Heating with underfloor heating. Benefits of underfloor heating. Collector group of a water heat-insulated floor
Sooner or later, the owner of housing will face the question of the use of modern heating systems. This is due to both the constant increase in utility tariffs and their practicality.
In addition, it is not only economical in the financial sense, but also creates comfortable living conditions. Underfloor heating is possible using water and electrical systems.
For electric floors, a thinner screed is suitable
What type of underfloor heating to choose, the owner decides. However, in order to decide in favor certain system floor heating: water or electric, you should clarify all the positive and negative aspects of each of them:
System installers country houses, it is recommended to apply water system for underfloor heating. At the same time, it is possible to heat using natural gas, electric energy, as well as boilers running on wood and solid fuels.
Depending on the design features of the building, heating systems can be combined. Use in one room water heating, and in small, for example, kitchens, bathrooms and toilets, use an electric floor heating system.
Arrangement of a floor with water heating on a concrete base
Water heating will require obtaining permits if you live in an apartment building, and serious calculations
To use this type of home heating, it is better to contact specialists who will initially develop a thorough project in compliance with all the standards provided for by SNiP.
Design is necessary in order to calculate the number of required components, take into account the geometric parameters of each room of a residential building, calculate the optimal temperature regime and the cost of each type of energy carriers for heating the premises from 20 to 24 degrees.
It is advisable to lay the water circuit on a leveled base.
Underfloor heating as the main heating is easiest to install on a concrete floor base. To do this, a foam insulation with a thickness of at least 30 mm is laid on a previously leveled surface.
A film or a multi-foil layer is laid on top of it, on which a reinforcing mesh is laid out to fix the heating element tubes.
As an obligatory element, a damper tape is laid along the walls around the perimeter of the room. Its width will have to completely cover the thickness of the flooring with installed system heating.
Laying the contour with a snake is the easiest
After laying out the heating pipes with a snake or snail, they are led to the manifold cabinet. Laying with a snake is easy to perform, however, at the outlet, the coolant will cool significantly.
Laying a pipe with a snail complicates the work, but this method of heating distributes the coolant throughout the pipe with the same temperature, therefore, in most cases, developers use this method of laying pipes to heat houses with underfloor heating.
The table shows some data for a water floor device:
Some experts practice the use of a combined pipe layout system based on the floor. After fixing the tubes, they are filled with a special solution and hidden with a top coat.
Arrangement of a floor with water heating on a wooden base
Lay chipboard with grooves under the pipeline on the subfloor
The most difficult to perform water heating in wooden houses, as well as buildings in which wooden floors are installed. This is due to the fact that the pipeline through which the coolant will circulate should not be located on cement screed. It is laid on top of a subfloor, which is made of boards or sheets of wood-based or cement-bonded particle boards.
The subfloor is covered with special modules made of wood boards, in which special grooves are cut for laying pipes.
However, this is an expensive pleasure, and craftsmen suggested using slats that are stuffed into the subfloor, forming the necessary channels for placing the pipeline.
For the manufacture of rails, both a board and wood boards are used. The width of the guide rails corresponds to the distance between the heating pipes. Detailed Instructions for arranging a water floor on a wooden floor, see this video:
After fixing the pipes to the subfloor, the entire structure that makes up the warm floor, as the main heating, is covered with a top coat of a jointed floorboard or laminate of maximum thickness.
Arrangement of the floor with electric heating
The film floor is the most convenient in installation
Market building materials offers owners heating with underfloor heating without a radiator by installing various systems for arranging electric underfloor heating. They are installed only on a concrete floor base.
- Cable. In the form of a heating element, a cable is used that transforms electrical energy into thermal energy. The cable is also laid in the form of a snake or a snail. At the same time, the cable is not laid in the places where furniture and plumbing fixtures are installed. A screed is poured over the cable.
- Cable based. Represents mesh mats with a decomposed heating element, the cross section of which is 2.8 mm. For its installation, it is enough to simply lay out the mats on the rough floor base and fix them. This heating element is also hidden under the screed.
- Film infrared heater is dry-mounted and can be fixed to the subfloor at no extra cost. On top of the film heater, you can immediately lay the flooring or laminate. For more information on which type of heater is best, see this video:
To choose the best type electric heating residential building or apartment, you should take into account specifications heating systems and living quarters.
The traditional and most commonly used is water heating.
What do you associate the word "comfort" with? Surely, the vast majority with heat. Especially in a country with a cold climate, snowy winters and severe frosts. Therefore, the main system, important not only for a comfortable life, but also for survival, of course, is the heating system. Of its many options, the most widely used, in which water plays the role of a coolant.
Features of water heating
For a long time, attempts have been made to solve the problem of heat transfer from the source to the heated premises. But the use of special channels with air as a heat carrier for this led to large heat losses.
In the middle of the nineteenth century there appeared steam heating. And soon he was replaced by water. The use of water in heating systems made it possible to reduce the temperature of the coolant compared to steam systems. Therefore, heating has become much safer, and heating costs are lower.
With the advent of new heat-insulating materials and technologies, it has become possible to transfer heat over long distances. Thus, centralized heating systems for quarters, districts and entire cities were built.
The water in them is heated in large heaters, after which it is transferred to the houses through external pipelines. But it is impossible to completely eliminate heat losses in such complexes, therefore, in recent times autonomous systems became popular.
The centralized system has another drawback. It does not allow you to make a water heated floor from central heating. This is due to technological difficulties and administrative prohibitions. So this option is possible only due to electric heating systems. With central heating, everything is clear. What is an autonomous system?
The two-pipe water heating system is the most common
The main feature of such systems is the absence of external communications for heat transfer and, accordingly, the absence of its losses. An autonomous heater is installed in the house, and fuel is delivered by transport or transferred to the house through special highways. Natural gas is considered the optimal fuel for such systems. In addition to it, you can use fuel oil, coal, wood and products of its processing.
To ensure the smooth operation of such systems, water and electricity must be supplied to the house. Internal communications of premises with autonomous heating are no different from those connected to central heating - the same pipes and the same batteries. Losses in autonomous heating complexes are minimized and in more depend on the heating equipment and type of fuel.
Composition of the heating complex, equipment and materials
Into any heating system includes:
- heater
- heat transfer lines
- heating appliances
Let's consider this scheme in more detail. And for example, let's take a complex based on a gas heating boiler. It uses natural gas from the conventional gas supply system as fuel. AT gas boiler water is heated to a certain temperature, after which this water is transferred through pipes to heating devices - radiators (batteries).
Battery and pipe installation
Along with traditional iron pipes, plastic pipes have also become widely used. Due to this, the installation of pipelines has become easier and cheaper, and their durability in a humid environment is much higher.
The efficiency of heating in such a system directly depends on heating appliances and how to install them. And along with traditional batteries, water floor heating is increasingly being used.
Let's take a closer look at this method of heating a room.
How is underfloor heating done?
Disputes about the advantages and disadvantages of such heating have not stopped since its inception. But one thing is undeniable - underfloor water heating - underfloor heating - can create a comfortable and cozy atmosphere anywhere in the room. After all, the farther from the battery, the cooler. And if a person's feet are warm, then he feels much more comfortable.
And further. How does a radiator heat a room? due to air convection. A cold stream passes through the battery and already warm rises up in a narrow strip - usually along a wall or window. So it turns out that the warmest zone is above the battery. And when the floor is heated, it is constantly under your feet.
Floor heating
When installing a floor heating system, radiators, heat exchangers and other special devices are not needed. The role of the radiator is played by pipes for water heating, laid in the floor. They can be metal or metal-plastic. The main thing is that they have good heat transfer.
Polypropylene pipes are not suitable for such systems, because they have low heat transfer, poorly transfer heat to surrounding objects and therefore cannot heat the floor material.
Heating pipes are connected to common system heating as an independent circuit with inlet, outlet and control valve. Thus, or rather, its operation can be regulated independently of other elements of the system.
Choice of heating zones
When installing a warm floor, it does not make sense to heat the surface under furniture, a fireplace, a built-in wardrobe and other furnishings. After all, the owners will not go there.
Therefore, it is more logical and economical to install heating only in places of constant or frequent presence of people:
- For the kitchen, this is almost the entire area, with the exception of the space under the furniture and household appliances.
- For the bathroom - approaches to the bath and shower, and the rest - at will.
- For residential premises, everything is very individual, but the area around chairs, beds and tables should be heated.
Choice of heating zones
Do not lay water floor heating close to walls and doorways.
And one more limitation. No need to try to warm up a wooden or parquet floor. Heating is not effective on them, and the parquet can also dry out.
Pipe laying
Having determined the heating zones, you can get to work. Consider it on the example of metal-plastic pipes. They are supplied in coils of 100 meters, which allows you to lay the pipe without unnecessary joining elements. For our purposes, we need pipes with an outer diameter of 16 mm.
First, heat-reflecting screens are laid on the rough screed, and pipes are directly on them. Pipe laying in each area is done in a zigzag with parallel lines or a spiral of parallel lines. It is desirable to reduce the entrances and exits of all sections to one point - it will be easier to subsequently connect them to a common system.
If the house has a basement and it is not heated, then before laying the heat-reflecting screens, it is necessary to lay a layer of heat-insulating material over the entire area of \u200b\u200bthe room, regardless of the heating zone. After installing the pipes, you can proceed to the final screed and flooring. In this case, the thickness of the screed should not exceed 100 mm.
Such a scheme does not exclude the use of classic radiators. Wall-mounted or connected to a separate circuit. This allows more efficient use of the entire heating complex, depending on the conditions or wishes of the owners.
Wiring diagram solid fuel boiler heating
All individual highways start and end in the same place. It is here that it is worth equipping a certain control point. It can be located under the stairs, in the pantry or not far from the boiler itself.
The ends of the underfloor heating pipes assembled in one place are connected to a common system. For ease of adjustment and control, it will not be superfluous to immediately install a temperature and pressure meter, control valves, and, if necessary, a booster pump. Such an intermediate control panel is especially convenient in private houses with two or more floors.
Some Conclusions
When deciding on the choice of a heating system for a house or apartment, remember that water heating in the floor cannot be tied to central heating. In this case, only electric heating can be used.
Floor heating can be connected to any heating boiler that uses water as a heat carrier. Electric and solid fuel boilers are no exception.
Floor heating can be connected to any heating boiler
If you want to heat a small area of the apartment, for example, only a section of the floor in the bathroom, it is also better to install electric rather than water heating.
Copper pipes are considered the most efficient pipes for heating in the floor - because of their good heat dissipation. But the peculiarities of welding and the high cost of the metal itself do not allow their use everywhere. Metal-plastic and polyethylene pipes have proven themselves well for these purposes.
The most efficient water floor heating will be where it is ceramic tile, linoleum or carpet. Wooden, parquet, and laminate flooring have low thermal conductivity, so their heating is ineffective.
One of the disadvantages of classical heating is appearance radiators. They will not always look harmonious in the room, and take up useful space. Therefore, in some cases, it is preferable to install other heat supply devices. You can make rational and practical floor heating in an apartment and house using certain schemes, pipes and convectors.
Advantages and disadvantages of underfloor heating
This water floor heating in the apartment differs from the standard design and methods of mounting radiators. Their heating surface is located below the level of the finished floor. For convection of air flows, the upper plane of the heat supply device has a grate.
All lines for supplying hot water are also hidden under the floor. In fact, the user sees only the upper grille. Air is heated through it. There are also differences in design.
The floor heating convector has an oblong shape. The tubes through which the coolant flows are connected to the body with the help of heat exchange plates. Most often they are made of copper.
A do-it-yourself floor should have the following advantages:
- Minimum space requirement. Unlike batteries, the entire volume of the room remains free;
- Creation of a thermal air curtain. To reduce heat losses, water floor heating in the house is equipped near window structures and external walls. Radiators heat the air in places of the lowest temperatures;
- Good appearance. In fact, water floor heating in a private house will look harmoniously in any interior.
The disadvantages include uneven distribution of heat. Such systems are not recommended for installation in rooms with a large area. For optimal effect, a floor heating radiator must have a fan to increase air convection. This affects the overall background noise. Be sure to install thermostats and programmers to automatically control the operation of the system.
Analyzing reviews of the floor drowning, we can conclude that it is a source of dust concentration. Therefore, for this type of heat supply, it is necessary to carry out wet cleaning more often.
Types of floor heating convectors
At the first design stage, you should choose the right heating radiator built into the floor. They differ not only in standard power characteristics, but also in design. The material of manufacture is also important.
First, the required power is calculated. The heat losses in the house or apartment are taken as the basis. Then the optimal model of the floor heating convector is selected.
He must have the required operational characteristics- maintain the nominal pressure and temperature of hot water.
For installation, you will need to do preparatory work with a rough coating. Efficient heating in the floor with their own hands is done only after warming the rough surface.
The choice of mounting scheme largely depends on the design of floor radiators. They are of the following types:
- floor e. They are located directly on the surface. The advantage is the simple connection of a water heated floor to the heating system. Pipes can be located on top of the wall. Disadvantage - unsatisfactory appearance;
- Embedded. They are mounted directly into the floor on a rough surface. Only the grating remains in the visible region. Laying heating in the floor is complicated, as this leads not only to a decrease in the height in the room, but also to the mandatory adaptation of the materials used to high temperatures.
Water floor heating schemes in an apartment with wall models are not considered. They are no different from the standard ones and have the same properties.
To increase the degree of convection, a fan can be included in the package. This will improve the uniform heat distribution throughout the room. However, the cost of such models differs greatly.
Currently, there are a number of manufacturers whose products are suitable for do-it-yourself water floor heating. First of all, it is necessary to highlight the convectors of the German company Kampmann. Depending on the required parameters, models of heating convectors built into the floor can have two or three pipes. In the latter case, the rated power of the device increases.
Models of heating radiators built into the floor from the Polish company Verano, the Czech Minib and the German Kermi have no less good performance properties. To organize budget heating in the floor with your own hands, you can consider the products of the Ukrainian company Teplobrend and Carrera.
An additional function of water floor heating in a private house can be cooling in the summer. This requires a connection to the chiller system.
Heating floor circuits
Having chosen the optimal model of a heating radiator built into the floor, you can begin to draw up a scheme for its installation. At this stage, it is important to take into account its operational and technical features.
Heating schemes for laying heating in the floor are practically no different from standard ones. The difference lies in the choice of the method of mounting pipes and radiators. They should be hidden under the floor. Therefore, it is necessary to pre-select the material for the floor - insulation, substrate and decorative surface.
When choosing a scheme, the following factors are taken into account:
- Height of heating convectors that will be built into the floor;
- Pipe material. Polymer can not be installed in a concrete screed. Their thermal expansion can tell on the integrity of the line. Special sleeves are required for installation;
- Inspection hatches. After connecting the water-heated floor to the heating system, free access is provided to the joints of the pipelines. This is necessary for carrying out repair and maintenance work;
- Installation of air valves, Mayevsky taps and thermostats. The most difficult thing is to provide access to these elements of heat supply. The scheme of water heating of floors in a private house should take into account this factor.
Most often, the choice stops at a closed two-pipe heat supply. It will provide a normal temperature distribution and is the most optimal in terms of the complexity of installation and selection of components.
To connect the copper pipes of heating radiators built into the floor with polymer pipes, you will need special adapters. Contact of copper with other metals can lead to oxidation of the joint.
Installation of floor heating convectors
Correct installation of duct convectors is preceded by preparatory work with the floor. It is necessary to make a niche where heating devices will be installed. It is best to do this at the stage of repair.
The dimensions of the niche must be larger than the dimensions heating device by 5-10 cm. This is necessary for the normal connection of the heat supply radiator after it is installed in the floor. Additionally, a layer of thermal insulation is mounted. To protect the decorative surface, it is recommended to form a niche by concrete pouring.
At this stage, pipes should be installed in order to subsequently connect to the radiator. Their installation is carried out in the floor, possible thermal expansion is taken into account. For extended sections of the highway, it is necessary to install compensatory thermal loops.
The next installation steps are as follows.
- Installation of heat-reflecting material. This will help improve convection and reduce heat loss.
- Installing the heat supply convector tray in the floor. If there is none, a substrate made of heat-resistant material is equipped. The radiator must not hang.
- Connecting pipes to the heating system. It is important to choose the right adapters to ensure a reliable and durable connection.
- Installation of a decorative lattice.
After the final laying of the heating in the floor, a test run of the system is made. It needs to be crimped first. Increase the temperature of the coolant should be gradual. The same applies to pressure. At this stage, the absence of leaks in the water heating of the floor with their own hands is controlled, and the operating modes of the thermostats are set.
One of the common mistakes in the installation of convectors without a pallet is filling the niche with building foam. Its pressure can lead to deformation of the structure.
Features of the operation of underfloor heating
Before everyone heating season it is necessary to check the integrity of the system components. Almost all reviews of floor heating indicate a large amount of dust and dirt in the niches. They should be cleaned periodically.
During operation, the parameters of the thermostat may change. Since it will be hidden behind a decorative grille, it is necessary to check its condition. Otherwise, the probability of incorrect operation of the system will increase. In addition, the integrity of the connection of the water heated floor to the heating system is monitored. In such schemes, it is difficult to control the appearance of leaks.
In models with a fan, the power line is laid in advance. To improve comfort, it is recommended to make a remote switch. Fan rotor clogging is also common. It must be cleaned before each heating season.
In the video material of the show, an example of installing a duct convector in an apartment:
Economical water heated floor and its installation
Surely, every person in our time dreams of a luxurious own house. You can fully satisfy your dream only if it is built with my own hands. During construction, you will have to face many nuances, but it’s worth dwelling on one of the main topics - this is a do-it-yourself water heating system. After all, only a cozy house will create full comfort for the owner.
Do-it-yourself heating in the floor with your own hands is a completely feasible idea. Installing this type of heating will create a full-fledged coziness and comfort at home.
There are 2 ways to connect water heating in a private house: connect to a common central water supply and sewerage system, or create your own autonomous system water supply.
Surely everyone knows the not entirely pleasant feeling that arises in winter time stepping on a cold tiled floor after a warm bath. At such moments, you want to quickly get up on something warm. In the bathroom it can be a soft rug, but what about the cold floor in the kitchen, hallway, toilet and other rooms where flooring is ceramic tile and no floor heating?
It should be noted right away that do-it-yourself water heating of the floor in the house involves certain preliminary work for installation. An example of a water floor heating system is the principle of operation of the natural thermal circulation of the carrier. In this type of work, water moves not due to some kind of driving system, such as a water pump, but due to the difference in internal pressure of cooled and hot internal water masses (internal pressure of the coolant located in the risers, which cool down much faster than the pressure of the main riser). Thanks to this from heating battery a cooled coolant enters, pushing out heated water when returning to the boiler, as a result of which continuous circulation is ensured.
Scheme of the device of water heating of the floor.
You can cover the entire apartment with carpets, but it is better to do the installation of the underfloor heating system with your own hands. They can be of 2 types: water and electric. Electric underfloor heating creates excellent floor heating, is very popular and has been on the construction market for a long time. However, during the operation it turns out that if we translate the electricity they consume into money, a very decent amount is obtained per year.
alternative electric floor is an economical water-heated floor, which you can install yourself. Its efficiency lies in the fact that it is connected to the central heating system. If you connect a water-heated floor to the heating system, then the monthly payment for heat resources in the receipt, in contrast to the use of an electric floor heating, will not increase.
How does underfloor heating work?
In order to understand the operation of a water heated floor, we can take as an example how central heating works. Heating radiators heat the air in the room with their entire area. When heated, the air rises up to the ceiling, and when it cools, it falls down. The warmest air flow with such a room heating system will circulate in the area of window openings, that is, between the ceiling and the radiator. As the space is heated with radiators, the floor area will remain cold. And water heating distributes heat evenly over the entire floor area.
The warmest range in this heating option falls on the floor and a distance of 1.5 m from it. A cold layer of air is concentrated under the ceiling of the room. Such heating will feel more comfortable for a person. Thus, you can walk around the apartment barefoot in winter and enjoy it, like walking barefoot on the beach on hot sand. In order for the heat to be the most comfortable, heat regulators are built into the system of warm water floors, with which you can regulate the circulation of water in the pipes and, accordingly, the temperature of the water floor.
Tools needed to install underfloor heating system:
- Bulgarian.
- Perforator.
- Level.
- Shovel.
A warm water floor, assembled with your own hands and powered by a central heating system, is not the most the best option, because it depends on heating period. In summer, when the heating is turned off, such a floor heating system will not work, but it is not so much needed, because it is hot without it. Some owners of cottages, in order to power a warm water floor, use heating boilers. For a water heated floor, the boiler can be used at least all year round, however, you also need to pay extra for his work. In apartments, of course, no one will let you install such a boiler. The HOA does not allow to connect a water heated floor to the heating system.
How to install a water-heated floor system with your own hands?
It is worth considering in more detail the main stages of installing a do-it-yourself system for a warm water floor. They include the following works:
- installation and installation of a collector group of a warm water floor;
- preparation of the floor surface for the installation of a warm water floor;
- pipe laying;
- temperature adjustment.
Collector group of a water heat-insulated floor
Do-it-yourself installation of a water-heated floor begins with the installation of a collector cabinet. It is necessary to try to arrange it in such a way that it is at an equidistant distance from the final consumers. For example, if a water heated floor needs to be installed in 2 rooms, then it is necessary to install a cabinet in the middle of these rooms. For aesthetic purposes, the collector cabinet is built in with your own hands inside the wall. To do this, using a puncher and a grinder, you need to prepare a niche that is slightly larger than the built-in collector cabinet. The installation location of the collector cabinet is standard: it is located near the floor surface. Most people ask the question: what is the collector cabinet for?
Inside the collector cabinet, pipes coming from the central heating system and pipes that further heat the floors of the room are joined. In addition to pipes, it contains shut-off valves in the form of control valves.
After the installation of a collector cabinet for a water-heated floor has been done with one's own hands, 2 pipes are brought into it: one is called the supply, and the second is the return. Hot water from the central water supply system enters the cabinet through the supply pipe. The return pipe, on the contrary, collects the cooled water and returns it to the return pipe of the central heating system. At the ends of the supply and return pipes in the manifold cabinet, stopcocks. They are provided in case of forced shutdown of water supply to the underfloor heating system, for example, when repair work is carried out. Connect plastic pipes and shut-off valves with a compression fitting.
Then, on the reverse side of the valve, the collector rail itself will be connected, on the side of which there is a series of taps. Pipes are connected to these outlets through the same connecting fittings, which form the contour of the warm floor. There is an open hole on the other side of the collector manifold pipe. It is closed by a drain inspection cock or a conventional plug. An inspection cock may be needed during bleeding of air bubbles if the system becomes airy. When the collector cabinet is fully assembled, you can start preparing the floor surface for laying a water-heated floor.
Preparation of the floor surface for the installation of a warm water floor system
Before laying out the pipes, it is necessary to remove debris and check the floor surface for horizontalness using a 2-meter water level. This must be done so that the protective layer of the screed over the water-heated floor is the same and the floor warms up evenly. If the floor surface has different heights in the corners, exceeding 1 cm, then it must be leveled with your own hands. A waterproofing layer is laid on the leveled floor, and along the perimeter the walls are pasted over with a damper tape, which will compensate for the linear expansion of the cement mortar that occurs during cooling and heating of the floor screed structure. The height of pasting with tape is allowed no more than 15 cm, and at the end of pouring the cement floor, its protruding remnants are cut off.
The next stage in the installation of a water-heated floor system with your own hands is the laying of heat-insulating mats. These mats are necessary in order to prevent heating of the ceiling of the neighbors living on the floor below. The material for heat-insulating mats may well be a mineral wool board, polystyrene foam, technical cork, aerated concrete or veloterm. When choosing a material, it is necessary to keep in mind the fact that the thermal insulation must be moisture resistant if the installation of a water-heated floor is planned in a toilet or bathroom.
Do-it-yourself pipe laying of a warm water floor
After the thermal insulation device is completed, you should start laying out the water pipes of the thermal circuit. The main point at this stage of work is the fixing of pipes. The most common method of fastening a thermal circuit is to fasten pipes to a pre-laid metal masonry mesh on a heater. With the help of a knitting wire, the pipe is attached to a metal mesh, which is both an additional stiffening frame for a future screed, and an attachment point. When attaching plastic pipes with metal wire, it is advisable not to overdo it with the tightening force. It must be remembered that different materials different linear expansion, so an overtightened wire in the future may cause damage to a pipe that has expanded from heat.
When laying out the thermal circuit, it is necessary to lay out the pipes so that their length is not more than 70 m. If it is not possible to meet this distance, it is necessary to make a 2nd circuit. In this case, it is required to use a collector rail with a large number of taps, while the length of the pipes of 2 circuits should be the same.
The laying of the water heating circuit should be started in the direction from the cold areas of the room to the warm ones.
Cold areas in the room are considered external doors and windows. Diameter of a pipe for a heat-insulated water floor of 20 mm. When purchasing pipes, it is necessary to choose a reliable manufacturer and supplier, since by flooding the neighbors and redoing all the work, much more money will be spent. Saving on such work is not recommended. Upon completion of fastening and laying the pipes of the thermal circuit, they should be pressure tested and checked with a pressure of 0.6 MPa. The circuit is installed correctly if the pressure does not drop and does not leak anywhere. You can start pouring the floor with a cement-sand mortar, and then leave it for 10 days so that it gains strength.
Adjusting the temperature of the warm water floor
Temperature control in water warm floors carried out in 2 ways. The first is manual, made by adjusting the shut-off valves. The second is carried out automatically with the help of electric drives. They cut into pipes and have the same mechanism as manual valves, activated by a thermal sensor signal that is set to a certain temperature. When the temperature on the sensor decreases, the valve will close hot water. After completing all the adjustments, you can proceed to the finishing work.
If we have not done heating systems with a water-heated floor before, then it will not be right to take on the practical implementation of our desires right away. We must first pay attention to some theory. Well, at least learn about the pros and cons of underfloor heating. Perhaps the disadvantages will turn out to be such that you don’t want to have such a heating system in your house at all.
What are the advantages of water heated floors in comparison with radiators?
Cons of a water heated floor
- The heat loss of the room where the floor heating is installed must be less than 100 W/m2.
Conclusion: with higher heat losses, you will either have to insulate the house, or install combined heating (water-heated floor plus radiators).
- It is not always possible to mount a water heated floor in apartment buildings, where single pipe systems heating. Well, or at least you need to know how to make such a connection correctly and without any conflicts with either neighbors or public utilities (this is described in detail in the article about installing a water-heated floor in an apartment).
- Large thickness of concrete screed over underfloor heating. If such heating is on the second floor or higher, then the floor level will rise by ~ 10 cm. On the first floor or on the basement, the total is more - by 14-20 cm. old apartment(house) heating with a water-heated floor, get ready for other global work related to the reinstallation of doors. And further: concrete screed underfloor heating will increase the load on floors and other structures ... are you sure they will withstand? What is your confidence based on? Think.
- Installation of a water heated floor and materials for it are more expensive than for radiator heating. True, these expenses are then paid off by saving energy resources, as I wrote about above.
There are a few more disadvantages of underfloor heating that must be taken into account. I will list them.
- Any warm floor (not necessarily water) - not best system heating for rooms in which people are constantly. Surprised? I'll explain why. Alas, almost everything in the world has a downside.
- I mentioned the lack of mixing of air layers in the pros of a warm floor. But this is also a minus, because it is impossible to make normal natural ventilation. But with radiators, natural ventilation is possible.
Conclusion: when designing underfloor heating, design forced ventilation with all its “charms” (connection to the power grid, noise, additional expenses ... this is for you in the continuation of the topic of efficiency), otherwise the air in such a room will be stale.
- Not every material can cover a warm floor. Therefore, you need to know the following.
It is necessary to distinguish between two concepts that are similar in sound, but different in meaning: “comfortable floor” and “warm floor”. What is the difference?
What is the difference?
The comfortable floor has a temperature of 20 ... 22 degrees and is only suitable for the off-season. But in the real winter cold, heating will not cope. And then you need additional heating(radiator, air or some other). Wood is quite suitable for covering a comfortable floor.
But in warm floor the coolant is heated up to 55 degrees. And you can’t cover such a floor with wood! tree from high temperature crack. But if you do not warm, then, again, in cold weather such a heating system will not cope.
And although there is a hotel section about floor heating, I’ll say a few words here. As coatings for a warm floor, you need to take only natural materials: carpet from natural material, ceramic tiles, linoleum - also from something natural, and not from PVC, parquet and parquet board, etc.). Non-natural materials contain various harmful substances that will evaporate when heated ... however, they evaporate without heating. Do you need it?
So, contrary to the same well-known saying (or proverb? - I can’t remember what the difference is), you don’t always need to keep your feet warm. I mean, not all the time! Blood rushes to the heated parts of the body, this is well known to everyone. And the legs, being warm all the time, do not rest, the veins do not rest ... The result is a disease of the veins due to their constant expansion.
Conclusion: it takes a limited time to be in a room with a warm floor. That is, make such heating in the hallway, bathroom, in any walk-through corridor, in the bath, in the dressing room ... where you rarely or briefly visit.
Well, I believe that now, knowing all the pros and cons of a water heated floor, you can make an informed choice, and not "because everything." Next, consider the question energy savings with underfloor heating.
underfloor heating
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