School gives underfloor heating a good report
Giacomini has supplied underfloor heating covering 9500 m2 on two levels of the new Manor CE School and Performing Arts Centre in York.
M&E contractor H&C Moore installed the systems, having worked with Giacomini on two previous contracts, both of which had special difficulties to overcome.
The installation required an array of manifolds and pumps to serve each heated area. The zones are controlled by tamperproof thermostats. There is 31 km of 18 mm PEX pipe.
The ground floor is insulated with 50 mm of 100HDN materials. The first floor includes 25 mm of EPS 100 insulation and a 5 mm sound deadener. The installation was completed with 75 mm of fast-curing Mapie Topcem screed.
Alec Esgate, contracts manager with H&C Moore, says, ‘We believe that the installation of underfloor heating is easier than heat emitters because the bulk of the work is carried out as a first-fix item as floors are laid. Other than piping to manifolds, the installation is not reliant on numerous other trades — nor the site-management headache of getting them all in and out on a tight schedule.’
Operating at lower flow temperatures than wall-hung heat emitters also enables underfloor heating to achieve lower energy consumption.
