Comment
Creating healthier homes for the future with underfloor heating
Joanna Crown at WMS explains why radiant heating is the key to creating and redeveloping healthier homes for the future, which incorporate affordable warmth as standard
T
he decarbonisation of UK homes is becoming increasingly important and newly introduced regulations are already changing how we heat new and existing properties.
Te low water temperature update to the Building Regulations and
Part L, introduced last summer, requires every newly built home to prove a 31% reduction in CO2
, compared to previous standards. While any new or
replacement heating systems being installed should be designed to accept low-carbon heating in the future and demonstrate a maximum flow temperature of 55°C. Half of the respondents who took part in the recent Housing Management
& Maintenance ‘Decarbonisation of Social Housing’ study believe the UK’s average social housing stock requires improvement in energy performance – with a further 30% in dire need of improvement. Te new rules and the industry’s urgency to find solutions have brought
the benefits of healthy, safe and energy-efficient heating even further into the spotlight. Now is the time to get up to speed with the optimum specification choices.
THE UNDERFLOOR SOLUTION Te leading solution, which ticks every box for both new and existing properties, is hydronic (water-based) underfloor heating. Tis technology
18 | HMMApril/May 2023 |
www.housingmmonline.co.uk
works by circulating warm water through a series of continuous loops fitted underneath the floor, creating a large radiant surface that heats the room from the floor upwards. Tis tried and tested radiant form of heating – which dates back to Roman times – is much more comfortable than the convected heat provided by radiators which draw cold air across the floor before heating it and then convect the warm air upwards towards the ceiling. As it covers a much greater surface area than radiators and is designed to
run at low temperatures 35°C rather than the 70°C of a typical radiator system, underfloor heating is also the ideal solution to meet the revised regulations. In addition, this low-temperature system is an ideal partner technology for renewable energy sources, such as heat pumps.
AFFORDABLE WARMTH A recent report from National Energy Action predicts that 6.7 million UK households could be in fuel poverty – an increase of 2.2 million from 2021, and these figures are set to rise. Tese people cannot afford to heat their homes, at a reasonable cost, to the temperatures required to be healthy and comfortable. When asked about fuel poverty within the Housing Management &
Maintenance study, 41% of respondents estimated that their tenants are fuel-poor, with 62% stating that reduced bills are very important for tenants.
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