The water heated floor includes pipes located under the floor covering, in which hot water circulates from the boiler to keep your rooms pleasantly and evenly heated throughout the winter. While some modern systems are constructed using rigid PEX pipes (made of cross-linked polyethylene), in which cracking is unlikely to occur over time, other systems use copper or steel pipes, in which leaks are often observed after several years of use. If you suspect that your water floor heating system may leak, then we recommend that you do five simple inspections yourself to check for leaks - they will help determine if there is a problem.
Pressure gauge changes
Start by observing the pressure sensor installed on the manifold, which directs water from your boiler to the various circuits of the pipe hidden from the eyes. If you have information about the normal pressure in the system that the floor installer or the technician who was serving the system should have provided, you can compare the readings and determine if the pressure in the system drops. Most systems maintain pressures from 0.7 to 1.7 bar, but this depends on the design and the pitch of the pipes. Low pressure is a clear indicator of leakage, so a system with a pressure gauge of 0 bar certainly needs immediate attention.
Signs of damage
Since the pipes of the radiator heating systems are located in a concrete screed to transfer heat from the water to the rest of the room, you can easily determine if there is a leak in the warm floor by carefully examining the damage to the flooring on this concrete slab. This is due to the fact that concrete is a relatively porous material that slows down the manifestation of moisture on the surface, so it can evaporate. Carry out a close inspection of your floor and look for indirect signs of the effects of a water leak, such as:
- wet or discolored carpets;
- mold growth in places where the flooring is adjacent to the walls;
- linoleum or parquet tiles that are deformed and peeled off;
- spots like rust, visible in the cracks between the parquet tiles;
- discolouration and mold on the grout joints of tiles that are not in a humid environment, such as a bathroom or kitchen.
Water consumption
Since a correctly installed floor heating system is a closed loop system that drives the same water over and over again, you should not notice any signs of water flow coming from the boiler. If your water meter is spinning slowly even though you have blocked all possible water points in the house, you are probably dealing with a leak in the heating system, which causes new water to fill the boiler to compensate for the difference. This subtle sign is often the first signal of a possible malfunction that makes the homeowner think about the condition of his underfloor heating system.
Scale in a boiler
You suspect that the underfloor heating is fueled by fresh water due to a leak, but you cannot pinpoint the problem only with a water meter? Try to check the boiler for signs of mineral deposits around the safety valves and other connectors on the tank. White or gray powder on or inside the boiler indicates that water with a large amount of minerals constantly enters the boiler, which should not occur in a properly functioning closed system.
Leak noise
Finally, you may be lucky and you will actually hear a leak if you ensure complete silence in the house and spend time listening to the floor. Large leaks can cause hissing and whistling sounds heard through the floor. Enhancing your natural hearing ability with a medical stethoscope may help a little, but you will need a sophisticated and expensive device to electronically amplify sound and filter out background noise to get the best results at this point. If you hear some strange sounds, but cannot determine what their source is (pipes of a contour of a warm water floor or something else), the most correct option is to hire specialists who are equipped with thermal imaging equipment, ultrasonic sensors, geophones and others high quality equipment for detecting such leaks.