„Flooring“ in the monastery

Not far from Klecany lies the small village of Drasty. Anyone who passed through here years ago must have noticed the former farmstead, which appeared very desolate. But today the situation is completely different. The area currently belongs to the community of barefoot Carmelites, who have built a monastery here – the Carmel of St. Joseph – over the past three years. Essentially, it is a spiritual center aimed at serving not only the order's sisters but also all visitors who wish to recharge their spirits. Some buildings of the former farmstead have been renovated, and others have been completed, including a public chapel. The community's modern perspective can be seen not only in the Carmelites themselves, who significantly contributed to the construction work, but also in their approach to modern technologies. An example is the REHAU underfloor heating, installed in the new complex and the modern chapel.

Underfloor heating is, from many perspectives, an ideal solution for similar types of buildings, regardless of whether they are renovated structures. Primarily because, as a low-temperature system, it exhibits lower operational costs than traditional radiators, where the temperature in the pipes can be up to twice as high compared to the underfloor system. Another undeniable advantage is the fact that the system is completely concealed, in the case of the Drasty monastery under the floor, so it is invisible and does not interfere, thus preserving the impression of the interior architecture. This will certainly be appreciated not only by the Carmelites but also by the visitors to the chapel. Additionally, we can add the radiant heating method, which makes the underfloor system comfortable and pleasant to the touch. Not to mention the positive health aspects.

The VARIONOVA system, which was installed in the monastery, is probably the most commonly used "wet" variant in the REHAU product portfolio. It consists of a black system board, into which RAUTHERM pipes (most commonly 17 × 2.0 mm) are precisely fixed thanks to the grid of molded parts, which also ensures the necessary spacing between the individual pipes. The RAUTHERM pipes are made from high-tech PE-Xa material, which is cross-linked polyethylene due to pressure and temperature. Therefore, the pipes are very durable and long-lasting. The quality of this material largely eliminates the risk of any loss during flow. The VARIONOVA boards can also come in a variant with impact or thermal insulation (11 mm). For clarification, we mention that, besides wet installations, REHAU also offers dry installation methods, but that was not the case for this monastery.

The underfloor system was installed in the residential parts of the monastery, as well as in the ambits and in the chapel. This represents an area of approximately 2600 m² and 16.5 km of piping. It should be added that the individual heating circuits converge in 15 EasyFlow distributors. A necessary component of a comprehensive system is always intelligent control, which takes care of the efficiency and economy of operation. In the case of the Carmel of St. Joseph in Drasty, the sources of thermal energy are two gas condensing boilers with outputs of 50 kW. The implementation of the REHAU system was carried out by Havlín TZB, spol. s r.o.

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