UFH + heat pump - is it connected correctly?
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lsnk12
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UFH + heat pump - is it connected correctly?

by lsnk12 » Wed May 03, 2023 1:39 pm

Hi, we had UFH installed dowstairs in our house recently, and I'm not 100% sure that it's connected correctly. I'd be grateful if someone could have a look at the diagrams and tell me if what the plumber did makes sense. The house is heated with an A2W Samsung/Joule heatpump. The buffer cylinders (1) are located upstairs. Originally we had rads in the whole house, upstairs and downstairs. When we installed the UFH downstairs, all the downstairs rads were removed and capped off, except for a towel warmer in downstairs toilet. Here's how the system looked before:
https://imgur.com/ksW0tQ6
And here's how it looks now:
https://imgur.com/NhTM08t
What I'm concerned about specifically:

1) The plumber didn't install an UFH circulation pump (17), even though the heat pump manual shows there should normally be one. His explanation was that heat pumps operate at lower temperatures (max. 45C) so there's no need for a separate pump and valve at the manifold. Is that 100% correct?
2) There's no automatic bypass valve on the UFH flow (26). Is that correct? What happens if for some reason all actuators are closed but the zone valve for zone 1 is open and the heating circulating pump (16) turns on?

3) The downstairs rads were removed and capped off, but the old flow and return pipes are still connected to the rest of the system, looks like the plumber teed off the flow to the UFH from the Zone 1 flow, instead of completely disconnecting flow to the downstairs rads and redirecting it to the new UFH flow. Why would you do it this way?

4) We left one radiator downstairs, a towel warmer in a toilet. The plumber branched off the flow to that radiator from the UFH flow, before the manifold, and connected the return from that radiator after the return from the manifold. Is that not going to mess up the balance on that whole downstairs circuit? Won't all the pressure just go into the towel warmer, bypassing the UFH pipework and leaving it with very low flow?


​Excuse me if anything isn't clear, it's the first time I'm dealing with any plumbing work :)

Stewered12
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Re: UFH + heat pump - is it connected correctly?

by Stewered12 » Fri May 05, 2023 10:42 am

The main way to tell if your system is working as intended is to simply listen to the unit running. You can hear the system when it turns on, when the fans begin to work and stop, and when air passes through the ducts. Other than that, the unit itself should be quiet, without any groaning or creaking sounds.

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