Comfortable rooms all year round
Does it feel comfortably warm inside even though you can’t see any radiators? Then the warmth is coming from the wall.The water-bearing pipes are hidden in the wall and keep the room comfortably warm. Unlike convection heating systems, wall heating using radiant heat warms the room to a comfortable temperature without causing a draught. And if rooms get too hot in the summer, the wall heating turns into a cooling system. It is now cool water that flows through the heating pipes.
Warm like a tiled stove thanks to radiant heat
The wall heating not only warms the air, but also operates using comfortable radiant heat: the infra-red waves hit furnishings and unheated surfaces at right-angles. They emit this energy in turn in the form of heat. The people in the room are warmed “from the inside”.
This warmth is particularly pleasant for people, since it reminds us of the comforting warmth of the sun’s rays on our skin.
Another benefit is that there is almost no convection, which means that the air in the room doesn’t become too dry in the winter.
Invisible cooling during the summer
During the summer months, cool water flows through the aluminium multi-layer composite pipes at a temperature of around 16-20 °C and cools the rooms to a comfortable and healthy temperature. Draughts and noise are a thing of the past – and the wall cooling can therefore also run at night.
The extra benefit: There is no annoying air conditioning unit inside anymore – the walls can be tailored to your needs. A clear alternative to air conditioning systems.
Where can wall heating/cooling systems under plaster be used?
- New buildings
- Old/Period buildings
- Residential houses and apartments
- Commercial buildings
- Nooks, cosy walls and living areas
- Medical facilities
- Room cooling via the wall
Flexible design
When walls are plastered, the wall heating can be modified to suit all design requirements. Both large and small surfaces can be efficiently used.
The VarioBars for affixing the VarioProFile pipes (heating and cooling pipes) meet all comfort needs, with wider pipe spacing for large-area laying of the heating and cooling system and closer pipe spacing for comfy nooks and snug interior spaces.
Saving energy while system is in operation
Wall heating:
Wall heating operates with low flow temperatures. In other words: Due to the large-area laying, this surface heating can heat the room with flow temperatures of between 26 and 38 °C (depending on the outside temperature). By comparison, radiators require a flow temperature of up to 60 °C. That is because, due to their smaller surface area, they only radiate heat in the room at certain points.
Another reason why surface heating saves energy is that the room air temperature can be reduced by up to 2 °C compared to radiators. Even so, we feel comfortably warm in the room. Every degree less saves around 6% heating costs per year.
Our tip: Insulate the outer walls and save even more on heating costs!
Wall cooling:
If the room is cooled via wall, we already feel comfortable at a room temperature of 26 °C. By comparison, if the room is cooled using an air conditioning unit, we need a room temperature of around 23 °C to achieve the same level of comfort. Therefore, with a surface cooling system, you save up to 30% on energy costs.
On top of this, the wall is cooled without making any noise or causing a draught.
Wall heating compared to floor heating
Compared to the floor, a wall offers a larger exchange area for heating and cooling. We receive more radiant energy than with floor heating systems.
Briefly explained: with radiant heat the infrared rays are emitted at right-angles to the wall. This means that with wall heating, they exchange radiant heat directly with the person in the room. The body is warmed “from the inside”. With floor heating, only a lower percentage of the potential surface area of a person’s skin is exposed to the direct exchange of radiant heat.
With wall heating, the person in the room can choose their distance from the heating surface themselves. With floor heating, they are in direct contact with the heating surface.
The ideal solution is wall heating combined with floor heating.
One more benefit: During the summer, the wall cools your home to a comfortable temperature.
One system – many benefits
Whether it’s large-area walls or cosy benches, with wall heating under plaster, you can enjoy comfortable radiant heat everywhere. Heating in winter, cooling in summer – all with a single system. Comfort becomes an everyday experience within your own four walls.
The benefits for you
- Invisibly installed in the wall – design the room as you wish
- No draughts, no dust disturbance
- Completely silent – can also run at night
- Installing sockets and light switches and hanging up pictures is no problem at all!
- A comfortable room climate thanks to radiant heat exchange
- The temperature can be regulated individually for each room
- Alternative energy sources such as heat pumps, solar or biomass can be used
- Saves up to 25% heating costs
- Maintenance-free
- 10-year guarantee
Technology
EasyFlex-Wall
The EasyFlexWall system has a very slim structure (17 mm) and has 77 and 115 mm pipe spacings. It is particularly simple to install and can be easily adapted to round and curved shapes.
The EasyFlex system can also be installed on ceilings and then plastered.
System-Wall
With 100 mm pipe spacing, SystemWall can be installed over large areas and operated with very low flow temperatures. This saves energy. On hot days it cools the rooms silently and without draughts.
This is how an EasyFlexWall is constructed: 77 mm or 115 mm
VarioProFile-pipe 11,6 x 1,5 – aluminium multi-layer composite pipe
The VarioProFile pipe uses the advantages of both aluminium and plastic. It combines five interconnected layers. That guarantees a slightly flexible yet dimensionally stable pipe.
The innermost layer is made of polyethylene and extremely temperature resistant. The inner surface is smooth as glass, making it impossible for deposits to form. The water flows through the pipe without resistance and with minimal pressure losses.
The profiled surface structure increases the outermost layer of the pipe by up to 15%. The larger surface means optimised heat transfer.
100% oxygen diffusion-tight thanks to the laser-welded aluminium pipe: The metal prevents oxygen penetration. That virtually rules out potential silting.
Construction VarioProFile-pipe 11,6×1,5
- Raised-temperature-resistance polyethylene (PE-RT) with profiled surface structure
- Adhesive layer
- Homogeneous laser-welded solid aluminium pipe
- Adhesive layer
- Raised-temperature-resistance polyethylene (PE-RT)
Advantages
- Fully corrosion-free
- Optimum creep behaviour
- Just as light as a plastic pipe
- 10-year guarantee with certificate
- Profiled surface for optimised heat transfer (10% larger surface)
- Flexible, easy to bend, extremely good hydrostatic stability
- Resistant to hot water additives (inhibitors, antifreeze)
- Mirror-smooth inner surface – less pressure loss – no encrustation
- High pressure and temperature resistance (10 bar, +95 °C)
- 100% oxygen diffusion-tight
- Lower linear coefficient of expansion, lower heat expansion forces
- Tested as per EN 21 003 (IMA Dresden), SKZ A 397
Where the VarioProFile pipe 11.6×1.5 is deployed
Floor heating for drywall construction. VarioComp.
The VarioProFile pipe 11.6×1.5 is deployed in the VarioComp panels of the modular floor heating system VarioComp in drywall constructions.
The pre-milled nubs with a diameter of 100 and 150 millimetres allow the easy and flexible installation of the VarioProFile pipe (aluminium multi-layer composite pipe). They guarantee uniform pipe spacing.
EasyFlexWall/Ceiling
For the low profile EasyFlexWall/Ceiling with a pipe spacing of 77 and 115 mm, the VarioProFile pipe 11.6×1.5 is installed on the wall or ceiling and then plastered.
Elongation
The aluminium layer guarantees elongation up to nine times lower than PEX pipes. That means the VarioProFile pipe is ideal for surface heating and cooling systems.
Elongation with 10 m and temperature difference Δt 25 °C (e. g. 20 °C to 45 °C):
Creep rupture properties
The creep behaviour indicates the long-term heat resistance of the VarioProFile pipe. This behaviour has been scrutinised in a creep rupture test. It is very important for heating piping as this is exposed to high temperatures over long periods.
Scrutinised creep behaviour has been tested for a service life of 50 years.
Technical data
- Pipe diameter: 11,6 mm
- Pipe wall thickness: 1,5 mm
- Aluminium pipe thickness: 0,15 mm
- Roll length: 100, 300, 500 and 800 m
- Water content: 0,058 l/m
- Special narrow bending radius (usea suitable bending device): 30 mm
- Max. operating temperature [tmax]: 95 °C
- Short-term resistant [tmal]: 110 °C
- Max. operating pressure [pmax]: 10 bar
- Linear expansion coefficient: 2,3 × 10-5 [K-1]
- Mean heat conduction coefficient [λ]: 0,44 W/mK
- Heat transmission resistance: 0,0034 m²K/W
VarioProFile-pipe 16×2 plus+ – aluminium multi-layer composite pipe
The aluminium multi-layer composite pipe 16×2 has a surface structure that is up to 15% larger than that of conventional pipes. A larger surface area means optimised heat transfer. Five layers are joined together and utilise the advantages of both aluminium and plastic.
The inner surface is smooth as glass, making it impossible for deposits to form. The water flows through the pipe without resistance and with minimal pressure losses.
The VarioProFile pipe uses the advantages of both aluminium and plastic. It combines five interconnected layers. That guarantees a slightly flexible yet dimensionally stable pipe.
The innermost layer is made of polyethylene and temperature resistant. The inner surface is smooth as glass, making it impossible for deposits to form. The water flows through the pipe without resistance and with minimal pressure losses.
The profiled surface structure increases the outermost layer of the pipe by up to 15%. The larger surface means optimised heat transfer compared with other pipes with the same diameter.
Airtight and in shape
100% oxygen diffusion-tight thanks to the laser-welded aluminium pipe: The metal prevents oxygen penetration.
That virtually rules out potential silting.
The aluminium layer guarantees elongation up to nine times lower than PEX pipes. That means the VarioProFile pipe is ideal for surface heating and cooling systems.
Flexible applications
The VarioProFile pipe is as flexible as the Variotherm world of products itself and is used in the following systems:
Floor heating for screed floors
Plastered system wall heating/coolin
Elongation
The aluminium layer guarantees elongation up to nine times lower than PEX pipes. That means the VarioProFile pipe is ideal for surface heating and cooling systems.
Elongation with 10 m and temperature difference Δt 25 °C (e. g. 20 °C to 45 °C):
Creep rupture properties
The creep behaviour indicates the long-term heat resistance of the VarioProFile pipe. This behaviour has been scrutinised in a creep rupture test. It is very important for heating piping as this is exposed to high temperatures over long periods.
Scrutinised creep behaviour has been tested for a service life of 50 years.
Technical data
- Pipe diameter: 16 mm
- Pipe wall thickness: 2 mm
- Aluminium pipe thickness: 0,15 mm
- Roll length: 100, 300 and 500 m
- Water content: 0,113 l/m
- Special narrow bending radius (usea suitable bending device): 48 mm
- Max. operating temperature [tmax]: 70 °C
- Short-term resistant [tmal]: 95 °C
- Max. operating pressure [pmax]: 6 bar
- Linear expansion coefficient: 2,6 × 10-5 [K-1]
- Mean heat conduction coefficient [λ]: 0,43 W/mK
- Heat transmission resistance: 0,0043 m²K/W
Advantages at a glance
- Profiled surface structure for optimised heat transfer
- First-class plaster adhesion for wall heating systems
- Fully corrosion-free
- Optimum creep behaviour
- High thermal conductivity
- High pressure and temperature resistance (6 bar, +70°C)
- Flexible, easy to bend, extremely good hydrostatic stability
- 100 % oxygen diffusion-tight
- Resistant to hot water additives
- Mirror-smooth inner surface – less pressure loss – no encrustation
- Lower linear coefficient of expansion, lower heat expansion forces
- 10-year guarantee with certificate
EcoHeatingPlaster for SystemWall (SWHK2)
Variotherm EcoHeatingPlaster is used as base coat plaster for plastering the wall heating/cooling system. The plaster is 25 mm thick.
As a natural building material, it has outstanding ecological properties that have been awarded the IBO test seal. The plaster consists of plaster sand, additives and trass.
What is trass? A volcanic tuff rock that is dried and ground. The main components of these “pozzolanic” substances are silicic acids (insoluble in water) and alumina. Just add water at the construction site – and the eco-plaster is ready.
The Variotherm EcoHeatingPlaster has been developed for use as a base coat plaster for the system wall heating/cooling (SWHK2), for a plastering thickness (incl. heating pipe) of up 25 mm. It is a natural construction material, with excellent environmentally-friendly characteristics verified by the IBO quality seal.
Advantages
- Purely organic material
- Permeable to water vapour
- Hygroscopic
- Shock resistant
- Good adhesive properties
- Premixed hydraulic dry mortar. Classification: GP, PM2, W3
- High thermal conductivity – about 10–25 % better than “normal” plasters
- Good heat storage properties due to the extremely high oven-dry density of 1500 kg/m³
- Good condensation properties with cooling function
- Smooth application – suitable for machine and manual application (e. g. plaster machine G4)
- Guaranteed heat dissipation values for the whole system (SWHK2)
Components
Plaster sand, additives, trass. What is trass? Volcanic tuff prepared in a drying and grinding process. The main components of these “pozzolana” substances are silicic acids (water insoluble) and clay. Apart from water, no other additives need to be added at the construction site. The plaster cures hydraulically. Only air and water are required for curing.
Technical data
- Maximum grain size: 2 mm
- Compressive strength (28d): > 3 N/mm²
- Flexural strength (28d): > 1 N/mm²
- Thermal conductivity λ: 0.82 W/mK
- Acid capacity (m value): 12.4
- Oven-dry density (28d): approx. 1500 kg/m³
- Fresh mortar bulk density: approx. 1700 kg/m³
- Water requirement: approx. 5–6 litres per bag (25 kg)
- Material consumption: approx. 45 kg/m² (SWHK2)
- Minimum plaster thickness: 10 mm
- Maximum plaster thickness: 25 mm
- Packaging: 25 kg per bag; 42 bags per EU pallet
Pipe work in an EasyFlex and system wall heating/cooling
EasyFlexWall as ‘designer heating’
Arrangement of the surfaces
Wall heating installations are used for heating occupied areas. For this reason, they should be evenly distributed over the interior sides of exterior walls. At normal ceiling heights (up to 3 m) in buildings with good thermal insulation, designing the wall heating/cooling system to a maximum height of 2 m above the finished floor level is sufficient.
In special cases (ceiling height > 3 m, e. g. halls, stairwells, therapy areas) the wall heating installations must be designed higher than 2 m.
Experience has shown that the comfort effect is perceived at a distance of up to 5 m from the heated wall. In larger rooms it is therefore advantageous to install wall heating systems on two opposing walls because the radiance effect on the body declines in proportion to the square of the distance.
Estimated values for dimensions:
~ 40% wall surface or 50–60 % ceiling surface of the room area for heating
~ 70–80% wall/ceiling surface of the room area for cooling
Caution: Observe the heating/cooling load calculation for precise dimensioning of the area required!
Installation
Simple and quick to install
The VarioBars are simply affixed to the wall – whether it’s made of brick, aerated concrete blocks or solid concrete. The highly flexible heating pipes with a dimensionally stable form (VarioProFile pipes) latch quickly and easily into the VarioBars. The profiled surface of the Variotherm pipe guarantees optimum heat transfer.
In general, any type of plaster can be applied that is suitable for wall heating and cooling systems. The ecological Variotherm EcoHeatingPlaster has high thermal conductivity and vapour permeability, and has been certified for its biological properties. It is used as the first plaster layer (base coat plaster) and encloses the VarioProFile pipes.
All you need for installation
EasyFlexWall: VarioProFile-pipe 11,6 x 1,5 plus+ with profiled surface structure
SystemWall: VarioProFile-pipe 16 x 2 plus+ with profiled surface structure
Mounting system developed by Variotherm
Thermostats guarantee simple, fast regulation of the room temperature
The pipes are easy to locate with the pipe locator or using thermofoil
Heating/cooling manifolds are fully assembled and pressure-tested
FAQs
Can I place furniture in front of wall heating?
Placing furniture in front of wall heating/cooling reduces the heating and cooling performance.
A desk, smaller shelves, sideboards or a couch are not a problem. However, a wall unit or larger cupboard is not suitable, since it covers over too much heating and cooling area.
Our tip: decide on your room concept and interior furnishings in advance.
Can I still locate the heating pipes after they have been installed? And can I hang pictures on the wall if I have wall heating?
The answer is: yes!
With modular wall heating/cooling, the heating and cooling pipes are inserted in the rear side of the panel. The aluminium multi-layer composite pipes are easy to locate. The pipe locator detects the Variomodular pipes thanks to their aluminium layer and indicates their presence with a beep and an LED lamp.
The pipe locator with LED indicator light and beeper and the thermofoil can be used for locating Variomodular pipes and VarioProFile pipes (aluminium multilayer compound pipes) in the wall.
The pipe locator in detail
The pipe locator locates die aluminium multilayer compound pipes equally well in drywall modular walls and also in plastered walls.
How it works:
- Hold the device up in the air and away from any metal parts (perpendicular to the surface to be scanned).
- Move the calibration unit onto point sensor (aluminium plate of the calibration unit, outer side).
- Press and hold the start button. After about 2 seconds, the green LED lights up.
- Search for the pipe: Slowly scan the surface. The red LEDs and the longitudinal sensor’s blue light along with a beeping sound will indicate the position of the pipe.
- The device switches off when the start button is released.
TIP: Hand jewellery may affect calibration and the scanning results and must therefore be removed prior to starting the device.
If the wall heating is in operation, the pipes can be easily located using thermofoil.
How thermofoil works
The thermofoil is suitable for the detection of heating pipes during the heating phase. Operation temperature range: 25 °C to 30 °C.
The black thermofoil is placed laterally to the pipes being sought, or fastened with adhesive tape, during the heating process.
At a surface temperature between 25 °C and 30 °C the foil discolours to reveal the position of the pipes: Possible discolourations are black, blue to yellow and red. The foil discolours red at the highest measurable temperature range of approx. 30 °C . The foil discolours black again at temperatures above the measurable range.
Does wall heating/cooling have any disadvantages?
You should avoid placing furniture in front of the heated or cooled wall without prior planning, since the heat output could otherwise be impaired. Even so, it offers a great deal of freedom when it comes to designing your rooms. Why? Because there are no more bothersome radiators in the room.
You should be aware of the heating pipes when hanging up pictures. The aluminium multi-layer composite pipes are easy to locate with the pipe locator or thermofoil.