, as long as the roof is also covered in foam sheet heat loss could be cut but would like some say it be enough heat

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 13:29

msg 24,



Literal connection or mechanical connection?

http://www.daikin.co.uk/binaries/Daikin%20Altherma%20system%20layout_tcm46-42917.jpg

TRNCVaughan


Joined: 27/04/2008
Posts: 4578

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 15:30

http://www.altherma.co.uk/binaries/Daikin%20Heating%20Renew_PL_28pp_2_tcm275-169227.pdf

pages 11 and 15

martinD41


Joined: 06/09/2010
Posts: 3001

Message Posted:
17/01/2011 15:35

Thanks,TRNCvaughn,I would be interested to see the installation in progress,,be so kind as to let us all know when you start.

magolina


Joined: 06/12/2008
Posts: 461

Message Posted:
18/01/2011 19:34

thanks guys

m