Can't have underfloor heating in rented property?

A

amethyst

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I would have thought that providing good heat for tenants would be good enough, and I was thinking of installing underfloor heating and insulating well but it seems that underfloor heating (at least as I had it in mind) does not pass the (misguided?) regulations, because each room would not be controlled separately.

The whole underfloor heating model (especially with a large thermal mass and therefore good nighttime storage) is not really a model designed for quick control, or even room-to-room control, but rather for temperature regulation at a good, relatively constant temperature. However, even though this is considered in some ways to be a 'luxury' form of heating, it seems it is not good enough for tenants!!

I'm looking at Housing (Standards for Rented Houses) Regulations, 2008

(1) Every room used, or intended for
use, by the tenant of the house as a habitable room shall contain:
(a) a permanently fixed appl iance or appliances capable of providing effective heating,
...
(2) The operation of any appliance referred to in sub-article (1)(a) shall be capable of being independentlymanageable by the tenant.


So will someone tell me how underfloor heating will pass these requirements?

If I did provide good underfloor heating for my tenants I would hope that my chances of being prosecuted under these (misguided?) regulations would be low...?

Thoughts?
 
I think you're fine.

1(a) would be the underfloor coils.

I understand
shall be capable of being independently manageable by the tenant.
Click to expand...
to mean that it's not a house split into flats with central heating on a timer that they can't use it as they want.
 
Before you place any more thought on this, full permission will have to be obtained from the Management Company to have your proposals approved.
 
Thanks for your replies.

Note that as I read the regs, it seems that EVERY ROOM has to have the underfloor heating controlled independently....

Am I right in this?
 
>> to mean that it's not a house split into flats with central heating on a timer that they can't use it as they want.

So I suppose this is illegal, even if the heating is within a comfortable range always?

To argue the point a bit, I might have thought that the tenant right here is to have temperature in a comfortable range, not to be able to control it finely. Wouldn't it be OK for example if heating were not available in fine weather? Do they have a special right to fine control when it's cold that they don't have when it's hot?
 
Most underfloor systems have a central manifold with valves on them so technically they could control each room.
 
Each underfloor heating run, ie the flow pipe out and the return pipe back in, is individually controlled via the manifold, it may be a manual version but that is unusual, normally they are controlled by the room stat in the zone in question. Generally speaking zones are the living areas and the bedrooms at the very minimum. However I have never seen this with underfloor heating, it is normally each room controlled individually. Given the cost of the installation of these systems, the additional cost of installing extra stats for every room is not really a factor.

Remember that these systems are designed to run all the time at a much lower temperature than rads (obviously it takes a significant amount of time for the heat to penetrate up through the concrete floor) Turning on and off the heating is more a seasonal event than the daily/hourly one that would occur with traditional rads.
 
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