Underfloor heating, electricity consumption: owner feedback

At the onset of cold weather, each owner strives to heat his home with a minimum of energy resources. Therefore, recently the popularity is gaining such heating, as the electric floor is warm. The electricity consumption, according to the manufacturers, is rather small.

But there are several conditions that affect the consumption of energy resources by such systems. Customer feedback will allow you to draw the right conclusions and equip the floor with minimal operating costs. Only with proper installation, the system will be able to fully heat the room, while at the same time spending a minimum of electricity.

Principle of operation

The electrical wire used for heating consists of a nichrome core and various insulating shells. Such devices must be installed in the solution. The layer of screed or tile adhesive is heated and gives heat to the floor covering. Laminate, tile or other materials at the same time become similar to the heated surface of the convector. Only heating, in contrast to such an electrical appliance, occurs on a different principle.

The convector sends the heated air flows upwards. At the ceiling in this case, a maximum of temperatures is determined. Cold masses accumulate at the base of the room. The warm floor is electric, the electricity consumption of which is often less than that of the convector, creates heating at the bottom of the room. At the ceiling the air is colder. Therefore, this type of heating is more comfortable for a person.

Purpose of the system

Today, a large number of types of electrical floor heating are on sale . With their help, you can create both comfortable and independent heating. In the first case, the area of the room is covered less than 50% with a wire system or with a film. At the same time, an additional device (battery, convector) is used for heating.

Full heating of the room without the use of additional devices allows you to create a warm electric floor. The power consumption, reviews provided by experts, can be minimal at the same time. The consumed energy resources will then be spent optimally.

It should also be said that with the help of a film warm floor it is not necessary to create an independent heating system. Such systems are designed for comfortable heating.

Types of systems

The type of system depends on the consumption of electricity. The most commonly used varieties are cable, mat and film. In the first variant, the heating element is supplied in the bay. On a special rail the installer spreads the wire by himself. In this case, the laying step is from 7 to 15 cm. The thicker the wire is installed, the greater the energy consumption from 1 m², as well as the heat transfer. Wire cross section of about 7 mm is poured into the screed 3-5 cm thick.

The mat system is already assembled with a certain step on the PVC grid. This is a warm electric floor under the tile. Electricity consumption is fixed. Mat laid under 5-8 mm of tile glue. The diameter of such a wire is approximately 3 mm.

The film warm floor also has a fixed power. This system is installed under the laminate, linoleum without the use of a solution.

Power selection

To warm the floor could heat the room, you need to set a sufficient capacity for 1 m². This parameter is between 110 and 180 W / m² for rooms. Street heating requires a power of 2 times more.

The presented index is influenced by the features of the room. The more the level of heat loss in it, the more powerful the system will be required. If the windows, floor and walls are insulated, the ceiling of the standard height (not more than 2.7 m), a low-power system is suitable.

But for cold rooms, in which heat losses are significant, it is required to increase the heating. Sometimes it is necessary to set the power to 300 W / m². For this, a special electric floor heating is used. The electricity consumption in the garage, for example, will be much larger than in the apartment of a multi-storey building.

If the coating is made of laminate in a room with minimal heat loss, the system's power should be 110-130 W / m². For the balcony, bathroom, where the tile will be mounted, this figure is increased to 150-180 W / m².

Calculation of power

To properly choose and install a warm floor electric, the electricity consumption of which does not hit the family budget, you need to make a preliminary calculation. First choose the necessary power for 1 m². For example, it will be a bathroom in an apartment on the 2nd floor (below there are neighbors who heat the room), where the flooring will be made of tiles.

The power consumption of the system will be 150 W / m². If you drop the area on which the furniture is located, the plumbing, the square is 3 m². Hence, the floor requires the following:

150 x 3 = 450 watts.

The wire gauge is selected based on this indicator. This is the optimum power at which a given room will be heated with minimal costs.

Temperature control

The presented calculation allows to determine the indicator of the maximum power of the system. Typically, the operating temperature of the heating wire is 65 ° C. Up to this level, the floor will not heat up, as there are certain heat losses in the room. But 50-55º C with good warming of the base the system can give out on the surface.

It is comfortable for a person to stand barefoot on the surface, heated to 25-28 ° C. To maintain this level, the warm floor is connected to the thermostat. In this case, the device opens the circuit when it reaches the user-specified heating.

When the floor has cooled several degrees, the device will turn on the current again. Therefore, the system consumes less electricity per hour than indicated on the package.

Customer Reviews

To understand how much the system will consume energy resources per day and per hour, it is necessary to take into account several features. They have any floor heating electric. The power consumption, the owners' feedback about which are presented in different sources, is ambiguous.

To minimize this figure, it is necessary to mount a heater under the system. Otherwise, due to the rapid loss of heat, the device will not be able to heat up to the desired level. The same wire in the room and on the balcony will consume a different amount of electricity.

But if you compare the warm floor and convector in a room of 20 m², the wired device, according to consumers' reviews, is more profitable. The convector consumes in such conditions about 2 kW per hour. Under these conditions, a warm floor will require about 1-1.2 kW on average.

Which type of systems is more economical?

Uneven consumption of energy resources is characterized by a different electric floor heating. Electricity consumption is higher for film varieties. With an average consumption of 220 W / m², this system does not heat the surface more than 40 ° C.

The cable installed in the screed or tile adhesive at the same heating level will spend an average of 150 W / m². Therefore, if possible, it is better to give preference to the wires at the repair stage. If the base is qualitatively insulated, the device will work about 8 hours a day. In the rest of the time, the screed will give the accumulated heat to the environment.

After considering the main features, you can choose the right floor electric. The power consumption of this system with proper installation is less than that of radiators and convectors. This system is advantageous in all respects.