Probably, every person on a cold winter evening after a hot bath had to step on a cold tile. After relaxing water procedures, it is immediately forced to go in search of warm socks or slippers. Therefore, more and more often begin to be interested in warm floors.
The underfloor heating system and laminate are compatible, while heating under a solid board or parquet is not recommended.
There are two types of underfloor heating: electric and water. Their main difference is in the type of heating element. In the first case, the source of heat is an electric cable. In the second case - water. In order to decide and draw conclusions about whether everything is suitable for a separate apartment or house, you need to consider both cases.
Electric floor heating
Underfloor heating technologies are very popular.
Electric floors do not require large material costs, are easy to install and do not cause difficulties in operation.
Scheme of the device of the convection cable floor.
Before proceeding with the installation of the electric floor, you need to determine the purpose of its purchase - as a heating system on the floor of the loggia, as the main or additional heating system in the apartment, which will heat only a separate room.
Most often, underfloor heating is installed in the kitchen, shower room, toilet and bathroom. It is in these rooms that you can use the most common installation method - lay the heating wire under the tile.
If this system will be used as an addition to the main heating, then a power of 120 W per 1 sq.m of room area will be enough. But the heat-insulating material used must be of good quality.
For a small room of 5 square meters, approximately 20-25 meters of cable will be required. This data will need to be clarified with the seller, since the power of the heating cable may vary from manufacturer to manufacturer. In order to prevent local overheating of the wire, it is immediately worth checking with the store employee the minimum allowable stretch between the threads of the heating cable.
Detailed installation instructions for electric underfloor heating
The rows of cable must not touch each other.
Before installing an electric warm coating, you need to free the room - take out the furniture, remove the old floor covering and prepare the base well for work. If necessary, it is worth leveling the work surface and making a thin concrete or cement-sand screed. Then, a place on the wall is prepared for the installation of an electric thermostat. The device is needed to control the temperature of the system.
After all the processes of preparation for work are correctly carried out, they proceed to the arrangement of thermal insulation and directly to laying the heating cable. From time to time, condensation may form on and near the heating cable, this is due to the soil, which is located next to the system. Therefore, some experts, in addition to thermal insulation, recommend waterproofing. The waterproofing material is a dense polyethylene film.
Cement screed, cable and thermal insulation reduce the volume of the room. But today, building materials for the consumer market are produced by those that are able to minimize the loss of area.
So, for thermal insulation, rather light and thin materials are used, and their thermal conductivity coefficient is maximum (0.049 W / mK). This is a special coating of aluminum foil with a thickness of only 14 microns and polyethylene with a self-adhesive layer. Materials are supplied in rolls. After laying them, they form joints between the rolls, which are glued with mounting tape.
When the insulation is placed over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe room, you can start laying the reinforcing mesh, the tasks of which are:
- Exclusion of overheating of wires from contact with insulation.
- Message concrete or cement-sand mortar, which will cover the floor, additional strength.
The process of laying wires is carried out using a mounting tape. It is fixed on the base. This tape will help to correctly maintain the distance between the cable loops and prevent kinks. The cable is mounted in increments of 15-25 cm. For the normal operation of a warm electric floor, it is necessary to install a special temperature sensor. With it, you can easily change the floor heating intervals, the power used and make the desired temperature regime. The sensor is designed into a special tube, which, in turn, is filled with a cement screed along with a heating wire. This location of the pipe provides for its replacement in the event of a malfunction without damaging the screed.
Before pouring, you must carefully check all system connections and correct assembly. If you make any mistakes, their elimination can be time consuming due to the disassembly of the laid screed. The performance and serviceability of the underfloor heating system is checked by applying voltage to the heating wire and measuring the resistance using a special tester. In the passport for the product, manufacturers must indicate all measurement parameters.
After the check, it is possible to make a uniform pouring of a cement screed up to 4 cm thick. In the process of work, it is worth making sure that voids do not form in the screed. Their presence leads to overheating and inoperability of the cable. After pouring, you need to wait until the surface dries completely.
The floor covering can be laid after 5 days. But with checking the performance of a warm electric floor, you should wait about a month. And this is not due to the fact that a short circuit of a raw screed may occur or the installed system will fail. The fact is that each material has its own coefficient of thermal expansion, and under the influence of high temperatures they tend to expand, and under the influence of low temperatures, on the contrary, they shrink. Premature inclusion of a warm floor (before the cement mortar dries) will lead to uneven drying and the formation of cracks and voids in the screed. This increases the risk of failure of the heating system. You also need to lay the heating cable correctly and do not use the area of \u200b\u200bthe room where you plan to place the furniture.
Water heated floor
Large distances between cable lines can cause cold spots on the floor surface.
Installation of a water heated floor in the sequence of its laying is similar to the installation of an electrical floor heating system. But they also have a big difference, because the floors obey different laws of physics. If the heating cable of electric floors has the same temperature along its entire length, then this cannot be said about the heating pipes.
Water heating can occur using a variety of heating devices: gas and electric boilers, liquid fuel and solid fuel boilers, and others. Water will have a maximum temperature immediately after leaving the heating chamber of the boiler into the heating system. During the period of circulation through the pipes, the coolant gives off its heat, which means that the water will return to the boiler cooled down. That is, at the inlet and outlet of the circulation system of underfloor heating, there is always a different temperature. To avoid uneven heating of the room, the installation of the water system must be done correctly, following all the tips and rules.
Laying a warm water floor can be carried out on a concrete or floor mounting system. The concrete installation system is the most popular due to the low cost of installation. This system consists of several stages. The sequence of work performed and the insulating materials needed are the same as with. Heating pipes of a water-heated floor are not afraid of overheating, which cannot be said about an electric cable.
Laying pipes when installing a water-heated floor
Under the manufacture of water-heated floors, copper pipes are best suited. They are quite durable and have good thermal conductivity. However, due to their high cost, preference is given to metal-plastic pipes. PVC pipes are the most unfortunate option for water floors, although their price is very low.
Pipe laying must be done in the correct sequence, without large bends and fractures. Reinforcement should be used, the cell size of which is 10-15 cm, and the diameter is 4-5 mm. The reinforcing mesh is not suitable, since the warm water floor has a decent weight. Pipes are attached to the floor with clamps and dowels. Their laying step can be made different, but it is undesirable to make the distance between the pipes more than 4 m. Otherwise, the efficiency of the heating system will decrease significantly, and cold streaks will form on the floor (floor areas with low temperature).
You can correctly install pipes for a water floor using different methods:
- bifilar or spiral;
- helix with a displaced center;
- parallel method (snake);
- meander (double snake).
It is difficult to judge which of the above pipe laying methods is the most effective. Each has advantages and disadvantages. When installing the floor, you need to consider several factors. This is the position of doors and window openings, the construction of walls and other places where pipes with hotter water (coolant) must pass.
The length of the water floor pipe loops should not exceed 100 m each. If this rule is neglected, then the warm floor will not work at full capacity due to significant hydraulic losses. Approximately 7 running meters of heating pipes are used per 1 sq.m of the floor surface of the room, depending on the distance between them.
Both the supply and reverse sides of the pipes are connected to a switching (collector) cabinet. The cabinet can be installed in a niche pre-cut in the wall or made overhead (open).
The collector cabinet is designed not only to accommodate pipes with which the heating system is connected to the main heating circuit. Valves are also placed in it, which allow you to turn off the coolant and regulate the temperature in the room.
The high cost of such a heating system is justified by a convenient operation process. Before installing a cement or concrete screed, it is necessary to carry out a thorough hydraulic check of the entire system in order to exclude permissible leakage of the coolant.
In addition to manual taps, special electric valves can be used. They will respond to signals that are sent from the temperature sensor. The temperature sensor is designed in the same way as in electric underfloor heating.
Before connecting a heated floor system to centralized heating, you must obtain permission from the housing and communal services and heat supply organizations.
Combined underfloor heating systems
It is appropriate to make a combined underfloor heating system in a house where the traditional radiator system is of great importance during the heating season. In autumn and spring, there are moments when the microclimate in the house is favorable, but you want to increase the temperature a little.
In private buildings with individual heating, you can turn on the heating and adjust it to the desired temperature, but in apartment buildings with central heating, nothing can be done. In this case, the combined warm floor will become an indispensable friend and helper. An additional heating system will create a favorable atmosphere in the apartment. But if you definitely need expert advice, even if you plan to carry out all the work yourself and know how to do it. In order to avoid overheating of the heating cable or any other troubles, a person with experience in this field must confirm that the design of the system has been done correctly.
Which underfloor heating option to choose?
If it comes to apartments, then in most cases the only possible option is. In private houses in which gas is supplied, it is better, of course, to install a water version of the heating system. The cost of installing a water floor is much more than installing an electric one, but in the future, operation will be cheaper, especially when it comes to large rooms.
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