Frequently asked Questions

The answer to this question is quite simple, but there are a few things to be aware of related to it:

• we don’t want to sell a tube, we want to sell quality;
• we don’t skimp on the quality of the material, we don’t use recycled materials, which reduce the price of the pipe (and its quality);
• we provide a 40-year warranty on the pipe;
• the core of this tube is still of the same quality polybutene. You can also find another similar tube of another brand, which at first glance does not differ, but the material used is different;
• the pipe is produced by a technologically more complex process than in the case of other pipes, therefore the cost of producing the pipe is also higher. But the reward is higher quality and practically unlimited life;

When using a carpet, it is necessary to take into account a partial reduction in heat output when designing the heating by the designer. We do not recommend carpets with a pile height of over 10 mm and a rubber backing, PVC with a felt backing and parquet made of soft wood (the resistance must not be greater than 0.15 m 2 .K/W). We recommend wooden parquet with max. 15 mm thick from well-dried hardwood. In the case of mosaic parquet, max. thickness 9 mm.

Floor heating is one of the low-temperature methods of heating. Since it is a large-area heating, a temperature of around 40 ºC is enough to heat the room (radiators, on the other hand, have a medium with a high temperature on a relatively small area). At a medium temperature of 40 ºC, the temperature of the floor is about 29 ºC, which is lower than the physiological temperature of a person. Therefore, the floor is „cold“ to the touch.

When deciding to use concrete for potting pipes, I recommend considering all conditions and advantages/disadvantages:

• the weight of the concrete (during preparation, pouring and from the point of view of the load-bearing capacity of the structure),
• concrete is significantly cheaper compared to anhydride,
• for larger areas, it is always necessary to take into account the expansion of the areas,
• after the concrete has hardened, further surface preparation is necessary. The surface is not perfectly flat and needs to be sanded flat or leveled with a leveling layer of leveling compound. Both options increase the final price. The following must be taken into account: hourly rate for a worker with a grinder, increased dust, noise. Or the price of the anhydride per area/thickness plus transport of the mixture, processing+pouring.
• The thickness of the concrete layer in the wet process (classic pouring of pipes with concrete), in which the pipe is placed, is min. 65 mm (but 72 mm is recommended). We do not recommend reducing the thickness of the concrete, as the concrete mixture actually matures/works for several years, even if the hardening itself takes an average of a month. When the thickness of the concrete is below 65 mm and its hardening due to internal forces (tension), cracks may occur, and subsequently the cast pipes may be damaged. This risk also exists later, after loading. It is necessary to add a plasticizing additive to the concrete mixture – Superplasticizer, to improve properties during processing and solidification.

Anhydride screeds are half as expensive as concrete, but they have the following advantages:

• they better cover the pipes, which guarantees better heat transfer and thus heating efficiency,
• dilations of large areas are not necessary,
• they harden faster (concrete mixture – 21 days, anhydride – 7 days)
• they are lighter
• pri ich použití je min. výška závislá od typu použitej zmesi, avšak pohybuje sa od 45-55 mm,
• odpadá dodatočné vyrovnávanie povrchu a s tým spojené ďalšie náklady.

In practice, two types are commonly used – fastening using clamping bars and using a system board. Clamping with a system board is more aesthetic, but the clamping bar has several advantages. The most important thing is that the bar holds the pipes a few millimeters above the surface of the polystyrene, so that when pouring with concrete screed, the pipe is perfectly covered. This results in better heat transfer compared to a system with a system plate (polystyrene protrusions on the system plate touching the pipe reduce heat transfer to the concrete).

Many people come up with the idea of clamping the pipe to the KARI net. It is not necessary to add structural steel reinforcement (kari mesh/kari mat) to the concrete to strengthen it under standard loads in residential areas (max. load 300 kg/m2 area, 500 kg/m2 at the wall). For rooms with a higher load (e.g. garages, etc.), we recommend reinforcement. It is added exclusively above the tubes – so that it is roughly in the lower third of the mixture and must not touch the tubes. We therefore do not recommend attaching the pipes directly to the curry net.

Radiators and underfloor heating work with different heating water temperatures. So that a second heating circuit with a higher water temperature compared to the floor one does not have to be made because of one radiator, it is possible to do it with a simple alternative solution. The ladder radiator in the bathroom must be connected as a separate circuit from the floor heating distributor through a pipe and then using the E-Z thermostatic valve for one-pipe systems. In the second opening of the radiator, you can install a heating coil with a thermostat, which will heat the radiator to the set temperature. With its help, the desired higher temperature of the radiator is achieved and the radiator can heat even outside the heating season. The solution is simple and effective.

The combination is especially possible in rooms where we want to eliminate the feeling of radiating cold from the walls in rooms such as the living room, bathroom, sauna, etc. The wall heating system itself is in principle no different from the floor heating system, but a higher water temperature is used. Therefore, wall heating is usually designed as a separate system, and when combined, two separate circuits with different supply temperatures are used – a lower floor unit (up to 40 degrees Celsius), a higher wall unit (up to 50 degrees Celsius). However, it is possible to connect both systems to one temperature (up to 40 degrees Celsius), which reduces the performance of wall heating. In the case of separate systems, it is also possible to use wall heating for cooling in the summer, provided that the system was designed in this way and connected to a source of cold (e.g. heat pump with reverse operation).

The repair requires a rough intervention in the floor/wall. The concrete layer must be cut off. The damaged part of the pipe must be cut off and connected using a 3/4″ coupling and connecting screws or by polyfusion welding (only for pipes made of polybutylene). Subsequently, the part must be cemented with the recommended building material.
To avoid these problems, find out where the pipe is stored before drilling – you can read in the answer to the question How to find out where the pipes are?

Drilling through can be easily avoided by renting a metal detector (at our company), with which the exact location of the pipe in the floor can be very easily determined (our pipes have a 100% oxygen barrier in the form of Al-foil). Other pipes can be identified using thermofoil (also available). The underfloor heating is switched off for a few hours to cool down the tiles and then switched on again. A thermofoil is applied to the surface of the examined area.

Note: After installing the underfloor heating, it is always recommended to take pictures of all the rooms before pouring the pipes with concrete and to archive the documentation.

No, it doesn’t, thanks to the optimal temperature distribution in the room and the favorable climate, floor heating is suitable for people, flowers, and pets. Even when using a floor covering, you avoid cold air sticking to the ground (as in the case of classic radiator heating).

A condensing boiler is the most suitable for underfloor heating, precisely because of its highest efficiency at an output temperature suitable for underfloor heating (approx. 40 ºC).

Hardened polystyrene with a thickness of 30 mm for the floor and 60 mm for the floor is commonly used (two polystyrene plates with a thickness of 30 mm are used, overlapping each other). The density of polystyrene must be 20 kg.m-3 and the compressibility must not exceed 10% of its thickness at a pressure of 10 kg/cm2.

Care must also be taken in non-basement areas where waterproofing is used, so that the polystyrene does not come into contact with penetrating coatings based on cyclic compounds and solvents, which would cause the destruction of the polystyrene foam. In this case, it is necessary to use rubber asphalt with fiberglass as insulation.

Using furniture with low legs reduces the performance of the floor unit in a given location by 50%. The designer already takes this into account when designing the system, so it is necessary to entrust the design of the floor heating system to an expert and consult the project. For furniture with high legs, the reduction in performance is negligible.

Heated surfaces with concreted pipes can be used to remove snow from sidewalks, entrances to garages, etc. The heating principle is similar, but has its own specifics. Glycol antifreezes are used as a heating medium. They are heated by a heat exchanger connected to a conventional boiler. The suitability of use and its special conditions are recommended to be consulted with the designer or at our customer technical support.

The sound of liquid circulating in the pipes cannot be heard. A poorly vented system creates tiny bubbles that can make some noise when passing through the distributor. We do not recommend placing the distributor in rooms intended for sleeping. However, the air in the system can be easily drained using the air vent valve. It is also possible to build an automatic Spirovent separation valve into the heating system, which can remove 100% of free air and up to 99.6% of air dissolved in the system.

Floor heating is maintenance-free. The service life depends on the quality of the materials used and the technological elements that remove impurities or air from the system. Despite the fact that UNIVENTA floor heating manifolds have a built-in iron oxide capture system, it is a good idea to check the floor heating manifolds once every two years and, if necessary, clean the system. When using a polybutylene pipe 17×2.5mm, the manufacturer can guarantee the lifetime of this pipe for 40 years. The real life of the pipe is much higher (50-70 years), depending on the type of pipe.

Ceramic paving can only be laid after the concrete has completely hardened (concrete mixture – 21 days, anhydride – 7 days). During the first heating, additional moisture may be released from the concrete screed. In order to avoid damage to the covering, we recommend grouting the paving only after the first dynamic heat (initial start of heating).
Due to the impossibility of moisture leakage, the installation of a wooden, possibly laminate or other covering that forms a continuous whole is recommended only after complete drying – that is, only during the operation of the underfloor heating.

It is most advantageous to opt for one heating system, since with two you have to take into account additional costs for the mixing device. This will also disadvantage the use of a condensing boiler. However, if there is still a requirement to combine two systems, this is not a problem. In general, the widespread opinion is to heat the ground floor with floor heating and radiators on the first floor. However, the opposite solution is more advantageous. All the advantages of underfloor heating, such as a pleasant climate, low dust, favorable temperature distribution, etc. are used in rooms where people spend most of their time – i.e. bedrooms, children’s room, etc.

The underfloor heating distributor is a device whose quality is usually quite underestimated. It is necessary to realize that, although this device is relatively simple in terms of mechanical elements, demanding operating conditions place emphasis primarily on its quality. There are many types of manifolds available on the market in terms of design, and many manufacturers, in an attempt to save, sell manifolds with very thin wall thickness, without iron oxide capture system, etc. Practice confirms that although such distributors are significantly cheaper, microcracks in the walls of the distributor and leakage of heating liquid may occur.
Our offer includes distributors with an iron oxide capture system, made of high-quality materials, the quality of which has been proven over the years.

A not widely known fact is the dangerous lung disease related to the heating of DHW. This is the so-called Legionnaires‘ disease (appearing similar to severe pneumonia), which leads to death in 20% of cases in people with weakened immunity, smokers and the elderly. The cause is Legionella pneumophila bacteria (they occur freely in drinking water in minimal quantities). From practice, we know this as a characteristic layer of a slimy coating (biofilm), which protects bacterial colonies from the effects of common water treatment products. Under favorable conditions, such a coating is formed on the surface of materials (tank walls, rose showers, pipe distributions, etc.) and from there it reaches the respiratory organs in the form of aerosols, which it can attack. This can be prevented by heating the water above 70 ºC. Colonies of bacteria can only be removed by applying a higher temperature for several tens of hours in combination with flushing the entire system. However, heat disinfection is ineffective due to re-contamination from the formed coatings in the water reservoirs.

Údržba podlahového kúrenia je jednoduchá a zvládne ju takmer každý manuálne zručný človek aj svojpomocne. V prípade, že si na to netrúfate, odporúčame Vám sa obrátiť na montážnu kúrenársku firmu. Rozsah činností pri údržbe a taktiež obdobie, za ktoré je potrebné pravidelný servis podlahového kúrenia vykonávať, ovplyvňuje najmä fakt, či vykurovací systém obsahuje ventil na odstraňovanie vzduchu zo systému (automatický odvzdušňovací alebo odlučovací ventil – napr. SpiroVent), niektorý typ potrubného filtra pre zachytávanie nečistôt (automatický samočistiaci filter, ručný samočistiaci filter, odkaľovací filter a pod.), rozdeľovač so zachytávačom oxidu železa (napr. Univenta ULTIMATE), prípadne či voda vo vykurovacom systéme obsahuje aj aditívum (chemický prípravok) zabraňujúci tvorbe kalu (čiastočiek oxidu železa, vodného kameňa – napr. UNIVENTA CLEARFLUID). Tieto prvky výrazne zjednodušujú údržbu a vyžadujú len minimálnu prácnosť.
Servis kúrenia spočíva v nasledovných krokoch, kde doporučujeme (ak vykurovací systém obsahuje uvedený komponent):

• vymeniť sieťku v potrubnom filtri,
• skontrolovať činnosť automatického odvzdušňovacieho/odlučovacieho filtra (súčasťou filtra je tlačidlo na ručné spustenie),

1. Servis podlahového kúrenia v prípade, že systém neobsahuje vyššie uvedené komponenty (filter, odlučovač vzduchu) vyžaduje:
2. raz za 2 roky na rozdeľovači podlahového vykurovania skontrolovať či ukazovateľ na prietokomeroch každého okruhu klesne na nulu v prípade, že uzatvoríte príslušný okruh (prípadne vypnete kúrenie),
3. raz za 5 rokov odvzdušniť okruhy podlahového vykurovania ak je to potrebné (ak výrazne klesne prietok v určitom okruhu t.j.v určitej miestnosti nie je dostatočná teplota) a „prepláchnuť rozdeľovač“, čím sa z rozdeľovača vypustia zachytené nečistoty – kal.

Pri vypnutom kúrení sa prevádza nasledovne:

1. Uzatvorte guľové ventily na oboch segmentoch rozdeľovača (prívode a spiatočke).
2. Uzatvorte všetky okruhy podlahového vykurovania pomocou uzatváracích ventilov.
3. K napúšťaciemu ventilu na spodnom segmente rozdeľovača pripojte prívod vody a otvorte ventil.
4. K vypúšťaciemu ventilu na hornom segmente rozdeľovača pripojte hadicu, ktorú stiahnete do zbernej nádoby a otvorte ventil.
5. Otvorte príslušný (zavzdušnený) okruh podlahového vykurovania pomocou hlavice na ventile. Voda priteká do dolného segmentu rozdeľovača, preteká otvoreným okruhom podlahového vykurovania, čím vytláča vzduch v okruhu do horného segmentu rozdeľovača. Voda odteká do zbernej nádoby. Môžete pootvoriť odvzdušňovací ventil, a prebytočný vzduch úplne vypustiť.
6. Po odstránení vzduchu uzatvorte ventily v tomto poradí: odvzdušňovací ventil, ventil okruhu vykurovania, vypúšťací ventil, napúšťací ventil.

Pozn.: V prípade potreby môžete odvzdušniť aj ostatné okruhy podlahového vykurovania podľa predchádzajúcich pokynov. Uvedeným postupom zároveň prečistíte rozdeľovač aj od usadenín (kalu).

Prepláchnutie sa robí nasledovne:

1. Uzatvorte guľové ventily na oboch segmentoch rozdeľovača (prívode a spiatočke).
2. Uzatvorte všetky okruhy podlahového vykurovania pomocou uzatváracích ventilov
3. K napúšťaciemu ventilu na spodnom segmente rozdeľovača pripojte prívod vody a otvorte ventil.
4. K vypúšťaciemu ventilu na hornom segmente rozdeľovača pripojte hadicu, ktorú stiahnete do zbernej nádoby a otvorte ventil.
5. Otvorte posledný okruh podlahového vykurovania (najvzdialenejší od guľových uzáverov rozdeľovača) pomocou hlavice na ventile. Voda priteká do dolného segmentu rozdeľovača, preteká otvoreným okruhom podlahového vykurovania do horného segmentu rozdeľovača a z neho do zbernej nádoby.
6. Po odstránení nečistôt uzatvorte ventily v tomto poradí: ventil okruhu vykurovania, vypúšťací ventil, napúšťací ventil.

Pozn.: V prípade potreby odvzdušnite rozdeľovač.
Po servisných úkonoch odporúčame pridať do systému aditívum (chemický prípravok) zabraňujúci vzniku oxidov železa a usadzovaniu vodného kameňa, podľa doporučeného množstva od výrobcu. Tento môžete pridať použitím pumpy (napr. pumpa na dopĺňanie solárnej kvapaliny), prípadne iným vhodným spôsobom.

Tepelné čerpadlá čerpajúce energiu zo vzduchu sú podľa všeobecného názoru pre severný región nevýhodné. Realizované stavby na severe Slovenska (napr. Vyšný Kubín) a spokojnosť zákazníkov však hovoria sami za seba. Pri teplotách okolo nuly nedosahujú výkon tepelných čerpadiel systémom voda-voda, ale sú stále efektívne. Systém je navrhnutý tak, aby v niekoľkých najchladnejších dňoch (cca mesiac) pokryl nedostatočný výkon tepelného čerpadla elektrický prietokový ohrievač alebo v plnej miere nahradil kotol (pri nízkych teplotách dlhodobo pod nulou).

Uvažujme, že vykurovanie elektrickou energiou bude stáť približne 1260 Eur na rok, čo je cca 24000 kWh za rok. Tepelné čerpadlo s výkonovým číslom 4,5 spotrebuje 5300 kWh, čo predstavuje náklad 540 Eur/rok. Ročne teda ušetríme 18700kWh energie, teda 720 Eur.