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Underfloor heating regulations - EICR

Former Community Member
Former Community Member
Hi guys 


If underfloor heating has been fitted and basically just spured off from the ring straight to the thermostat, would that need to be flagged on a EICR? 


We don't know who manufactured it, so can't check their recommendations on this particular make and model


Seems a bit rough to me - Feel to flag as I would have wired via an FCU 


Thanks
  • 0
    It isnt good practice, but I can't see any real problems occurring - there is no chance of an overload. Is there fault protection for the UFH in place - Zs low enough to trip the CB?

    What would the Fused connector be for?

    Turning off in the Summer - just turn the stat down. 

    Maintenance - turn off the CB.

    Protecting the cable, presumably smaller sized tails for the UFH? There is little chance of an overload, so the fuse doesnt add much more protection than the circuit breaker.

    Manufacturers instructions have to be taken into account, but that doesnt mean they have to be implemented. It is brought up regularly here about Manufacturers Instructions making no practical sense for some the the things translated from Chinese or other languages.

    I think I'd be putting it down as a C3.
  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    alanblaby:

    It isnt good practice, but I can't see any real problems occurring - there is no chance of an overload. Is there fault protection for the UFH in place - Zs low enough to trip the CB?

    What would the Fused connector be for?

    Turning off in the Summer - just turn the stat down. 

    Maintenance - turn off the CB.

    Protecting the cable, presumably smaller sized tails for the UFH? There is little chance of an overload, so the fuse doesnt add much more protection than the circuit breaker.

    Manufacturers instructions have to be taken into account, but that doesnt mean they have to be implemented. It is brought up regularly here about Manufacturers Instructions making no practical sense for some the the things translated from Chinese or other languages.

    I think I'd be putting it down as a C3.


    Cheers mate - I totally agree 


    Just didn't sit right with me and it has been a while since i did regular condition reports so thought I would throw it out there


    Appreciate your input 


  • 0
    Mr_deep_:

    Hi guys 


    If underfloor heating has been fitted and basically just spured off from the ring straight to the thermostat, would that need to be flagged on a EICR? 


    We don't know who manufactured it, so can't check their recommendations on this particular make and model


    Seems a bit rough to me - Feel to flag as I would have wired via an FCU 


    Thanks


    If the under floor electrical heating system was accidently damaged, perhaps by somebody drilling through it, or flooded, a local isolator in the form of a double pole switched fused connection unit could be used to isolate just the now faulty load without the need to turn off the whole supplying ring final circuit.


    Z.


  • 0
    What sized wiring is involved? I don't see anything smaller than 1.5mm² necessarily being satisfactory on a B32 for faults (including c.p.c.s - so 1.5mm² T&E with a 1.0mm² could be a problem).

       - Andy.
  • 0
    It would certainly be better with local isolation and fusing - a fused spur from the ring would not raise an eyebrow.

    The thermostat and the wiring down stream of it is unlikley to be rated for more than 10A or so, as larger areas of heated floor tend to be divided up into zones. So the question is could a credible fault do anything more than just perhaps fuse the thermostat contacts instead of operating the breaker.

    The 1mm CPC is in that class,  the B32 will blow and the CPC will remain intact, but it may get hot enough to melt its way into the adjacent insulation on the live cores, so making a simple fault into one that requires a chunk of rewiring.

    I think it is a judgement call, that depends on how it has been done, it sounds like it is certainly not dangerous, but if something is damaged, it may well lead to cascade failures that are more awkward to isolate  and harder to fix.  Recommend further investigation and could be improvemed, but safe for continued use.
  • 0
    Mr_deep_:

    Hi guys 


    If underfloor heating has been fitted and basically just spured off from the ring straight to the thermostat, would that need to be flagged on a EICR? 


    We don't know who manufactured it, so can't check their recommendations on this particular make and model


    Seems a bit rough to me - Feel to flag as I would have wired via an FCU 


    Thanks


    Not good. I would be concerned about a faulty smoking, flaming, smouldering, wall controller dripping hot plastic onto the Persian rug and producing toxic smoke.

    Safety Guidelines (theunderfloorheatingstore.com)


    Z.


  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    AJJewsbury:

    What sized wiring is involved? I don't see anything smaller than 1.5mm² necessarily being satisfactory on a B32 for faults (including c.p.c.s - so 1.5mm² T&E with a 1.0mm² could be a problem).

       - Andy.


    2.5mm from the socket to the thermostat mate - 


  • Former Community Member
    0 Former Community Member
    Thanks for your input guys - Cable off the socket is 2.5mm but not sure what the cable size is on the load side.


    I have since managed to incorporate an FCU on 1, as the socket had 2 spurs off it so alterations were made to make safe.

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