Far from always the performance of central and autonomous heating is enough to heat housing and create comfortable living conditions in it. The way out of this situation is a warm floor, which can install almost any type of coating. A definite plus is the ability to start and stop when the need arises. You can start warming up housing at any time. The construction market is saturated with products that differ in operation principle, installation methods and operating rules.
Criteria for choosing a warm floor
Despite the abundance in the market of floor heating devices, each of them has its own recommendations for use and characteristic limitations.
Criteria for choosing underfloor heating systems:
- Place of installation. If in relation to electrical products there are practically no obstacles regarding the type of room and structure, then water circuits are forbidden to be laid in apartments of multi-storey buildings and office buildings. In private buildings, owners have the right to make water floor heating, since the consequences of emergency leaks will not harm anyone except themselves.
- Features and size of the room. Rooms of a large area should be heated with water circuits, using headers for even distribution of flows. For kitchens and bathrooms, the best solution would be electrical devices that can be laid in the center of the room.
- Flooring. If you decide to lay the tiles, the best option is electric mats or a water circuit. In living quarters (nursery, living room, bedroom), it is customary to lay a laminate or parquet. For such materials, the best choice would be infrared film.
- Manufacturing firm. You should choose certified products sold in branded outlets. There are many fakes of unknown origin on the market that break down almost immediately after connecting.
- The purpose of the installation. Laying a warm floor is carried out to organize the main heating, its complement and create additional comfort. Based on this, a choice should be made in favor of powerful and overall designs or in favor of small budget models.
Before installing a floor heating system, the appropriateness of such a solution should be assessed.
Advantages and disadvantages
The connection of a warm floor in a private house and city apartment gives such advantages:
- saving expensive energy;
- creation of the most comfortable environment in residential and utility rooms;
- optimal distribution of warm air in the room when the temperature drops from the bottom up.
- the owner decides when to connect the heating and what temperature to set;
- You can make a warm floor at the construction stage and at any time after its completion;
- a wide range of products, giving the opportunity to choose the best option;
- relative ease of installation;
- long term of operation on condition of acquisition of high-quality devices.
When deciding to put a floor heating system, its negative aspects should be taken into account:
- the need to equip a solid and reliable foundation in order to be able to lay out heavy pipes filled with water;
- the screed together with the contour takes up to 10 cm from the height of the room;
- it is forbidden to connect to central heating in multi-storey buildings;
- high electricity consumption if you connect cable or matte type appliances;
- high primary costs for the purchase of equipment.
To choose the right heating system, you need to carefully weigh the pros and cons of each option and correlate them with the characteristics of housing.
Classification of underfloor heating systems
According to the type of coolant, floor heaters are divided into two categories - water and electric. Each of them deserves attention, as it has its own differences, advantages and disadvantages.
The water floor consists of pipes laid on the base, through which hot water continuously circulates. The energy source is a gas or electric boiler. The flow rate is controlled by the collector. Depending on the area of the room, a single-pipe circuit or several closed pipes can be made. The form of arrangement of communications is chosen spiral or wavy. For rooms of a square configuration, a good option is a scheme with a spiral in the center and snakes around the perimeter. If you have a powerful boiler with a pump, you can include one or more radiators in this project. When buying pipes, it is better to abandon aluminum-reinforced products, since the material can be layered.
The cable floor is made of a continuous heating cable, inside of which there is a core that generates heat when current is passed. The material has a thickness of 6-10 mm, but is quite flexible, so it is laid out with a snake with a distance between the turns of 15-20 cm. To increase the efficiency of the heater, the base is pre-covered with foam. This will reduce heat loss to heat it and direct energy towards the finish. After fixing the cable to the plate, it remains only to fill it with cement mortar and lay the finish coating. To control and adjust the degree of heating, a manual or electronic temperature controller is installed.
Heating mats are an analogue of a cable, have a device more convenient for laying and a wide range of applications. The heating wire is fused to a heat-resistant polypropylene mesh with sufficient strength and flexibility. The thickness of the strips is 3-5 mm with a width of 50 cm. Sections up to 100 cm long are connected in rolls, the length of which can reach 20 m. After laying the mats, the strips must be correctly connected and the joints insulated. If carpet or linoleum is used as a topcoat, a screed is placed on top of the mats. Tiles can be laid directly on the heater.
Infrared films appeared on sale relatively recently, but quickly gained popularity among private developers. The product is a thin cloth (0.3-0.5 mm), inside of which are carbon strips, copper wires are inserted through them. When passing current, the elements create radiation that heats nearby objects. The film floor is versatile. It can lie under tiles, dense linoleum, ceramic tiles and even under boards on wooden logs.
When planning floor insulation, attention should be paid to the power produced by the devices per square meter. The maximum allowable temperature is 25 ° C in the kitchen, 30 ° C in the hall, 26 ° C in the children's room, 32-33 ° C in the bathroom, loggia and pool.
How to install underfloor heating in different conditions
Since each house and apartment have their own characteristics, the choice of heating elements is carried out individually in each project. In most cases, it is determined by the priorities of property owners regarding the type of topcoat.
Under the tile
Ceramic and tile are used for decoration of bathrooms, corridors, kitchens, balconies and loggias.
There are such options for laying insulation:
- In the screed.A cable or water circuit is used. The advantage of this solution is that the stove warms up evenly, retaining heat for a long time. Direct-acting designs involve placing the insulation closer to the surface. So the coating is heated faster and at a higher temperature. The tile itself has excellent thermal conductivity, which provides high design efficiency.
- Under the cover. In this case, mats and infrared film are used. After gluing the heaters to the base, tiles are laid. In this case, a thickness of the solution in the range of 2-3 mm is sufficient.
The tile itself has excellent thermal conductivity, which provides high design efficiency.
Under the laminate
This type of decoration fits into living rooms, popular due to its practicality, presentable appearance, ease of assembly and the possibility of dismantling. For laying over heating elements, special heat-resistant material models are used, which have a special marking.
When working, you must follow these rules:
- If the base is a concrete slab, a substrate is needed for thermal insulation and noise absorption. In addition, the substrate compensates for uneven surfaces.
- It is advisable to lay an infrared film under the laminate, the radiation of which easily passes through this material. No extra gaskets required. In this case, there should be a waterproof connection of the elements.
- The boards need to be fixed firmly, using a damper tape to fix along the edges. If the coating will move, it will tear the film.
When using heating mats, you need to purchase products with a capacity of at least 100 W / m².
Linoleum
Only special heat-resistant material without a heat-insulating substrate is allowed to be used. In this case, the heating effect will be maximum. Elements are pre-filled with a screed, which, after solidification, is leveled and impregnated with a primer.
Under linoleum, you can install water circuits and heating cables. It is not practical to use expensive mats and infrared film, since they will still be filled with cement mortar.
Carpet
Carpet has the lowest thermal conductivity among analogues and is itself an excellent insulator. Since the material is soft and easy to push, it can only be laid on an even and rigid base. It can be a concrete screed with an embedded cable or a water circuit. If warming a wooden floor is carried out, the best solution is an infrared film covered with plywood or OSB.
Functional use
Underfloor heating systems are versatile and have a wide range of applications at private and commercial construction sites.
Options for the functional use of products may be as follows:
- Additional heating. It is used in regions with a cold climate, where existing heating systems can not cope with their tasks in the cold season.
- Extra comfort. Installed in places covered with ceramic tiles. This material is cold to the touch even in the summer heat. Installing a warm floor makes staying in the room more pleasant and safer.
- Basic heating equipment. It is used to heat small detached buildings, which cannot be supplied with gas and central heating. It can be baths, summer residences, private houses.
Different types of systems can be installed in one room, if this does not contradict the safety rules.
Manufacturer's choice
Rating of leading manufacturers of underfloor heating:
- cable - Heatluxury, Rexant RXM, Milos, TVK, Electrolux;
- mats - Caleo, DEVI, Electrolux, Fenix, Grand Meyer, Hemstedt, IN-Term, Nexans, AHT;
- infrared - Thermo, DEUS Electro, Devi, E.NEXT, Eberle, Ecotherm, FV-Plast, IN-Term, KM, Korea, Luchi, Fado.
You should only make purchases at trusted points of sale where a certificate of product quality is provided.
