The European norm EN 14037, indicating the technical specifications and features required for ceiling radiant panels, grants the quality of the product. Some of the requirements concern surface protection, stability of suspension points, resistance to pressure and dimensional tolerances. The norm defines the test method to determine the thermal output of panels. The measurement of thermal output is carried out in a closed testing room having the six internal surfaces cooled. A thermal insulation with predefined features is put on the panel. During the test, the six surfaces of the room must not present any temperature difference between each other, the water must flow inside the pipes in turbulent conditions and room temperature is measured by means of two thermometers, one sensitive to radiance and the other screened, to measure air temperature. These tests allow also determining the average surface temperature of the panel and the percentage of thermal output emitted by radiance. In reality, a panel installed in a room has different interactions depending on the surrounding elements (just consider the difficult determination of the “shape factors” of the various surfaces in respect to the position of people inside), therefore the actual thermal output can be different from that resulting from laboratory test.
The thermal outputs obtained according to norm EN 14037 now allow comparing seriously the various products in the market.

pdf output certification EN 14037