Floor heating water, electric. Laying of warm floors

If you want to provide floor heating, then first you need to choose a system, for example, electrical or water. The first variety is relevant for bathrooms, verandas and loggias. Among other things, the electrical floor system can also be installed in the bath. Many home masters use electric floor heating as a supplement to the radiator.

Ways of installation of electric underfloor heating

Before you start manipulating, you must choose which installation method will be used. For example, the system can be laid in a layer of screed, on the surface of which is laid the final floor covering. The warm floor can be laid on the surface of the concrete, after which it is possible to apply the tile. Film-like electrical floors are laid, as a rule, directly under the decorative floor covering.

Preparing for installation work

Electrical heating of the floor can only be arranged after carrying out certain preparatory work. You will need a regulator, a copper cable for grounding, an RCD protection system , connecting wires, and fasteners.

Preparing the rough floor

Electric floor heating will function effectively only if it is possible to properly prepare the surface. If the old screed has become unusable, then it must be completely dismantled. The surface should then be well cleaned.

The next stage is waterproofing, which should be brought to the surface of the walls by 10 centimeters. On the perimeter of the room is attached a damper tape. It will compensate for the thermal expansion of floor materials when heated. In the end, you will have to cut off excess damper tape and waterproofing.

In order to prevent the heat energy from leaving downwards, the floor should be insulated. Depending on what type of surface is used, and also where the room is located, choose appropriate insulation.

Electrical floor heating systems should be used in tandem with foamed polyethylene, which has a reflective foil coating. This is if the heating system will act only as a supplement to the radiators. It's about penofol, which is used in this case as a substrate.

Polystyrene sheets or extruded polystyrene foam, the thickness of which varies from 20 to 50 millimeters, suitable for apartments in which the lower floors are heated in the cold season. If the floor heating is arranged on a loggia or veranda that is not heated earlier, then polystyrene or mineral wool should be placed. The thickness of the material should reach 100 millimeters. Over reinforced mesh, but you can do without it.

Mounting

Before you start laying the wires, you should check the resistance by checking the passport data. Runs in 10% are allowed. Laying the electrical system of the warm floor can be with the fixation of the reinforcing mesh by means of ties, and also with the help of special fastening tapes. If you have to work with an infrared system, then it spreads over the heater.

Some manufacturers mention in the instructions for use that it is required to fix the adhesive tape or special ears, which are located on the strip. In places where the wire passes over the dividing strip of two slabs, it should be placed in a corrugated pipe, the length of which is 15 cm. This will eliminate or reduce the possibility of cable breakage during thermal expansion of the slabs. When electric heating of the floor is arranged, the interface between the power supply wire and the heating cable should be located 10 centimeters from the shtroba. It must be done in such a way that the connecting clips are drowned in the screed.

Final work

After all the elements have been placed in their final places, it is necessary to check the resistance of the wire. If it coincides with the passport data or slightly differs from what was done before, it is possible to start testing the heating elements by using the system of the warm floor. If the health check has passed normally, then the system must be de-energized by removing the regulator until the finishing work is completed. Then you can start to form a screed.

Prepare the floor before laying the water heating system

The old screed in this case, too, is recommended to be dismantled, until it is possible to reach the base. It is important to ensure alignment of the rough floor, so that the differences do not exceed 10 millimeters. Next, a layer of waterproofing is laid, and along the entire perimeter, as mentioned above, a damper tape is fixed. It is important to insulate the base of the floor.

Pipe distribution

Laying should start from the colder and outer walls of the room. If the entry into the room is not from the side of the outer wall, then the pipe section to the wall should be insulated. In order to ensure a gradual reduction of heating from external walls to internal walls, a technology called snake should be applied. To ensure uniform heating in rooms with internal walls, you should apply the styling in a spiral, moving from edge to center. The pipe should be brought in a spiral taking into account the double step between the turns. After this, turn around and start unwinding in the opposite direction.

Heating of the room with a warm floor will be performed well, if you use the method of laying the pipe in steps of 30 to 10 cm. In those places where there is increased heat loss, you should reduce the distance between the pipes to 15 cm.

For work in the attic, loggia or veranda space, a separate contour should be installed, which will not be combined with the adjoining rooms. Otherwise, most of the heat will go to its heating, while the room itself will remain cold.

Assignment of the admixture module

Many inexperienced masters are wondering why a mixing unit of a warm floor is needed. Professionals answer this question in the following way. This element is necessary to ensure that the system of the warm floor receives water with the required temperature, which does not exceed 55 degrees. Whereas in the boiler the coolant has a temperature of 90 degrees. These mixers are used to connect the floor heating system to a new or existing radiator heating system. The main function of such a mixer is a decrease in the temperature of the coolant. This is done by the method of mixing water from the return. When choosing a mixing unit for a warm floor, it should be noted that such elements are used in tandem with three-way valves.

Conclusion

Regardless of whether you choose floor heating, water or electric, it is important to familiarize yourself with the manipulation technology before starting work. Otherwise, none of the systems will not perform their functions, and the funds and time will be spent in vain. That's why many inexperienced masters trust the installation of heating systems to professionals in their field.