For most modern people the presence of a heated floor in the room is a necessary condition guaranteeing a comfortable stay in the room. Most widespread on this moment received warm water and electric floors. Their use allows for even heating floor surface before desired temperature combined with the visual absence of heating appliances. In addition, laminate or parquet can be safely laid on top of these systems.

Principle of operation heated floors

Cable electric version heats the floor surface by converting electrical energy into thermal energy. This happens as follows: a special high-resistance alloy, which is the basis of the heating core, is capable of heating up strongly in a short period of time under the influence of electrical voltage, passing through it.

It is based thermal energy, obtained from hot water central heating, which, thanks to a special pump, is supplied to pipes laid under the floor surface.

Selecting a heating system

The choice of a heated floor of one type or another depends on the conditions of its further operation. Electrical types have proven themselves well in small rooms city ​​apartments and country houses with central heating.

If you intend to heat the floor of a large area in a suburban building in which there is no central heating, then it is most advisable to give preference to water heating, because in this case, its purchase and installation will cost less than the purchase and installation of an electrical system.

Disadvantages of a water heating system

• The disadvantage of water floors is that if it is necessary to obtain a relatively low heating temperature, it is necessary to provide mixing unit, which works exclusively in tandem with a water pump that creates forced circulation hot water through pipes.
• In addition, quite often the use of water heating systems leads to a decrease in the overall pressure in central heating Houses.
• You should also know that water, after passing through the pipe circuits, the following premises arrives sufficiently cooled, resulting in insufficient heating.

Today, the installation of floors of this type is permissible only with the consent of the responsible authorities. Unauthorized heating connection is prohibited.

Disadvantages of heated electric floors

Choosing a heated floor is also not complete without a clear understanding of all the pros and cons of the system. The disadvantages of warm electric floors include:

• costs associated with paying for used electricity. The average consumption of 1 m 2 of such a floor ranges from 110 to 150 W, but the more precise value depends on many factors in the operation of these systems. This indicator is taken into account with a reserve, because modern temperature regulators are able to save up to 40% of energy consumption, so actual consumption figures can range from 70 to 100 W.
• The second negative factor is the presence of electromagnetic radiation, which invariably occurs during operation.

One should take into account the fact that a single-core electric floor emits more radiation than a two-core electric floor. However, in any case, the radiation is significantly lower than the established permissible norm, which completely eliminates the possibility of a negative effect on the human body.

When choosing a heated floor system, price is not of paramount importance. The main thing is a full-fledged coverage service with minimal maintenance costs.

By nature, people are thermophilic, so every owner tries to insulate his home as much as possible.. Some use a heater, some insulate the facade, and some install heated floors. If all these methods of accumulating heat indoors are used together, then you definitely won’t have to worry about the house being cold in winter. The harm from an electric heater is obvious - it dries out the air in the room, but is underfloor heating harmful to health? This needs to be sorted out.

Advantages of heated floors

Before we begin to understand why heated floors are so dangerous for humans, we cannot fail to mention its advantages. Among them:

• environmental friendliness. This type of heating proved to be an order of magnitude better than electric heater. The temperature of the carrier is at such a level that the operation of the system does not affect the environment in any way;
• efficiency. This is almost the most economical system heating today;
• quick heating of the room. The convector will first heat up and then dry out the air in the room, while the warm floor will begin to maintain a comfortable temperature in the room from the first minutes;
• heating elements are hidden from view. This allows you to implement any design idea, because there is no need to install any bulky boilers and pipes;
• durability and structural strength. Using quality materials and compliance with installation technology, the need for preventive repairs will not arise for many years;
• versatility. This heating system can be used in both residential and office premises..

Reading the above information, it is easy to understand why heated floors are in such demand among consumers. And yet, what is it Negative influence on human health?

Fiction or real harm

The harms and benefits of heated floors are something you should understand before installing them in your home. Which accusations against this heating system are fiction, and which are actually true?

The following negative characteristics are attributed to this heating system:

1. Release of toxic substances when heated flooring. This assumption can be immediately refuted. Even if you lay linoleum or PVC tiles on the floor, no toxic substances will be released into the air. To cause harm to a person from fumes from the surface of low-quality materials, you need to get the floor quite hot. Does anyone really walk around their home as if walking on hot coals? The coolant temperature is 45C, and the floor is usually heated to 28C, which is quite safe.
2. Harmfulness of electromagnetic radiation. Warm floors are made not only from pipes that cut into the heating system. The design of this heating system comes in several other types: heating mats, infrared thermal film, electrical cables. All of these options involve connecting to an electrical outlet, and like any Appliances, which runs on electricity, such warm floors emit electromagnetic waves. However, no matter what cable is used for the floor structure, single-core or double-core, the radiation intensity will be negligible. However, doctors do not recommend increasing the level of electromagnetic radiation in your home. Many consumers are thinking about the dangers of infrared heated floors. In fact, this radiation is safe for humans.
3. Furniture cannot be placed on heated floors. But this is just the opposite. If you do not provide for the installation of heating elements in areas with furniture, then what to do when you want to update the room and rearrange it? It turns out that sofas and wardrobes will move to heated areas of the room, and you will have to walk on the cold floor. It's not rational. If you look at this issue from the point of view that the temperature of the coating can affect the durability of pieces of furniture, then you definitely shouldn’t be afraid of this. The floor is not hot, and under the influence of 28C nothing will happen to the furniture.
4. Walk on warm floor harmful. Why should this fear be true if on the hottest days of summer everyone happily walks without shoes on the hot sand? And children love to take off their shoes and run barefoot on the warm ground, because adults themselves say that this is useful.
5. Warm floors dry out the air in the room. Of course, if you place the heating elements too close to each other, the room will be too hot, and this risks drying out the mucous membranes of the eyes and nose. There is nothing left to do but ensure the room is humidified by regularly using a humidifier. However, if the floor design is thought out correctly, it will not reduce the level of humidity in the apartment.
6. Due to the heated floor, the room is very dusty. The idea of ​​this heating system is not to dilute cold air warm, but radiate heat, i.e. it does not raise air masses from the floor covering. If a person is allergic to house dust, then there is nothing left to do but clean more often, and it doesn’t matter whether the house has a warm floor. Breathing dust is harmful, however, the wind raises whole clouds of dust on the street and few people think about its dangers.

The above accusations against heated floors are mostly untrue. Of course, some of these problems will pop up, but they are always the result of improper placement of the heating elements.

What is the negative impact of heated floors on human health?

Now we should talk about more significant problems that may arise when using heated floors:

1. Uncomfortable temperature conditions for sleep. There really is such a problem, since at the height at which it is located sleeping area, the air temperature reaches 23C. It is too hot and not everyone can sleep peacefully under such conditions. Somnologists say that the most comfortable temperature for sleep it’s 18-20C, so the heating will have to be turned off at night, and this is not economically viable. However, there is a way out: you need to install a thermostat and connect it to the heating system. With its help, you can easily regulate the temperature and set the most comfortable sleep mode. In addition, in bedrooms it is better to place heating elements with big step.
2. Warm floors are harmful to the health of people with vascular diseases. This is true, because a person who suffers from varicose veins or swelling lower limbs, it is harmful to keep your feet warm. In this case, again, you will need a thermostat that will allow you to select the most suitable mode.
3. Housewives suffer the most from such a heating system. This opinion came because women, standing at a hot stove on warm covering, risk developing gynecological diseases and varicose veins. To avoid this outcome, it is recommended to cover the floor with parquet boards rather than artificial material and install an adjustable system whenever possible.

What you should pay attention to when installing heated floors:

• compliance technological process when installing a heating system;
• arrangement of heating elements with large pitches in bedrooms;
• provide the ability to set different temperature conditions;
• choose quality natural coating, for example, special parquet board which will not dry out and will be safe for health.

There is no need to talk about any incredible harm of heated floors for human health. This modern system heating, which allows you to heat the room well and at the same time save money.

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.

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:

• The heated floor is part of the water heating system, so it can be installed in country houses and cottages or new buildings with 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 finishing coating 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. In the hallway, bathrooms and kitchen there was a bed on top ceramic tiles, and in the remaining rooms - laminate. 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 indisputable, 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 and insulation external walls the temperature in the room will be 24-25 degrees, taking into account floor heating to 27 °C without additional heating sources.”

Maxim, Moscow.

+Add review

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 apartment building such actions must be agreed upon 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

Connection to the heating system 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 artificial floor heating systems in an apartment building, a connection is often made to the 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. He will demand preliminary calculations, drawing up a plan diagram for the installation of a pipeline system and equipment, preparatory, installation and finishing works.

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 negative impact for certain types of people.

We can say that all people live in modern world, which is everywhere saturated with radiation and various waves from instruments 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 modern equipment during the construction and renovation of houses and apartments, it 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. Then at minimum costs Optimal operation of controlled underfloor heating systems is possible.

At the moment, installing heated floors in an apartment is no longer a rarity and a curiosity. Modern renovation considers heated floors as the main or additional source heating. But the choice of heated floors is so wide that the buyer gets lost in the variety. We will look at which underfloor heating system to choose and how they differ in this article.

Installation of heated floors

The system of heated floors has been known since ancient times. Of course, the device of those years is much more primitive than its modern analogues. For example, the castles of the Chinese rulers were covered with double bottom floors. The lower level was a brazier heated by coals, thanks to which the upper level was always warm and comfortable. IN Ancient Rome people have created a whole floor heating system called hypocaust. The peculiarity of the hypocaust system was special cavities laid in the walls and floor of the house. A stove was heated in the basement of the room; the hot air, rising to the top, passed through a system of cavities and warmed up the entire house. As the name implies, heated floors are a heating system for heating a room from below, directly from the floor surface. Depending on the coolant, there are several types of heated floors, but they are all similar in operating principle. The installation of heated floors consists of a heating element placed on a heat-saving material, a layer of concrete screed (some types of heaters do not require a screed), and the final floor covering.

Pros and cons of heated floors

Having a heated floor in the house is a plus in itself. But let's take a closer look at the advantages of a heated floor system.

• Even heat distribution. Let's turn to the laws of physics. Warm air lighter than cold, so the radiator heating system efficiently warms the middle layers of the room and the ceiling. The air cools down and falls down. A cold current forms on the floor. The wall away from the wall with the radiator receives minimal heat. Warm floors warm the room from below and throughout the entire area.
• Comfortable human well-being. Have you ever noticed that when you are dressed warmly, but have cold feet, your whole body freezes? This is how the body works; when the feet are warmed, the whole body feels comfortable.
• Heating system compatible. The ability to regulate heating from the radiator and floor without drying out the air.
• Safety. Heating elements hidden in most technologies for laying heated floors under a concrete screed, they are inaccessible to burns and are fireproof.
• Suitable for families with children. The presence of children who spend most of their time on the floor is a direct indication for installing heated floors.

Heated floors have disadvantages, but they are few.

• Difficult to install. It is possible to install a heated floor only during renovation with a complete re-covering.
• It cannot be the only source of heat in rooms with low resistance of walls to cold. Installation of heating radiators is required.
• When installing a water heated floor, you will need space for pumping and filtering equipment. It is possible to reduce the pressure in the water pipes if many apartments in the house are connected water system floor heating.

Types of heated floors

The main division into types of heated floors is made according to the type of coolant.

• . The system is powered by electricity, and this is a plus and minus of flooring at the same time. The advantage is that heating is independent from housing and communal services. The downside is the cost of electricity; bills for such a heating element will increase several times.
• . This type of system is less expensive to maintain, but installation will take more time and money. Another advantage of water floor heating is the absence of even minimal doses of radiation.

In turn, it is customary to divide electric heated floors into 3 types.

• Film heated floor. Infrared heated floors heat objects in the room, not the air. Installation under any coating is allowed, except ceramic tiles.
• Cable heated floor. The heating cable is laid under concrete screed. Universal in use.
• Thermal mats. Thin cable heated floor on a mesh. Thermal mats are convenient for installation under ceramic tiles, since the coating is uniform and not wide.

In the following articles, I will talk in more detail about each type to help you decide on the choice of heated floors for your apartment or house.