If you want to provide floor heating, then first you need to choose a system, such as electric or water. The first variety is relevant for bathrooms, verandas and loggias. Among other things, the electrical system for the floor can be installed in the bath. Many home crafters use electric underfloor heating as an addition to radiator.
Methods of installing electric underfloor heating
Before starting the manipulation, you must choose which installation method will be used. For example, the system can be laid in a layer of screed, on the surface of which the final floor covering is laid. Underfloor heating can also be laid on the concrete surface, after which tiles can be applied. Film electric floors are laid, as a rule, directly under the decorative floor covering.
Preparation for installation work
Electric floor heating can only be installed after certain preparations have been made. You will need a regulatorcopper cable for grounding, RCD protection system, connecting wires, and fasteners.
Preparing the subfloor
Electric floor heating will only work effectively if the surface is properly prepared. If the old screed has become unusable, then it will have to be completely dismantled. The surface should then be thoroughly cleaned.
At the next stage, waterproofing is laid, which should be brought to the surface of the walls by 10 centimeters. A damper tape is glued around the perimeter of the room. It will compensate for the thermal expansion of floor materials when heated. You will eventually need to cut off excess damper tape and waterproofing.
In order to prevent the thermal energy from going down, the base of the floor should be insulated. Depending on what type of surface is used, as well as where the room is located, you should choose the appropriate insulation.
Electric underfloor heating systems should be used in tandem with polyethylene foam, which has a reflective foil coating. This is if the heating system acts only as an addition to heating radiators. We are talking about penofol, which is used in this case as a substrate.
Styrofoam sheets or extruded polystyrene foam, the thickness of which varies from 20 to 50 millimeters, is suitable for apartments in which the lower floors are heated during the cold season. If floor heating is installed onpreviously unheated loggia or veranda, then polystyrene foam or mineral wool should be laid. The thickness of the material in this case should reach 100 millimeters. A reinforcing mesh is laid on top, but you can do without it.
Installation
Before you start laying the wires, you should check the resistance by checking the passport data. A run-up of 10% is allowed. It is possible to lay the electric floor heating system with the fixation of the reinforcing mesh by means of screeds, as well as with the help of special fastening tapes. If you have to work with an infrared system, then it is spread over the insulation.
Some manufacturers mention in the instructions for use that it is required to fix with adhesive tape or special ears that are located on the strip. In those places where the wire passes over the dividing strip of two floor slabs, it should be placed in a corrugated pipe, the length of which is 15 cm. This will eliminate or reduce the possibility of cable breakage during thermal expansion of the slabs. When electric floor heating is being installed, the junction between the power wire and the heating cable should be located 10 centimeters from the strobe. This must be done in such a way that the connecting clips are recessed into the screed.
Final works
After all the elements are placed in their final places, it is necessary to check the resistance of the wire. If itcoincides with the passport data or slightly differs from what was done earlier, then you can start testing the heating elements by using the underfloor heating system. If the function check was OK, then the system must be de-energized by removing the regulator before finishing work is completed. Next, you can proceed to the formation of the screed.
Preparing the floor before laying the water heating system
In this case, it is also recommended to dismantle the old screed until the base can be reached. It is important to ensure the leveling of the subfloor so that the differences do not exceed 10 millimeters. Next, a layer of waterproofing is laid, and a damper tape is fixed around the entire perimeter, as mentioned above. It is important to insulate the base of the floor.
Pipe distribution
Laying should start from the colder and outer walls of the room. If the entrance to the room is not from the side of the outer wall, then the pipe section to the wall should be insulated. In order to ensure a gradual decrease in heating from external walls to internal ones, a technology called a snake should be applied. To ensure uniform heating in rooms with internal walls, laying should be applied in a spiral, moving from the edge to the center. The pipe must be brought in a spiral, taking into account the double pitch between the turns. After that, you should turn around and start unwinding in the opposite direction.
Heating a space with underfloor heating will work well if you use the pipe laying method in steps of 30 to 10 cm.in places where there are increased heat losses, the distance between the pipes should be reduced to 15 cm.
To carry out work in the space of the attic, loggia or veranda, a separate circuit should be installed, which will not be combined with adjacent rooms. Otherwise, most of the heat will go to heating it, while the room itself will remain cold.
Assigning the submix module
Many inexperienced craftsmen are wondering why a heating floor mixing unit is needed. Professionals answer this question as follows. This element is necessary in order for water to enter the underfloor heating system with the required temperature, which does not exceed 55 degrees. Whereas in the boiler the coolant has a temperature of 90 degrees. These faucets are used to connect an underfloor heating system to a new or existing radiator heating system. The main function of such a mixer is to lower the temperature of the coolant. This is done by mixing water from the return. When choosing a mixing unit for underfloor heating, it should be noted that such elements are used in tandem with three-way valves.
Conclusion
Regardless of whether you choose floor heating, water or electric, it is important to familiarize yourself with the technology of manipulation before starting work. Otherwise, none of the systems will perform its functions, and money and time will be wasted. That is why many inexperienced craftsmen trust the installation of heating systems to professionals.business.
