Choosing the best warm floor: types and features

The peculiarity and the most attractive quality of warm floors lies in the warm air that rises from the bottom up, creating a feeling of comfort. When using such a system, moisture, mold and bacteria will not accumulate under the floor covering. the environment will become unfavorable for their existence. It should also be borne in mind that laminate and parquet are not the best flooring for this kind of flooring. Therefore, if you buy them, then only with a special note that they are suitable for the installation of warm floors.

Heating systems are divided into electrical and water.

Electric cable floors

The basis of such a warm floor is a single-core or two-core cable. To create a comfortable environment in living quarters, it is recommended to use a two-wire system. To determine which warm floor is better, just look at the features.

The difference lies in the method of installation, in which for a single-core analogue it is required to provide for the return of the wire to the starting point. At the same time, a two-core cable is safer, easier to install, more durable, but more expensive by 20-30%.

Operational safety of electric underfloor heating is achieved due to 2 layers of insulation. Then, in most cases, the wires are protected by a metal braid and an outer sheath made of PVC. The metal braid is a shield against electromagnetic radiation.

The inconvenience of installing electric cable heat-insulated floors is the need to make a cement screed. The construction looks like this:

• Insulation is laid on the base of the floor;
• Heat reflective elements such as foil;
• Bottom layer of concrete-sand screed;
• Cable;
• Top concrete-sand screed;
• Decorative coating.

It should be noted that such a structure can increase the floor height by 8-12 cm. It is also recommended to add special plasticizers to the screed to increase its elasticity and thermal conductivity.

Inconveniences

The main problem is that from the moment of installation of the warm floor to the start of its operation, it must take almost a month for the screed to dry completely. Otherwise, cracks may form along the screed.

The choice of underfloor heating directly depends on the totality of some indicators: whether it will be the main heating of the room or additional, what type of flooring will be used.

Electric cable floors do not work well with parquet and carpet, because these materials are sensitive to high temperatures. Nevertheless, it is possible to use them if the warm floor does not have a power of more than 110W per sq.m. At the same time, the generated heat will be enough for pleasant warmth under your feet, but you will need to warm up the room with other types of heating.

Heat from cables can dry out wooden furniture.

Thermomats

This type of heating device is perfect for bathrooms and kitchens with decorative tiles. It is a self-adhesive fiberglass mesh, divided into segments with already fixed cable, where the main heating element is the carbon rods.

Thermomats have several significant advantages:

• No screed is required for installation. The mesh with cables is laid on the base of the floor and fixed with tile adhesive, which is immediately installed;
• Extra segments can be cut from the whole mat along special lines. In this case, the cable is not damaged;
• The floor height does not change.The device is located in the thickness of the glue and does not add centimeters. This is especially important if there is no way to raise the floor or wait for the screed to dry;
• You do not need to lay the cable yourself, as it is already fixed.

The disadvantages include that thermomats, like cable devices, are not the best installation option under carpet, parquet or laminate.

Film warm floor

For comfortable heating, a heating film is considered the best option. It fits under all types of flooring. But it should be borne in mind that for parquet, the power should not exceed 110W. per sq.m., while for ceramic tiles, you can purchase a film with a capacity of up to 220 watts. per sq.m.

But low power does not have a negative effect on furniture and floor coverings sensitive to high temperatures, for which the maximum temperature threshold is recommended to be set to 27C.

Such a warm floor consists of a polyester film, between 2 layers of which two plates are placed in the segments: an aluminum alloy and a copper alloy. Through the wire, electricity is supplied to the plates and converted into heat.

Among such heating devices, infrared films are considered the best. They are divided into the same segments, but filled with slightly different elements. Through an alloy of copper and silver, the current is supplied to the carbon paste, which exceeds the heat transfer rates of other analogues.

The advantages of film heating include the minimum material thickness from 3mm to 8mm. Taking into account the thin layer of heat insulator, the rise in the floor level will be no more than 1 cm, often the rise is 0.6 cm. Such heating systems can be attached to walls and even to the ceiling.

Also, for many film systems, economy is characteristic, because heating temperature can be set different for each room, and the film itself saves about 20% of energy consumption compared to cable underfloor heating.

In addition, installation does not require a lot of money and time. The film is simply spread over the surface and covered with a floor covering. If necessary, the film can be easily removed and reinstalled in a new location.

The disadvantages of film warm floors include a short service life. On average, it is 15 years, but if the operating conditions are observed, it can work for a longer time.

Thermal sensors

Heating temperature control is carried out using temperature sensors, which differ significantly in their functionality.

The simplest model when the temperature is controlled by a wheel. In this case, the floor will evenly warm up to the set temperature until new changes are adjusted.

A more advanced option is an automatic sensor. A small LCD screen sets the room temperature. As soon as the temperature rises to the specified mark, the heating is turned off, and after a short cooling down, it turns on again.

And the most modern model is programmable. The sensor indicates the time when the system is turned on and off for a certain period of time with a certain temperature. So all week the system will automatically lower or increase the heating temperature at night, or turn off the heating at a time when no one is usually at home.

Water heated floors

This type of heating is carried out by circulating hot water under the floor covering. Pipes, through which water directly circulates, are connected to a heating plant or to an autonomous heating system in a private house. This system is economical because it is enough to warm the water up to a maximum of 50C so that the temperature above the floor is 30C

The installation scheme for water heated floors is as follows:

• Insulation is laid on the base of the floor (polystyrene is often recommended);
• Pipes are laid on top with a double snake or snail;
• It is poured with a concrete-sand screed with plasticizers;
• The floor covering is being mounted.

It should be noted that the floor level rises by 7-12 cm.

The pipes themselves can be made of different materials - copper, metal-plastic, polyethylene, etc. However, the most practical are pipes made of polymers, which include polyethylene.

Copper acts as a good conductor of heat, but it is quite expensive, and when laying pipes made of metal-plastic, when bending the product, damage to the inner aluminum layer is possible, which will eventually lead to leakage.

But, subject to the laying technology, all materials showed good performance for operation and the choice of the best warm floor is done taking into account the advice of specialists specifically for a particular type of housing and, of course, financial capabilities.

It is possible to regulate the temperature of a water-heated floor, but it is more difficult than an electric one and this requires the installation of special parts. For each circuit, water flow regulators are mounted, and thermal valves are installed on the return manifolds. With the help of these devices, the volume of the supplied water is regulated, and it is also possible to partially or completely block the circuits.

If the underfloor heating goes as additional heating to the radiator, then to save money, you can artificially lower the water temperature to 45 C. For this, circulating pumps and valves are installed. The pump constantly pumps water through the pipes, and the valve periodically passes part of the hot water into the pipes, maintaining the set temperature.

If the building is old and cannot withstand an additional layer of concrete, then instead of a concrete-sand screed, special polystyrene plates can be used. In this case, the pipes are laid in the grooves provided in advance in the plates.

The advantages of such a warm floor include its cost-effectiveness during operation. Also, such a system does not dry out the air and can be located under furniture.

Nevertheless, water-heated floors are difficult to make in an apartment, because a special permit is required to connect to the central water supply system, and in the conditions of communal apartments, water may not even be enough. Therefore, such systems are most often installed in country houses with an autonomous heating system.

Installation is also not cheap, but this disadvantage is paid off by the low consumption of funds for heating in the future.