How to Select the Right Room Control for Your Heat Emitter

Do you remember the delights of the brown & beige Honeywell thermostats? The good old days when ‘stats were far simpler to work with and to wire. But let’s be honest, they were inefficient!

Room control technology has come on leaps and bounds since the old fashioned bi-metallic thermostats (the clicky thermostat). The industry now has a far better understanding of how the various heat emitters need different controls to provide the best performance. Next time you are looking at a room control system for an underfloor heating system, make sure you pick the right one.

Most older thermostats work on the theory of a 0.5 – 1°C span (or gap) from switching the system on from the temperature setpoint. This theory stopped nuisance switching whereby the thermostat would click in and out every 5 seconds on a radiator system.

Nowadays, modern houses are far more energy-efficient, and therefore a span of 0.5-1°C is far too much and can seriously overheat your room. If you apply this same switching theory to an underfloor heating system, then you would see massive over-and-under shoots in temperature.

Fortunately, modern heat emitter controls now come with built-in intelligence and self-learning capabilities which reduce the chances of under and overheating. For instance, these controls will learn to react when they perceive the need to switch on or off the heating system. This artificial intelligence learning may result in some ‘mad moments’ where you feel that the room temperature is correct, but the system has switched on the heating. In this scenario, we must learn to accept that technology is smarter than us! The system has ‘learnt’ that whilst the current temperature is just right, it will start to fall in about 15 minutes and therefore has started the heating system to prevent a drop in temperature BEFORE it happens. Smart huh?

In my own home, I have a screed underfloor heating system (the Altis Flow) and because I run my heating based on “always-on” my house is kept between 0.1-0.5 degrees from the setpoint temperature at all times. Awesome! Check out our How You Should Run Your UFH System blog for why I set my system up in this way and the benefits.

Next time you specify controls for a job, make sure they are the best option for the emitter you have. Remember, cheapest might not always be the best in the long run.

If you’ve any more questions about how to select the right room control for your heat emitter, our technical team are always here to help you out. Get in touch with us by calling 01245 227630 or email technical@multipipe.co.uk.