Choosing a heated floor

Description of the types of heated floors, their pros and cons, as well as tips for choosing a heated floor...

The use of heated floors is common not only in cold latitudes, but also in areas with a continental climate. This heating system allows you to heat the rooms evenly; be independent from housing and communal services, save space in the room, and also warm floors have a positive effect on the human body.

There are two types of heated floors: water and electric. The second type of heated floors is divided into two more methods of electric heating: convection electric floors and infrared.

So should you choose electric or water heated floors?

Advantages of water heated floors

The advantage of water heated floors is their efficiency, since they are connected to a common heating system and can significantly reduce energy costs for heating the room. Different types of fuel and energy can be used to heat water. If you live in a private house or cottage, when installing a water-heated floor you will have to take care in advance heating boilers, since the load on them increases significantly.

In an apartment building with central heating, installing a water-heated floor is quite problematic. If your apartment does not have individual heating, it will not be possible to install a water heated floor.

Disadvantages of water heated floors

The disadvantage of water heated floors is the reduced service life if the heated area is more than 60 square meters. The next disadvantage is its complexity and high cost of installation. When installing it, you will have to fork out for pumps, filters, and pipes. And yet, if one section or segment of the pipeline is damaged, it will not be possible to disconnect only part of the system, since the pipelines are connected in series. And if the boiler that heats the water stops working, then the water-heated floors will simply be useless.

Electric option is the most popular way of arranging heated floors. The cable heating system has increased reliability, and the high resistance value allows the cable to heat up even at low current, giving off heat to the floor covering.

Advantages of electric heated floors

An electric heated floor is easy to install; it can be laid in a concrete screed, and the screed can be decorated with a special parquet board or ceramic tiles. The heating temperature can be set using a thermostat, which is easy to control. You can adjust the temperature in each room individually. Electric heated floors do not require after-sales service, and they are quite durable. With proper operation, the service life can be 50 years.

Disadvantages of electric heated floors

But, despite all the advantages, it is worth saying a few words about the disadvantages of electric heated floors. They require significant energy expenditure when heating large areas, which means heating a spacious house or apartment can cost a pretty penny. In this situation, it is more profitable to use water heated floors. An electromagnetic field is also formed, but due to the shielding braids it is insignificant.

Both aquatic and aquatic animals have their pros and cons. electric floors. The main thing when choosing is to take into account many factors: your budget, the size of the room and even the location of the furniture in the room. Taking into account all the nuances, you can choose what you need.

Repairing an apartment without the proper skills is quite a difficult task, and yet, quite often, out of all types of repair operations, homeowners undertake wallpapering the walls. Read the instructions on how to hang wallpaper yourself...

“I reasonably believe that batteries are a thing of the past in private housing construction. Why are they needed if you can make a warm floor and enjoy life,” says a FORUMHOUSE member with the nickname Maikl8. Indeed, different types of heated floors in country houses are being used more and more often. Why are they good, what kind of strengths and what to expect from them, we will consider in this article.

• Water heated floor: pros and cons of the system
• Warm electric floor: types of cable electric floor, their disadvantages and advantages
• Infrared heated floor: film and rod
• How to choose a heated floor

Water heated floor

Water heated floors are the most common system for heating an individual home. Its important component is pipes made of polypropylene or metal-plastic. The system also includes a circulation pump, a manifold-mixer, and three-way valves (according to the number of water circuits).

Here's how this system works: the heated liquid moves along the heating circuit and transfers its heat to the screed. The cooled water goes back, flows into the boiler, heats up again - the cycle repeats. Limiters built into the system prevent the floor from heating above the set temperature.

Pros and cons of a water heated floor system in a private house

Flaws	Advantages
Difficult installation. If in a concrete screed, you need to wait at least a month before it completely dry. Need a boiler room.	Compatible with different types of floor coverings.
The initial costs will be several times (3-5) more expensive than an electric floor.	Very effective system. The temperature of the circulating fluid is 35-50 degrees, this greatly reduces heating costs.
When this is the only way to heat a house, complex calculations are needed.	May be the only SO at home.
In case of leakage, complete dismantling of the covering and removal of the screed will be required.	Does not generate an electromagnetic field.
A wide variety of floor coverings are compatible with hydronic heated floors, and you can lay a carpet on it.	Does not dry out the air in the room.

Water floors are divided according to the type of installation: usually the pipes are poured into a screed, but there are also flooring systems, wooden or polystyrene.

sly2k FORUMHOUSE Member

A 50 mm board is placed on top of the logs, recesses for laying tubes are milled into it, then foil is laid into the recesses (as waterproofing and for better heat distribution), and metal-plastic pipes are laid. All this is covered with boards (20 mm pine), we cover the boards polyurethane varnish on both sides.

Each type of water heated floor is good in certain conditions.

Lightweight and quickly warming up flooring system is considered ideal solution for panel houses.

The concrete system is chosen for capital, powerful buildings. It, as already mentioned, is more expensive, but it is an indispensable element of an energy-efficient home.

Installing a hot water system is an extremely important task: a leak will mean repairing the subfloor, covering and finishing.

Electric heated floor

Electric heated floors are divided into:

• Cable. The heating element in them is a resistive heating cable with a conductive core protected by a sheath.
• Heating mats – cable on a mesh backing.
• Infrared film floors – film with carbon stripes.
• Infrared rods. The heating element is a carbon rod.

Cable floor

Electric cable flooring is usually installed in city apartments and country houses, as part of combined system heating. It is good where minimal screed or tiles with glue are planned (that’s why it is so often installed in the kitchen or bathrooms).

This heated floor in the house is not suitable for main heating, but it is good, for example, for heating in the off-season.

An electric floor may use resistive or self-regulating cable. Resistive can be single-core or two-core (the method of laying a heated floor depends on this; two-core is much more convenient), self-regulating - only two-core.

Variety	Advantages	Flaws
Single-core resistive cable. The unheated end is connected to the temperature regulator, the main cable is placed in a “snake” under the floor, the second unheated end is pulled into the initial connection and also connected to the thermostat.	The maximum heating temperature is several times higher than that of a two-wire one. Consumes little electricity. It's inexpensive.	A resistive cable has uniform heat transfer in all areas, overheating is possible flooring under furniture and system failure. It is better that there is no heating cable under large furniture - this will have to be taken into account during the design.
Two-core resistive cable. It is enough to connect it to the thermostat at one end. This is convenient for large areas and complex house layouts.	Easy to install, you can lay a highly complex heating channel. The voltage that passes through the wire does not affect the electromagnetic pulses.
Self-regulating cable (two conductive cores are in contact with a matrix made of a special polymer material).	Depending on the temperature in the room, it independently changes the heating power. Well protected from mechanical impact. It cannot overheat due to the design features. It lasts a long time and almost never needs repairs. Compatible with any surface and under any furniture. You can make contours of different sizes (and less than 1 sq.m). Easy installation warm floor.	Expensive. Special ballasts are required. Provides a comfortable temperature only on the floor surface and is not able to quickly warm up the room.

When installing a resistive cable floor, it is important:

• calculate cable length
• pay attention to the material (brass, nichrome or copper). They have different properties and electrical resistance indicators
• strictly observe the permissible distance between heating elements specified by the manufacturer (usually no more than 12 cm)
• perform the calculations correctly - it is impossible to remove or add part of the wire at the installation stage

When making calculations, they are usually guided by the following data (on square meter premises):

• Bedroom – 100-150 W/sq.m;
• Kitchen, hallway, corridor - 150 W/sq.m;
• Bathroom - 150 W/sq.m
• Balcony -200 W/sq.m

Warm floors under tiles: heating cable mats

Heating cable mats are the best heated floor for laying under tiles, because they can be laid directly into a layer (up to 1 cm) of tile adhesive. Thin cables can also cope with this task, but their range on sale is usually limited.

kjr11 Member FORUMHOUSE

Manufacturers prefer to glue thin cables onto mats and sell them at a higher price.

The mats are suitable for all finishing coatings. Compared to a simple cable floor, they are much faster and easier to install - the cable is already fixed to the polymer mesh, and you just need to roll it out on the floor. The mats use both single-core and double-core cables, and with the same power, single-core cables are about 15% cheaper. So the difference is only in price and the magnitude of the electromagnetic field - for single-core ones it is much stronger. If this factor is important, it is better to overpay and buy heating mats made from a two-core cable.

Another big plus is that if any part of this system breaks, the rest will work.

There is only one minus, but a big one - quite high cost.

Infrared carbon floors

Infrared floors consist of heating elements filled with a carbon mixture and fixed to a polypropylene base. When exposed to current, carbon emits heat waves with a length of 8–14 microns; the waves pass through the floor covering and warm up the objects in the room (the air only slightly). A room heated by an infrared carbon floor is always very comfortable - there is no dry air, which is why we suffer so much in winter.

Rava Member FORUMHOUSE

It heats up objects: tables, stairs, walls, that’s the whole point. You open the windows wide, ventilate, and when you close everything, it’s warm again. Because not only the air is warm, but everything around it.

Infrared floors are not afraid of frost: you can come to a cold country house in winter for the weekend after a week of hellish minuses, turn on the system and it will work normally, and a comfortable temperature will be established very quickly (the system enters operating mode in 5-7 minutes, but it also cools down such a floor immediately).

Film and rod floors have their own characteristics.

Film floor	Rod floor
Mounted without wet processes, dry flat surface under the finishing coat. Installation is quick, with the ability to dismantle the system and use it again.	Laying is carried out in a screed or a layer of tile adhesive (2 cm) with mandatory thermal insulation of the rough base. Foil materials are not allowed for the coating substrate.
It is not recommended under carpet, carpet tiles, linoleum on felt - these coatings reduce the heating efficiency several times. Parquet and massive board possible if working temperature systems no higher than 28 degrees.	Self-regulating system: if the floor temperature rises in the area under the furniture, the power consumption of the heating elements decreases. And vice versa.
It can be cut into pieces and placed arbitrarily - this allows you to heat only some local areas of the room: passages, places where children play, etc.	A core floor can be installed in any room; large furniture and equipment can be placed on top.
If any section breaks, the floor will work as before - you won’t even notice it.	Thanks to the scheme parallel connection the system will operate stably even if several heating elements fail.

Heating coatings of this type are used to heat stairs and porches in private homes, to prevent the formation of ice.

conclusions

Each type of heated floor is good for its own purposes. If the house is built on USHP, then a warm floor may be the only heating method, and a very effective one. To do this, choose a water heated floor, and if the house is not connected to gas, and there are problems with solid fuel– cable electric. Film flooring is chosen for heating some comfort zones, stairs, passages.

What do you think is better, heated floors or radiators?

Even in ancient times, a person, creating a living place for himself, tried to protect it as much as possible from enemies, predators and weather conditions, and to make it cozy and comfortable. This is still the case today: in countries where there are snowy and frosty winters, heating the home and work premises plays a very important role in terms of convenience and coziness.

Multi-storey buildings and private sector buildings, erected during the Soviet Union, were equipped. Such a system was easy to install and repair; at any time, the owners could increase the number of sections in the battery. Owners of private housing could regulate the heat by changing the parameters in the gas boiler. Residents of high-rise buildings depended on central heating, often froze in the cold or opened windows in more warm days suffocating in the apartments from the heat. Thermal comfort during construction was not in the foreground. Since winter in Russia is still a very cold season, modern construction methods offer the installation of underfloor heating. And the house is warmer, and the children can safely play on the floor without fear of a cold, and it’s pleasant to walk around warm coating like walking on summer sand.O warm floors they write and talk a lot. This is a whole system that allows you to heat your home, in which heat is distributed evenly throughout the room. The heat carrier is located in the floor. If it is water based, then these are pipes, if electrical, then it is cables. Water heated to forty-five degrees undergoes regular movement in the pipe; a cable connected to the network performs the same heating function. Electrical heat regulated by a thermostat, water - using sensors on the boiler.

If you haven’t settled on any option yet, let’s look at the positive and negative aspects of such coverage together.

Pros:

1. Save money on heating costs (up to thirty percent). The warmer the room, the less heat is spent heating it. If our feet are warm, we perceive even low temperatures as comfortable. Heat, according to the laws of physics, rises. That is, without heated floors, the warmest place in the apartment is under the ceiling. With heated floors, the temperature is even everywhere.
2. No special equipment is required for installation; faults can be easily fixed.
3. If installed correctly, such a floor can last up to fifty years.
4. The appearance of a heated floor does not differ from the usual one and does not attract attention like radiators.
5. Rising from the floor warm air creates an obstacle to the formation of drafts.
6. Ideal conditions for children's games. You can play wherever you want without the risk of catching a cold.

Minuses:

1. Pleasure is expensive. The cost and installation, of course, will pay off someday, but money is needed now.
2. It's not easy Maintenance, you will have to raise the floors a few centimeters, this is not always realistic. Now, if your construction has just begun, this is your option!
3. You will have to think about floor coverings, because, for example, laying a warm, dense carpet on such a floor will ruin all your efforts, and there will be no benefit from the floor.
4. Difficulties almost always arise with repairs. The floor heating system in the rooms is common; sometimes it is difficult to determine the place where the breakdown occurred. But if you spare no expense on installation and invite real professionals for this, and follow the operating rules, there shouldn’t be any problems.
5. All furniture should be raised above the floor to allow free circulation of heat unless it is made of natural materials, it is possible to isolate small but constant concentrations from it harmful substances when heated.
6. The flooring may warm up slowly (from three to five hours), first the concrete in which it is built will heat up, and then the covering and the air. But when the system is turned off, cooling occurs just as slowly.
7. If you stay in a room with warm floor heating for a long time, exacerbations of diseases are possible. lower limbs(for example, varicose veins - a vascular disease of the veins).
8. Installing water in city apartments has technical difficulties and requires special permits.

Advantages and disadvantages of infrared heated floors

Half a dozen years ago, film heated floors were a unique phenomenon; today, infrared film floors are used to create comfortable zones in residential buildings, apartments and offices. Popularity and demand have created competition and, accordingly, advertising and product reviews, which may be true or fictitious.

In an electric infrared film heated floor system, the main thing is the presence of a thin heating carbon film, which, when connected, begins to emit infrared rays and anions. The radiation comes from carbon paste applied in parallel, straight or curved strips.

On expensive films, the paste is applied in a uniform layer. To ensure that the heat transfers to the flooring and not the neighbor's ceiling, it is necessary to use a heat-reflecting underlay.

If you can still lay the materials yourself, we recommend inviting a qualified electrician to connect to the network. Most markets now offer Korean-made heating films. This film is of good quality and reasonable prices, which, unfortunately, depend on the value of the currency.

The market can offer products made in Ukraine, the Czech Republic, the USA, China and, naturally, Russia. Increased competition expands the choice, but at the same time, the company, while presenting the quality of its product, often speaks unflatteringly about competitors’ products. Film infrared floors are the floors of the future. Hydrocarbon fiber is much more thermally conductive than many analogues used in heating systems. The most popular installation method is under laminate. This material warms up in literally a matter of minutes and can be quickly dismantled if necessary. But, covered with a laminate, a film floor still cannot be the main heating system in the room, since the quickly heating material cools down just as quickly if the system is turned off.

By the way, the film mesh can be attached not only to the floor. It is perfectly installed on walls, ceilings, and curved surfaces. Users come up with a lot of things: they heat containers with honey, heat various equipment, the bottom of a home pond, build greenhouses, and much more.

Myths about infrared heated floors

Many sellers of cable floors tell buyers a horror story that film floors ionize the room with negative particles. Some radiation does indeed come from the film itself, but the laminate, tile or linoleum covering it on top does not allow it to pass further. You can even make a mobile system, when the heating film with a backing is laid under the carpet, and placing the wires and thermostat in a safe corner allows you to use it in cold period year, putting away for the summer.

Many consumers ask whether the seams on the tiles will crack if they are laid on a film floor. If the installation was done correctly, the tiles will stick exactly as they would if they were laid on a regular screed. When installed correctly, a fiberglass reinforcing mesh is used and must be nailed to the floor underneath. fixed from tiles special glue, the layer of which is at least one and a half centimeters.

The most common option today is considered to be a warm water floor, the use of which allows you to completely warm up the floor surface to the required temperature, without having visual heating devices. In addition, parquet, laminate or linoleum can be laid on top of such a system without any problems. You can read more about warm water floors here (http://www.a-comfort.ru/montazh-teplyh-polov.html)

Warm floor - effective solution among all the options that contribute to heating the room. This system has gained great popularity due to the fact that installation does not require much effort and time. A warm water floor is a structure, or rather a network of pipelines through which water flows, heating up to 35 degrees Celsius. This type of heating is often preferred by urban homeowners, since there is no need to use water from the central heating system. But such a system can also be installed in country houses in which a heating boiler and a special water pump are installed. The “warm floor” system can operate not only from a gas boiler, but also from heat pump.

Such heating has many advantages that make it possible to distinguish a water-heated floor from a radiator heating system.

The heat is distributed evenly throughout the room, making your stay in the room comfortable.

Very often, the feet freeze first from the cold, and with the help of installed water heated floors, this problem can be eliminated by providing warmth.

Cold air rises.

Saving energy consumption, which is very good when the room area is large.

If such a system is installed by specialists, the customer pays only for their work and the materials used. After this, you will not have to spend money on maintaining the heated floor.

IN winter period The system helps to heat the room, and in summer - cools it.

When installing a “warm” floor system, you can forget about heaters and radiator pipes.

But, no matter how good everything is, such a system also has a number of disadvantages that need to be considered in more detail:

The main disadvantage when installing a water floor is that if there is a need to obtain a relatively low heating temperature, you need to have mixing unit, working in conjunction with a water pump, which creates forced circulation water flowing through pipes.

In addition, often the use of a water heating system can lead to the fact that the total pressure in central heating at home will begin to decline.

It is important to know that after the water passes through the loop pipes, it enters another room in a cooled form, which leads to insufficient heating.

Today, it is possible to install a water heated floor only with permission from the responsible authorities, who must give their consent to use. Do not connect yourself this type heating without the necessary sanctions.

It is best to consult with specialists who install and maintain water heated floors before installing such a system.

But in general, it should be noted that such a heating system will become an indispensable assistant in the cold season. In addition to the fact that it is hidden from prying eyes, it consumes little electricity, and it also surpasses many heaters in quality.

expert.ru

The concept of a water heated floor refers to a pipeline diagram laid in a layer of concrete screed. Heated by a boiler or boiler, the coolant circulates through the pipes and heats the floor.

1. System Description
2. Consumer Opinions
3. conclusions

Peculiarities

In private houses and cottages, water-heated floors are increasingly being used, the opinions and reviews of buyers about which are ambiguous. To decide on the rationality of using such a design, you should understand some of its features:

• Warm floors are part of a water heating system, so they can be installed in country houses and cottages or new buildings if they have heat exchange risers or autonomous heating. In apartments of houses old building this type Underfloor heating is prohibited.
• The design is a “layer cake”, quite complex in execution. Installation requires certain experience and a high degree of qualification.
• When pipelines are damaged, a leak occurs, and the location of the breakdown is difficult to identify. To repair the area, it is necessary to dismantle the floor.
• Not all types of finishing coating are suitable for heated floors.

What are the reviews from users?

“The process of installing built-in underfloor heating is truly an amazing thing, I did it in my home. I hired contractors for installation - the floors turned out like something out of a fairy tale. General heating operates at minimum mode, the rooms are warm and cozy. The bathroom is absolutely classy, ​​there is no such dampness and the water dries quickly on the tiles. Even with the heating turned off, the cold floor does not cause any discomfort.”

Igor, Moscow.

“I installed heated floors throughout the entire area of ​​the apartment to use as the main option without radiators. I laid ceramic tiles on top in the hallway, bathrooms and kitchen, and laminate flooring in the rest of the rooms. The room thermostat regulates the operation of the boiler, while the system copes well with heating - an economical and convenient type of heating.”

Anatoly, Nizhny Novgorod.

“In the house, I heat the entire first floor only with a water-heated floor system - there are no radiators. Very warm even in very coldy. The main disadvantage is the price. Laying technology and materials are much more expensive more expensive than batteries, plus special thermostatic mixing pump groups. It’s better to hire specialists to carry out the work – this is also an additional cost.”

Konstantin, Volgograd.

“Heated floors have increased comfort compared to radiator heating - this is undeniable, but they also have a number of disadvantages. I have floors like this in my bathrooms, hallways and bathhouse. At temperatures below 25 °C, I heat the floor in the bathhouse to 30-35 °C - it’s hot for the feet. I visit the house periodically, so I lower it to 15 °C. The radiators can warm up the house to 22 °C in 4 hours, and heated floors in 8. In the summer I encountered the problem of a cold tiled floor.”

Alexander, St. Petersburg.

“I have a big house, I installed heated floors in all the rooms. They didn’t turn it on the first year, they started it up only the next year – the winter was harsh. The radiators were turned off, the temperature in the rooms remained 21-22 degrees - it was warm to walk on the floor even without slippers. The average monthly gas consumption turned out to be 1.7 times less than with radiator heating.”

Danil, Samara.

“I have been installing floors under parquet boards for quite some time. I would like to note that Maximum temperature on the surface of the parquet should be no more than 27 ° C, and you should definitely avoid laying a warm water floor under the furniture. With good ventilation of the room and insulation of external walls, the temperature in the room will be 24-25 degrees, taking into account heating of the floor to 27 ° C without additional sources heating."

Maxim, Moscow.

Let's sum it up

The main role in the effectiveness and feasibility of using a warm water floor is played by the finishing coating (linoleum, ceramic tiles, laminate, parquet or engineered boards). You should choose materials with medium or high thermal conductivity, otherwise all the heat will be “extinguished.” Ceramic tiles are considered the most heat-conducting option, but some reviews indicate excessive “coldness” outside the heating season.

According to reviews, a system of warm water floors under laminate can only be used if Special attention choice of finishing coating:

• load class 31-33, thickness 8-10 mm;
• the presence of special pictograms or inscriptions on the markings - “Underfloor heating” or “Warm Wasser”, “H 2 O”;
• safety class E0-E1.

The following are suitable for installation on a water floor system: Quick-Step Creo (Belgium), Tarkett Woodstock Premium (Russia), Pergo Living Expression (Sweden), Classen Futuro Harmony (Germany) and others.

Many consider floor heating as the main heating without the use of radiators, but for such a design to be effective, all necessary measures must be taken to thermally insulate the walls and roof of the building. Owners of private houses and cottages note the rationality of warm water floors for the first floor of a building with a basement. Warm water floors create increased comfortable conditions in the premises of a house and apartment due to the large heat transfer surface.

Related articles:

termogurus.ru

Electric heating

Advantages of electric floors

This system, as the name suggests, runs on electricity.
It uses cables made of special alloys as a heat conductor. The current passing through the wires heats the cables, and from them the surface of the floor and more are heated. The ability to organize several temperature zones is the main advantage of an electric heated floor. The first zone is directly above the floor surface (+24°), the second is 1.5-2 m from the floor (+22°) and the third is under the ceiling (+20°). This regime fully meets the needs of the human body.

Warming up the room and distributing temperature flows in the room with a traditional radiator and warm electric floor

Electric floors are designed for long-term operation. They are less susceptible to external mechanical influence, which distinguishes them favorably from water floors.

The electrical "warm floor" system has the following advantages:

1. It can be used indoors in conjunction with central heating.
2. Since the air is heated by thermal radiation, the air in the room does not become dry.
3. Does not require additional equipment As a result, costs are reduced.
4. Thanks to thermostats and temperature sensors, you can control temperature regime and set it as you wish.
5. Installation of film heated floors does not require major repairs to the base, and the installation mesh of heating mats can be cut if necessary.

An interesting fact is that, according to scientists, the use of infrared floors not only reduces energy costs, but also increases human immunity. Under the influence of infrared rays, microorganisms and cells vibrate. Due to this, vital processes are stimulated, and well-being improves. It's up to you to believe this statement or not.

Disadvantages of electric floors

Electric flooring is not suitable for large spaces because the efficiency of using electricity as heat is quite low.

How larger area premises, the greater the energy consumption for heating it. Water systems here look more economical. In addition, laying electrical elements (cable or film) under furniture is impossible due to the high risk of their failure due to overheating. However, the rod floor shown in the photo does not have these disadvantages.

Cables in heated floors warm up evenly, but this is their disadvantage: this can affect the arrangement of furniture and the choice of finishing floor covering. Thus, cable floors will work best with self-leveling floors, tiles and ceramic tiles, film floors will work best with laminate or linoleum.

Resistive heating cables cannot be cut. Therefore, before installation, you need to accurately calculate the length of the wire.

The negative aspects of using an electric floor include:

• Increased energy costs.
• When using an electrical system, electromagnetic radiation inevitably occurs, which can negatively affect the health of particularly sensitive people and the environment in the room.
• Installation without your own hands is quite expensive.
• Laying wires requires precise calculation of the pitch, so it will be difficult to do without some experience.
• The cable floor is laid in a screed. If you are renovating an old apartment, the cost of refurbishment of floors will increase.
• Infrared floors are expensive.
• Heating mats must not be placed under household appliances and large furniture.

Only by considering all the positive and negative qualities electrical system heated floors, you can decide which better view use: cable, matte or film.

Water heating

Pros of water floors

Water heated floors are a modernized design of water heating. Water enters the pipes from the autonomous heating system. A mandatory requirement is the presence of a pump, since without it the liquid will not be able to circulate through the system.

A significant advantage of a water floor is the low cost of the coolant. Water at low cost provides high quality heating of premises.

Water heated floors have the following advantages:

1. Can be installed under almost any floor covering, including natural parquet.
2. Reliability of system operation.
3. Electricity costs are significantly reduced.
4. Possibility of use as the main heating system, which allows you to abandon visible heating sources (batteries, convectors, etc.).
5. Installing a water floor is cheaper than installing an electric one.

Cons of water floors

Like any heating system, water floors are not without certain disadvantages:

• It cannot be installed in an apartment building without permission from the relevant authorities. The fact is that if such floors are connected to a central heating system, then temperature losses for the remaining apartments increase. It is prohibited to connect to a common heating system without permission from housing and communal services.
• They require the purchase of additional equipment (circulation pump, manifold, mixing unit, etc.).
• Damage to communications is possible, which will lead to leaks. Therefore, when purchasing pipes, you must first figure out what material they are made from and which one is better suited for the “warm floor” system.
• Complex installation that requires certain skills in laying pipes, pouring and leveling floors.
• Because the water floor is flooded cement-sand mortar, in the event of a breakdown, the entire screed will need to be dismantled.
• A competent calculation of the system power is required. In case of errors in the project, the consumer risks being left without heating.

polprofy.ru

A water heated floor is a room heating system from a boiler or from a boiler. The pipes are laid on the base and must be filled with concrete screed.

Advantages of water heated floors

The main advantage of this design is that the room is heated evenly and heat loss is significantly reduced, which means fuel is used economically. In addition, you don’t have to install radiators, which will give you the freedom to implement many design ideas.

Warm floors of this type are often installed in country houses or cottages, as well as in apartments with autonomous heating. If the house does not have an automatic boiler, it is better not to install water heated floors. IN ordinary apartments, such a floor cannot be made, since it is prohibited by law; in this case, electric heated floors are installed.

Disadvantages of water heated floors

The disadvantage of water heated floors is that leaking pipes can lead to the need to break the floor, although the service life of pipes that are used today is 50 years. In addition, you cannot lay any kind of floor covering on the floor; ceramic tiles are best suited, as they have high thermal conductivity. Parquet in this case will not be a suitable covering, since wood transfers heat very poorly.

Technology for laying water-based heated floors

Water heated floors are installed only inside a cement screed. To install it correctly you need professional knowledge, skills and experience. An important step work is to carry out all the necessary calculations. It is very difficult to do this yourself, since it takes into account the dimensions of the room, what the floors are made of, the presence or absence of insulation, what power the boiler is using, as well as the diameter of the pipes and the type of flooring.

Conclusion

If you decide to make a water heated floor, it is better to entrust this work to professionals, otherwise there is a risk that you will not get the desired result.

sof-trans.ru

Warm water floor - the main differences from other types of heating

The “warm floor” heating systems that exist today are divided into two subtypes: electric and water. Depending on the method of application, such systems can act as the main source of space heating or be auxiliary heating equipment. Electric heating elements are often used for local heating of technological rooms, balconies, loggias, bathrooms and toilets. On the contrary, a water heating circuit can be installed throughout the entire apartment or used in one of the rooms, for example, in a children's room.

This heating option is usually chosen in corner rooms, where there is a high probability of cold zones appearing. Thanks to its operating principle, this heating option is able to provide the most comfortable temperature conditions. Despite the fact that, in comparison with other heating methods, water heated floors have their pros and cons, in the general context this type of heating deserves more attention. In any case, there are always aspects and situations in everyday life that allow one to evaluate the advantages of the system, or, conversely, that indicate the technical imperfection of the chosen option.

For reference: a floor equipped with a water circuit allows the use of a wide variety of floor coverings, unlike electric mats.

For example: in order to maintain normal circulation in a home heating system using heated floor technology, you will need to install not only a pipeline, but also install additional equipment. A circulation pump, a manifold-mixer, a whole set of three-way valves (according to the number of water circuits), all of these are mandatory attributes and accessories in this case, regardless of the heated area. Availability special devices will avoid a drop in coolant pressure in the central heating circuit and prevent interruptions in circulation hot water household use.

It should also be remembered that such a system is prohibited for installation in an apartment building, which was originally designed for district heating. For private sector residents and owners country houses On the contrary, this option is preferable to traditional heating options.

You need to know that in order to implement this type of heating in your house or apartment, it will require considerable costs associated with a large amount of work and consumables. The drawings and diagrams show the temperature conditions inside the room, achieved as a result of using a thermal curtain and when operating the heated floor covering of the system.

It is clearly visible on the basis of what principle heating is carried out internal space. In the case of a water floor, the heat source is located in the lower part of the room. Due to this, thermal energy is evenly distributed over the entire floor area, transferring the necessary heat to the air masses circulating inside the living space. When using radiator heating, during which internal air exchange occurs due to convection, the floor is the coldest place in the living room.

Insufficient heating, especially in corner rooms and with a large glazed surface, is compensated by installing additional heating devices. A water floor is fully capable of solving this problem, uniformly heating the entire internal volume of the room. It is also important aesthetic side question. The absence of heating radiators has a positive effect on the quality of the interior of residential premises. A warm floor distributes heat evenly throughout the entire space, thereby heating all objects in the room.

For reference: the most acceptable indoor temperature for comfortable living is + 18 0 C. By heating the coolant in the water heating circuit to a temperature of +35-45 0 C, the optimal heating temperature of the floor covering is 25 0 C. Accordingly, the lowest floor layer of air heats up more, while the upper layers have a comfortable temperature.

Warm floor design. Scope of application

The main advantage that you should pay attention to when studying a heated floor heating system is cost-effectiveness and high efficiency. Large interior spaces, especially in private houses, designed for autonomous heating, can be successfully heated in this way. Even the installation and arrangement of heated floors in all residential premises of a large multi-room residential building will be a completely profitable enterprise. For that category of citizens who have water gas heating or expect to use solid fuel units, a water floor is practically perfect option solving the issue of organizing heating.

Comparing this heating scheme with electric floors is inappropriate in this case. The latter option, even taking into account the comparative ease of installation and ease of operation, is clearly inferior to a water floor in terms of economic indicators. The electric floor can be installed in in certain places, where there is a need to heat small areas.

Before summing up the advantages and disadvantages of a water heated floor, let’s try to understand its design and technological features.

The basic principle of operation in this case is as follows:

• heat source - coolant liquid, boiler water, which can flow into a pipeline laid in the floor;
• heated water can come either from the riser of the central heating supply line or from an autonomous heating device.

Thanks to design features and new technologies, today there are several ways to equip heated floors. As an ideal floor covering, it is best to use ceramic, concrete or combined materials (tiles, decorative rock, concrete screed). The advantages and disadvantages in this situation are subjective. Ceramic tile or concrete screed have high thermal conductivity, and accordingly, when heated by the heated coolant, they transfer heat better into the room. Conversely, laminate, parquet, and linoleum are convenient and comfortable floor coverings that play the role of additional insulation, reducing the intensity of heat transfer in internal spaces.

The efficiency of a warm water floor directly depends on the quality of the layer cake, i.e. on the composition of the underfloor heating substrate. The substrate usually includes:

• Waterproofing;
• Metal mounting mesh;
• Thermal insulation;
• Damper tape;
• Dry or wet screed.

On a note: As a rule, the traditional thickness of a layer cake varies in the range of 50-150 mm. The final parameters of the cake are determined depending on the diameter of the pipes for the water circuit, the thickness of the floors, the quality of the floor covering and the power of the underfloor heating system.

The main operating tool in this case is a pipeline made of metal-plastic pipes. Pipes connected into separate fragments or sections (circuits) are laid on a cushion, after which they are connected to collectors through which coolant is supplied to the heating circuit and returned.

The design of the heating system also contains the operating principle. The distance between the screed and the floor covering is where the warm water circuit is laid, through which the entire surface of the floor is heated to the required temperature. Due to insignificant heating (the optimal heating temperature of the coolant is 35-45 0 C), the “warm floor” heating system is low-temperature.

Obvious advantages of heated floors

If you do not take into account installation difficulties, heated floors are rightfully considered one of the most efficient systems heating The low-temperature operating mode of heated floors can provide real and significant savings in heating costs. On average, 20-40% compared to the radiator heating option. The absence of overheating of the air mass indoors ensures good saturation of the internal space with positive ions.

To others obvious advantages The following qualities can be safely attributed:

• high environmental safety of the system, full compliance with sanitary and hygienic standards for heating residential premises;
• the main part of thermal energy is transferred as a result of thermal radiation, which has a positive effect on the human body;
• real heat savings in residential buildings with high ceilings(up to 50% for ceiling heights of more than 3 meters);
• the absence of open wiring and radiators greatly simplifies interior decoration residential premises;
• real subsequent savings in heating costs compared to electric heating(on average 5-7 times);
• Unlike electric heated floors, a water floor does not produce a powerful electromagnetic field that negatively affects the well-being of the inhabitants of the home.

Obvious disadvantages of this heating system

The main drawback that can overshadow you if you decide to install heated floors in your home is rather the presence of administrative prohibitions on the use of such a heating system. You can get around the bans if you focus on small area heating and you have the first floor. Otherwise, the situation is fraught with further administrative fines and restoration of dismantled equipment.

The second argument that can be attributed to the disadvantages of this heating system is the lengthy and painstaking installation of the equipment. The disadvantage of a water floor during installation is the involuntary weighting design features building. Due to the layer cake used for the substrate, the weight of the floor can increase by 10-15%, which is extremely dangerous for old multi-storey residential buildings.

Following installation and installation technology, homeowners will have to face quite large financial costs. Unlike electric floors, water heated floors are labor-intensive in the process of maintenance and repair. In terms of safety, a water floor is inferior to other home heating options.

Conclusion

There are many advantages to this heating system, but there are also some disadvantages when it comes to heated floors. However, the situation looks like this. In any case, if you decide to install warm water floors in your house or apartment, the advantages that you will receive in the future will clearly outweigh the disadvantages. High efficiency, cost-effectiveness and practicality are the main advantages of this heating system.

znatoktepla.ru

Peculiarities

Water heated floor systems are a fairly new solution in the field of built-in heating systems. The peculiarity is that the coolant in this case is heated water circulating through pipes laid in the floor, which transfers heat radiated through the decorative flooring into the room.

At the same time, the efficiency of water heated floors is high; this type of heating seems to be extremely economical, allowing one to reduce the cost of heating a home to a comfortable temperature by 20-30, or even 50%. It's all about the temperature of the circulating fluid, which, as a rule, does not exceed 50⁰C, and often 40⁰C is enough.

Why? It's simple. The floor in a room, in the case of a heated floor, is a continuous convective surface that radiates heat. At the same time, the floor covering remains pleasant and comfortable, without posing a risk of burns, and the air in the room is heated evenly over the entire area.

Unlike traditional heating radiators, a heated floor immediately warms up the air to comfortable temperatures below (22-24⁰С), while at head level the temperature is already somewhat lower (18-20⁰С), and an overheating zone does not form under the ceiling, and no empty heat loss occurs. This property is one of the advantages of water heated floors, as it provides optimal “healthy” heating that promotes comfort and health.

Like any type of heating, water heated floors, of course, have their own advantages and disadvantages. And this must be taken into account when deciding whether to install this type of heating system.

The undoubted advantages of water heated floors include the following:

1. Economical– compared to radiator heating from 20-30% to 60%. When heating water to low (30-50⁰C) temperatures using gas in autonomous systems, especially with large heated areas, a water floor is even superior to an electric floor in terms of operating costs (up to 5-7 times more economical).
2. Safety, because the pipes with the coolant, firstly, have a low temperature, and secondly, they are completely hidden. This eliminates the risk of injury and burns.
3. Comfort, ensured by uniform heating of the air and pleasant tactile sensations when walking on the floor barefoot.
4. Aesthetics, because the built-in system solves the problem of hiding or camouflaging unaesthetic radiators and opens up wide horizons for the implementation of design ideas for remodeling and interior arrangement.
5. Smooth and soft heating, safety for capricious floor coverings due to gradual heating and low temperatures, absence of thermal shock (in the case of installing a thermostat and the ability to control the temperature of the coolant).
6. No generation of harmful electromagnetic field and oversaturation of air with positive ions.
7. Water heated floor does not dry out the air in the room.

While listing the advantages of water heated floors, it is worth analyzing its disadvantages:

1. Labor intensity of installation– to lay a water floor you will have to start major renovation with leveling and thorough preparation of the subfloor surface. The system consists of several layers various materials, including waterproofing, cement-concrete screed and decorative flooring.
2. Significant initial costs for installing a hydronic floor option- approximately 5 times higher than electric or traditional radiator. However, with active use, water heated floors demonstrate high efficiency and pay for themselves.
3. It is impossible to install heated floors, for example, on stairs and in small corridors. In such areas, additional installation of radiators is required.
4. The likelihood of a leak and the difficulty of eliminating it– to find damage and repair the pipeline, you will need to completely dismantle the floor covering and remove the screed.

Due to the risk of leakage and, accordingly, flooding of neighbors below, water-heated floors are not recommended for installation in multi-storey buildings. Also, when connecting water-heated floor circuits to the central heating system, there is a high risk of pressure drop in the system throughout the house and a sharp decrease in heating efficiency.

Is it enough to analyze the information on the query “water heated floor advantages and disadvantages” to make a final decision, especially if people with poor health live in the home? On the one hand, if the difficulties do not frighten you, but the advantages captivate you, it is worthwhile to critically evaluate them again.

The point is that she main feature and the advantage of this type of heating, namely, a constant elevated floor temperature, which allows you to “keep your feet warm” all the time, can also have a downside.

Namely, to provide negative impact on the vascular system of the legs, because blood constantly flows to the “warm” legs, putting a constant load on the veins and expanding them.

Therefore, it is recommended to install a water or electric floor in rooms with periodic and short-term presence of people there, or to limit the time they walk on the floor or stay on it.

To the question of whether heated water floors are harmful to the general physical condition and well-being, it is also impossible to answer unequivocally. The air in the room is not overdried, there is no improper mixing of layers, but in the case of heated floors it is difficult natural ventilation. In order to avoid air staleness, it is necessary to ventilate the room more often and take care of forced ventilation.

Conclusion

Water heated floor - an effective alternative radiator heating And a good option for first floors, private houses. However, making a decision about installation requires a scrupulous analysis of the pros and cons.

When choosing adjustable artificial floor heating systems, you must have minimal knowledge in this area in order to make a choice in favor of a particular product, and in the case negative assessment and refuse the purchase altogether. In this article we will look at the general positive and negative sides such systems.

Warm floors, the pros and cons of which will be carefully studied, can be selected according to the parameters of the building and selected in accordance with individual requirements owner. A correctly selected heating system will not only be cost-effective, but also comfortable to use.

Types of underfloor heating systems

Before you study the pros and cons of heated floors, you need to familiarize yourself with the varieties similar systems. They can be divided into two main groups, which differ in the type of coolant.

• water heated floor;
• electric heated floor.

In turn, each type has several subspecies, which differ in types of construction and methods of heat transfer. This is how convection and infrared electric floors are distinguished.

IR panels give off heat while remaining cool

Infrared heats the floor through a directed flow. The system itself remains cold without heating up. In convection floors, internal heating occurs in the coolant, after which the heat is transferred to the floors.

The same principle applies to artificial water heating. In it, energy is transferred from the coolant to the circuit, and from it directly to the screed in which they are installed.

Diagram of types of electric heated floors.

As shown above, the design of convection and infrared adjustable heated floors can be made in the form of electric mats, cables, film floors and rods. For water heating systems are used flexible pipelines small diameter.

In a private house in the countryside, a water-heated floor can be connected to common system heating. In an apartment building, such actions must be coordinated with the housing management company.

Advantages of underfloor heating systems

The floor temperature can be easily adjusted to suit your taste

The advantages of heated floors include the following factors.

These are just some of the advantages of heated floors. In addition to the general advantages for all systems, each manufacturer has introduced additional features into their products to improve their quality level.

Disadvantages of underfloor heating systems

Connecting to the heating system of an apartment building will significantly reduce the pressure in the system

Warm floors, the pros and cons of which have been and will be considered, have disadvantages not only in the water version, although it is these systems that largely form this list.

1. When using water systems for artificial floor heating in an apartment building, a connection is often made to a common heating system. At large quantities Such inserts in the house may result in a decrease in the overall pressure in the central heating.
2. When installing a water heated floor, it is carried out with pumping and filtering equipment, which requires a certain space in the room, as well as the costs of its acquisition and installation.
3. In rooms with low level cold resistance of external enclosing structures, an artificial floor heating system cannot be the only source of heating. The rooms must be heated with radiators.
4. Installation of artificial floor heating is quite a labor-intensive task. It will require preliminary calculations, drawing up a plan diagram for the installation of a pipeline system and equipment, preparatory, installation and finishing work.

In the list of common negative points of these systems, the disadvantages of water heated floors were highlighted additionally.

This does not mean that these floors are much inferior to electric ones. The only point is that it is advisable to study electric and water floors in parallel, highlighting the advantages and disadvantages in comparison with each other. For information on when you should not install a water-heated floor, watch this video:

Comparison of electric and water heated floors

Many people are concerned about electromagnetic radiation emanating from devices and cables

Despite the fact that the advantages of heated floors were common to both types, and water systems had more disadvantages, the latter also have their advantages over electric ones.

For example, water heated floors do not emit electromagnetic waves, which can sometimes have a negative impact on certain types of people.

We can say that all people live in the modern world, which is everywhere saturated with radiation and various waves from devices and equipment, but one way or another, the absence of such waves from water floors gives them a certain advantage over electric ones.

Also, when operating artificial water floor heating, you will not need to spend a lot on electricity. Operating from hot water boilers, water heaters and heating systems, water-heated floors remain low-cost in terms of energy costs.

But electric artificial floor heating remains the leader in comparison with water heating in terms of installation speed and cost. The device of electric artificial heating will not in all cases require wet screed over it. For example, before laying the laminate, you can lay infrared film floors underneath it, which will be separated from the final floor covering by a special underlay, and from the subfloor by a foil heat insulator.

The pros and cons of a water heated floor in comparison with an electric one can be assessed in terms of design, maintenance, ease of use and other parameters.

Entrust the selection of components to specialists and then your heated floors will serve you for decades

Also important criteria selection are the type of room and the type of energy used to produce heat.

Installation of modern equipment during the construction and renovation of houses and apartments increases the comfort of living and also makes real estate more expensive.

Service life of heated floors various brands is decades, which allows you to make a one-time investment for many years.

It is better to entrust the selection and calculation to specialists so that the power and heat transfer are optimal. Optimal operation of controlled underfloor heating systems is then possible at minimal cost.