A development of three detached, five-bedroom homes in the market town of Raunds near Northampton is utilising renewable heat packages featuring air source heat pumps, delivered by whole house systems specialist, OMNIE, part of the Ridgespear Group. The solution, for Tophaven makes use of quiet running heat pumps positioned at the rear of each home, with OMNIE’s Staple underfloor heating system installed over Cellecta Tectris insulation on the ground floor slabs with the manufacturer’s versatile LowBoard panels and pipework serving the bedroom levels. All of the installation has been carried out by the developers in-house team, with OMNIE completing the commissioning work. The founder of Tophaven, Ian Johnson, commented: “We hadn’t made use of whole house underfloor heating systems before, because we were mainly building smaller houses, but with larger properties like these and the general move towards more sustainable and low carbon heating systems, we got back in touch with OMNIE to consider their heat pumps solutions. I feel that taking a complete package is definitely the best, where you get everything sized correctly for the building’s requirements based on the heat pump’s output. OMNIE’s technical side has always been very good and not only are we pleased with the outcome here, we’re just starting another project with a similar set up.”
Tony Sexton of Tophaven commented: “This is my first experience of installing the OMNIE underfloor heating systems, but I think the systems are exceedingly good with well-designed diagrams for each floor and the LG heat pumps are also more straightforward than the other two types of air source I’ve previously fitted. Although these are quite large, five bed properties, it was taking two days to lay the Staple system across the ground floor and four to five days for the upstairs, installing the LowBoard across the main decking and fitting the pipework into the channels before connecting up to the manifolds and then laying the plywood finish “
“The layout drawings were easy to follow and where I did have any issues the OMNIE engineer, Dave Thomas, provided answers immediately. The residents who have moved into the properties are all very pleased with the output and comfort.”
While the Staple system is covered by a conventional screed, the LowBoard circuits are being overlaid with 6mm plywood, ready to take either laminate flooring or a rubber underlay in the areas being carpeted. The LowBoard panels are a widely specified and very popular product within OMNIE’s Ultralow offering with an overall panel depth of 21mm, accommodating 12mm diameter pipe runs. This offers low water volume, while the relatively small diameter pipe is also easy to push into the precisely routed board profiles. OMNIE underfloor heating systems are ideal for delivering efficient and comfortable warmth within well insulated, new or refurbished buildings, while helping ensure its various ground or air source heat pump options, or other renewables, run at optimum efficiency.
OMNIE can provide consultants and contractors with a full specification, design and supply service for projects in the domestic, commercial and other sectors.