Which heated floor to choose: the pros and cons of infrared, cable and water systems

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

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.

sly2kFORUMHOUSE 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), the boards are coated with polyurethane varnish on both sides.

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

Lightweight and quickly warmed up, the flooring system is considered an ideal solution for panel houses.

The polystyrene system is recommended for wooden floors.

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.

The nuances of choosing high-quality sand concrete and cement in bags and the features of pouring screed

To the stage of pouring the screed so-called. Some developers do not treat the “wet type” responsibly enough, making mistakes when choosing a ready-made sand concrete mixture M300 or violating the proportions when preparing the solution themselves. For example, they use a lot of water to give the mixture greater mobility and increase its life time during the laying process, which leads to a decrease in the strength of the screed and an increase in the likelihood of cracks.

Maria A

I want to make my own mixture for pouring sand concrete screed. Questions: how to choose the components of the mixture and what additives are best to use?

Another common question from portal users is: what is better - using ready-made sand concrete or preparing your own mixture from high-quality cement in bags.

Anna Ruzhitskaya

In terms of convenience, reliability and stability of the result, it is better to use ready-made dry mixtures (sand concrete). For these mixtures, the maximum sand grain size is regulated, i.e. In production, seeded sand is used, the cement-sand proportions are strictly maintained, and the crack resistance parameters of the hardened mortar are checked.

Please note that mixtures from trusted manufacturers undergo thorough quality control at all stages of production and meet all GOST requirements. The mixture, precisely measured by weight, is delivered to the site in reliable packaging - 40 kg bags.

To install a screed on a warm floor, it is better to use a “wet” screed.

A semi-dry screed differs from a wet screed in that it uses a small amount of water necessary to mix the cement-sand mixture.

Therefore, it is difficult to distribute and compact the semi-dry screed efficiently, taking into account the installed underfloor heating system - mounting tape and thermal cable. When the density of the cement stone decreases, due to the formation of air cavities, the heating efficiency decreases, because The thermal conductivity of the screed decreases.

When preparing sand concrete for screed yourself, special attention should be paid to the quality of the ingredients. The sand should be coarse, sifted, without clay and other harmful impurities (shells, plant remains, contamination with petroleum products, etc.). When choosing the proportions of the mixture, you should remember that sand can have different humidity levels, which affects the required amount of mixing water.

When working with ready-made dry mixtures, pay attention to the availability of information with recommendations on basic recipes and exact proportions for preparing the main types of solutions. This simplifies the work of builders.

The quality characteristics of sand concrete and screed can be improved by using plasticizers and fiberglass.

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.

Calculation of mounting tape

1. Number of strips of tape pcs. 2. Tape laying step 3. Cable space beyond the lentum4. Tape offset from line Am

The mounting tape is usually supplied complete with the heating cable.

Attached to the concrete base of the floor with 6x40 mushroom dowels. The distance between the tape strips is from 45 to 70 cm. The smaller the cable laying step, the smaller the mounting tape laying step, as a rule.

The heating cable is fixed to the tape using fastening tabs located every 2.5 cm.

To install the cable directly on insulation with a thickness of more than 5 mm, use a metal mesh with a thickness of 0.75 - 1.0 mm with a cell of 2.5x2.5 mm. The cable is fixed to the mesh using plastic clamps.

Cable floor

Electric cable flooring is usually installed in city apartments and country houses as part of a combined heating system. 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.

SubnusFORUMHOUSE Member

A cable to the floor is not heating, but additional heating with all that it implies.

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.

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 usually rely on the following data (per square meter of room):

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

Correct temperature

To achieve maximum comfort levels, we recommend maintaining the following floor surface temperatures:

• Linoleum 26-28 °C
• Ceramic tiles/concrete floor 26-28 °C
• Laminate 23-27 °C

The maximum floor temperature can be limited by a thermostat.

If you do not know the maximum permissible surface temperature for your flooring material, please contact the manufacturer.

Important! Wood is a good thermal insulation material.

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.

kjr11FORUMHOUSE Member

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.

Video: installation of heating cable

The screed is an important element of a heated floor, on which its quality depends. When installed correctly, it will ensure comfortable conditions and durability of the heating system. The thickness of the screed is of great importance. If the surface is uneven, it can be improved with a leveling layer. The base must be strong and durable, since it is subject to constant alternating temperature influences. It should be erected according to certain rules, maintaining the thickness, ratio of screed components and the time of its maturation.

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.

RavaFORUMHOUSE Member

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.

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