Electric Wall heating for flagship low-carbon scheme

16-11-2017

Project: Little Kelham

Developer: CITU

Products: 160W and 200W wall heating mats, TPS manual thermostat timers

Heat Mat’s wall heating is at the heart of a newbuild development of highly energy efficient, low carbon homes at Kelham Island in Sheffield, South Yorkshire.

Little Kelham is a private development, rising from a former steel works on a brownfield site. The community, by sustainable developers CITU, consists of 153 one to four-bed homes, being completed in a number of phases. The scheme includes solar PV, which will give it an EPC ‘A’ rating once installed. The homes are built using a passivhaus timber frame system; they are super airtight and extremely well insulated. Conventional central heating was not required so a flexible and modern heating solution had to be specified.

Heat Mat worked closely with CITU and M & E designers LEDA, who specialise in low energy buildings, to investigate the feasibility of applying wall heating systems to the development. “Heating mats are usually fitted under floors or floor tiling,” said CITU Operations Manager Dave Berry. “We wanted something to heat the space within the walls for what is low-heat demand housing - fitted under internal stud walls” he added.

“We calculated heat losses in every room, while Heat Mat provided data, with project manager Paul Brandon building a physical mock-up and testing different scenarios to demonstrate that this form of heating would meet the criteria.”

A combination of 160W and 200W wall heating mats are fitted into the bedroom, living room and hallway walls of a selection of properties.The mats are mounted onto board, fixed with tile adhesive then plastered over. Heat Mat’s manual TPS thermostats monitor air temperature and switch the wall heating off when required.

 “The original specification was driven by LEDA, who had considered radiators but these were not in keeping with the concept of a more intuitive, digitally enabled smart home,” Dave Berry explained.

LEDA’s Jim Wild said: “We were looking at electric heating options for CITU and came to Heat Mat as an economic solution, discrete, low output, quick response domestic system.”

The developer‘s own CITU tech software controls the heating as part of CITU’s smart home commitment. Their ‘Actuate’ app allows remote control of residents homes and ‘The Home & Away’ switch allows all non-essential power, including the wall heating to be turned off at the touch of a button. Heat Mat’s wall heating system integrates seamlessly into the home automation and energy-saving devices in use at Little Kelham.