LuaCAD Help

Floor Heating step by step

The workflow

Goal: plan the floor heating of a whole apartment of the sample project - from the floor plan to the bill of materials.

The result: rooms with room tags, heated areas with loops as counterflow pattern, the manifold in the corridor, the leaders on the leader corridor and through the doors into the rooms, living/dining with two loops
The result: rooms with room tags, heated areas with loops as counterflow pattern, the manifold in the corridor, the leaders on the leader corridor and through the doors into the rooms, living/dining with two loops
  1. Insert the rooms
  2. Exclusion areas and heated areas
  3. Lay the loops
  4. Insert the manifold in the corridor
  5. Lay the leader corridor through the doors
  6. Connect
  7. Cross and swap
  8. Annotation and list

1. Insert the rooms

Room 2: first corner (1) and opposite corner (2) at the inner faces of the walls, the room tag in the middle (3)
Room 2: first corner (1) and opposite corner (2) at the inner faces of the walls, the room tag in the middle (3)
  1. Page Rooms: enter number (1.04) and name, room temperature 20 °C.
  2. Window: click the first and the opposite corner at the inner faces of the walls. For a polygon use Points.
  3. The room tag is placed in the middle automatically.

More: Rooms.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 1: rooms

2. Exclusion areas and heated areas

Bathroom: the shower as exclusion area (1), the heated area leaves it out with the edge distance (2)
Bathroom: the shower as exclusion area (1), the heated area leaves it out with the edge distance (2)
Living/dining divided into two heated areas (1, 2), the joint between them (3)
Living/dining divided into two heated areas (1, 2), the joint between them (3)
  1. Exclusion area (window) for everything without heating pipe: shower, kitchen unit, built-in cupboard.
  2. Create heated areas for all rooms: each area lies inside the room with the edge distance (factory 100 mm) and leaves out the exclusion areas.
  3. Divide large rooms: Divide area with two points - the joint remains between the areas.

More: Heated areas, Exclusion areas, Divide.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 2: exclusion and heated areas

3. Lay the loops

Counterflow pattern: supply and return side by side as a spiral (1), connector at the door to the corridor (2)
Counterflow pattern: supply and return side by side as a spiral (1), connector at the door to the corridor (2)
Serpentine pattern: rows back and forth (1), connector in the corner at the corridor (2)
Serpentine pattern: rows back and forth (1), connector in the corner at the corridor (2)
  1. Page Loops: pattern counterflow (evenly warm, standard for living rooms) or serpentine (warmer at the front - window walls), spacing 150 mm, pipe 16 x 2, maximum length.
  2. Lay loop and click into the heated area. The dialog before shows the same values.
  3. Put the connector point at the door: click Connector, then the point at the edge of the area next to the door.
Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 3: loops

4. Insert the manifold in the corridor

A manifold with box at the corridor wall (1), the arrow shows the direction of the outlets (2), the outlets with supply and return (3)
A manifold with box at the corridor wall (1), the arrow shows the direction of the outlets (2), the outlets with supply and return (3)
  1. Page Manifold: choose a template (number of outlets, box), Insert manifold, turn it with R so that the arrow points into the corridor, place it at the corridor wall.
  2. Assign: each loop gets the next free outlet (clockwise, left to right).

More: Manifold, Assign.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 4: manifold

5. Lay the leader corridor through the doors

The hatched leader corridor in the corridor (1), its branch through the door of the study and on through the door of room 1 (2), next to it the manifold (3)
The hatched leader corridor in the corridor (1), its branch through the door of the study and on through the door of room 1 (2), next to it the manifold (3)

The leader corridor is the strip in which the leaders may run - in the corridor and through the doors into the rooms.

  1. Page Leaders > Insert leader corridor: enter the width (factory 500 mm; count about 50 mm per leader, 8 leaders = 450-500 mm).
  2. Draw along the corridor, Enter. Draw a branch from the corridor through every door into the room - at least just past the door.

More: Leader corridor.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 5: leader corridor

6. Connect

The bundle of leaders from the manifold (1) along the corridor (2) to the connectors - through the door of the study (3) and of the bathroom (4)
The bundle of leaders from the manifold (1) along the corridor (2) to the connectors - through the door of the study (3) and of the bathroom (4)
  1. All loops of a manifold: click the manifold; 2 of 3 = loops, 3 of 3 = corridors (preset).
  2. LuaCAD shows the solutions (bundle along the corridor, short routes); Enter accepts.
  3. Check (footer): crossings, loops and leaders outside their room are listed in the command line.

More: Connect all, By hand.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 6: connect

7. Cross and swap

If supply and return of a loop are the wrong way round at the connector, Cross at the end near the click (at the loop or in front of the manifold) - again at the same end removes it. Swap swaps the tracks of the two leaders, the loop stays. Both work on automatic leaders only. More: Cross and swap.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 7: cross and swap

8. Annotation and list

A loop label at its loop (1) with loop, room, areas, inner zone, leaders and total length (2), loop and text in the same color (3)
A loop label at its loop (1) with loop, room, areas, inner zone, leaders and total length (2), loop and text in the same color (3)

Page Output: Annotate with the loop template of Floor Heating, loop schedule and bill of materials (heating pipe with length and delivery in coils, manifold with outlets, edge insulation strip). Example: "loop 1.01, total length 63 m". More: Loop label, Bill of materials.

Video coming soon: Floor Heating step 8: annotation and list