Electric floor under the tile is better? Warm floor electric with own hands

Among modern heating systems, one of the main places is occupied by a water or electric warm floor under the tile. Which is better to choose from them - the question is not idle. On this depends the comfort in the house and the saving of energy. Water heating is prohibited in multi-storey buildings. Therefore, heating the house with warm floors is done mainly with the help of electricity. The heating is controlled by a thermostat installed on the wall.

Advantage of the method is uniform heating of the room. At the same time, a decrease in the average room temperature by 2-3 ° C will not cause discomfort. Saving electricity here is 10-15%. Especially requires a warm floor for tiles or ceramic tiles, cold for the feet.

Types of heaters

Heat creates the following heating elements, embedded in the floor:

• Cables;
• Mats;
• infrared film.

The modern market offers different options. It remains to choose the electric warm floor under the tile. Which is better? Let's try to understand.

Cables

The cables are resistive and self-regulating. All of them are mounted in a cement-sand screed with reinforcement, which occupies 3-5 cm of the additional height of the room. In addition, the top is laid tiles, taking up to 2 cm.

Resistive cable

When heated electric floors are installed, prices are the lowest for a resistive heating cable, which is single- and double-core. When an electric current passes through it, heat is released. The cable has a constant power. It can be stacked arbitrarily in rooms with a complex floor shape.

Self-regulating cable

This type of cable is different in principle. It consists of two conductors arranged in parallel. Between them is placed a semiconductor polymer. Through it passes a current in the transverse direction. In different areas, the heat dissipation in the cable can be different, depending on the temperature in the room. Therefore, there will not be overheating in certain places, if there will be furniture or household appliances. It is important that too much load does not damage the cable.

Mats

What kind of warm floor under the tile to install, the homeowner decides, but it is best to use heating mats made of ultra-thin cable glued to the grid. They are made in the form of rolls of different widths, with a power of 130-150 watts. The mats are easily connected to each other by terminals. Assembly is reliable, if the joints are additionally glued with adhesive tape or smeared with a special sealant. Connections with the cable going to the thermostat, protrude a little, but they can be embedded in the depressions of the floor or wall. High strength and durability of cable insulation do not require mandatory installation in a sand-cement screed. Mats can be placed in a layer of tile adhesive without waterproofing. The thickness of the warm floor will be negligible.

Film Infrared Floor

The heater consists of flat carbon conductors, laminated to a roll of special electrotechnical film. This option was originally designed for laying under floor coverings without screed or glue. Not every film floor can withstand the alkaline environment of mortars. Under the tile it can be used, but additional waterproofing of polyethylene is required.

Selecting the power of the heaters

When it is planned to make an electric warm floor under the tile, which is better for the power, depends on the type of room.

Determination of useful area

Under bulky furniture and household appliances, heating is not done because of overload and disruption of normal air circulation. It should be taken into account that it is advisable to heat at least 70% of the floor of the room, when the electric heating serves as the main source of heat. At the same time its specific power should be 110-220 W / m ² . If the useful area is less, the electrical floor will have to be abandoned or the layout of the room changed. For the kitchen or living room, the power is approaching the lower limit, and in the bathroom, on the loggia or in the premises of the ground floor, it needs more. The optimum option is the operation of the heating system by 70-75%.

How to calculate the heating element when buying

Before you make a warm floor at home, you need to correctly calculate the power, which depends on the type and area of the room. The figure below shows the types of floors through a thermographic device with heating of different power (surface temperature 15-25 ° C).

The room requires a specific power of 100-160 W / m ² . For an auxiliary heat source, it can be selected at a minimum.

For a room of 20 m ^{2 the} useful area will be 20 · 70/100% = 14 m ² .

Then the required power is W = 100 · 14 = 1.4 kW.

When the main source, you need to take the maximum: W = 160 · 14 = 2.24 kW.

The cost of a resistive cable is not very high, and it makes sense to take it as the main source of heating, which is not necessarily 100% used.
If the power of the cable is 20 W / m, then the main source needs a length
L = 2.24 · 1000/20 = 112 m.

At the ends of the cable, special couplings are installed. Therefore, they are sold in fixed segments. At purchase it is possible to choose a cable of the demanded capacity, close to the calculated.

How to lay a warm floor

When laying a warm electric floor with your own hands, you should know that a thermal insulation is needed from below. It is not worth saving on it, because it is a reliable home heat insulation. In addition, all the heat emitted by the warm floor will go up, into the room.

Overlapping is cleared of debris, is covered with waterproofing, and a heater is put on it. Popular material is polypropylene with a layer of foil, located on top. On the heater is put a thin mounting mesh.
If the floor is loaded with heavy objects, it is advisable to use hard waterproof gypsum-fiber or glass-magnesite sheets as thermal insulation. They are attached to the base by dowels. To prevent contact of the metal cap with the heating elements, the seats for the self-tapping screws should be carefully selected.
Cement-concrete screed will be poured on top. So that she does not sell the insulation, in it at intervals do small cutouts. Then the screed will stay on the floor, and not on the thermal insulation.

The cable laying step is calculated by the formula: h = S · 1000 / L = 14 · 1000/112 = 125 mm.

The laying plan should first be depicted in a sketch indicating the location of the thermostat. Usually the floor heating is done by zones. The advantage of the method is that they can be connected separately.

The warm floor of the heating cable is laid under the screed of concrete, the thickness of which is 3-6 cm. Above it, there can be any coating that does not have heat-insulating properties. Warm floors are placed so that it never stood furniture. Otherwise, these areas will overheat. Above the place where the temperature sensor is located, do not put rugs, as this can disrupt the operation of the entire system.

Moving furniture and covering the self-regulating cable with mats will not worsen its performance. It is convenient to use in small heating areas. In stationary conditions, where furniture is not rearranged, it is more economical to use a resistive cable as a cheaper one.

The warm floor is fixed on the floor with a mounting tape, which is fastened 30-50 cm using dowels.

Warm floor connection

Power supply for the warm floor is carried out by a separate group with the use of an RCD. If there is no ground in the house, it must be done. The braid of the cable must be grounded. Wires to the electrical grid and to the warm floor are held in the wall, where the stitches are made. They must contain a corrugated tube.

The wires are inserted into the box and together with the cable of the warm floor are connected to the thermostat. The marking in it is as follows: L - phase, N - zero wire, PE - ground. Control of the thermostat is done in each room separately. When installing a warm floor in several rooms, it is advisable to use a multi-channel instrument. Heating can be switched off or kept at a minimum when no one is using the room. In the bathroom and other rooms with high humidity, the thermostat is not recommended.

Warm electric floors: prices and quality

The cheapest are warm floors of Chinese production. Russian products have an average price level. Among the Korean models there is a large range of prices and quality. At purchase it is necessary to pay attention to the characteristic of production, stated not in advertising, and in the documentation.
The best electric warm floor is made by American, Norwegian and Danish manufacturers.

The floors of European manufacturers have the following prices (rubles / sq. M.):

• Cable - 800-1000;
• Heating mat - 1500-2600;
• Infrared film - 600-800.

At purchase it is necessary to estimate cost of all complete set.

Any electric heated floor with its own hands can be easily manufactured, if you carefully follow the installation and connection instructions.

Conclusion

Of all the known heating methods, the most convenient is the electric warm floor under the tile. Which is better to choose? Everything depends on the desire and ability of the homeowner. High thermal conductivity of ceramics, ease of operation, hidden placement, economy, the ability to mount a warm electric floor with your own hands and other advantages of this heating method make it increasingly popular.