How To Arrange Electric Heated Floors Under The Tiles Yourself

2023 Author: Philip Bishop | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-08-25 07:54

• Criteria for choosing a room heating technology
• How to choose the most suitable option
• Planning for underfloor heating
• Floor power calculator
• Base cushion laying technology
• Installation of warm floors
• Preparation for laying tiles

Planning a room heating device using various technologies, including new installation of underfloor heating using a heating cable compares favorably with other types of heating. And as practice shows, it is electric warm floors under the tiles that turn out to be the most profitable and convenient type of individual heating of a room in all comparison categories from economic feasibility to the convenience of work. However, despite such tempting prospects, knowledge of some of the nuances of the electric underfloor heating device under the tiles will not only make sure that you have made the right choice, but also install the entire kit yourself, without outside help.

Criteria for choosing a room heating technology

To consider the real reason for the popularity and convenience of the device of various heating systems will allow a comparison of the main points related to the planning, design and installation of different heating systems for individual use.

Comparing various systems for installation, a prerequisite in this case is the presence of a floor of ceramic tiles, such a coating today is becoming more and more popular not only in bathrooms and kitchens, ceramic tiles are increasingly used for covering in corridors, as a combined coating for studio premises. In detail: about the installation of underfloor heating under tiles.

For a gas heating system, the installation of underfloor heating requires the installation of part of the piping under the floor surface. The possibility of using standard heating boilers in this case, with the principle of natural circulation of the coolant, immediately faces the problem of installing an additional circulation pump. In addition, the underfloor heating included in the general heat supply scheme will require the entire system to be turned on to warm up the room, for example, in rainy weather in early autumn or spring, and not a separate room. Detailed information on the installation of a water heated floor.

Electric underfloor heating for tiles based on the technology of infrared radiation of heating elements is also not quite suitable for tiled flooring, this is an option for laminate.

But electric cable underfloor heating under tiles is the best option for installation, because even at the stage of calculation and preparation of documentation, it is not required to draft a project and coordinate it with a huge number of organizations, as in gas heating. In addition, unlike the film version, constant care of waterproofing is not required - the cable has double PVC insulation, which reliably protects the conductors from moisture. In addition, special skills are not required to install the electrical part, except that you need to carefully watch the training video and additionally read the instructions.

Another advantage of the Finnish cable underfloor heating under the tiles is the ability to control the heating of the building both directly with the help of thermostats, and using remote access by logging into the computer system via the Internet.

Well, it is imperative to indicate the economic component of the project - for gas heating this is a gasification project, a permit, a project, the cost of equipment and work, the cost of acceptance and a permit for commissioning. And for an electric underfloor heating on a cable basis - only the cost of the equipment, while there are a lot of purchase options from the nearest construction market with a six-month warranty, to ordering a full set of equipment from a global manufacturer with a 10-year warranty and all instructions and video courses.

How to choose the most suitable option

Underfloor heating electric under tiles in the usual sense of consumers is, first of all, a cable laid in a concrete screed and connected to an outlet according to the principle of a heating pad. In principle, this is really so, well, or almost so, since the design provides for both an electric heating cable and a power supply system. But with respect to everything else, everything is not at all the same here. The prefabricated structure of electric floors, and we must pay tribute to manufacturers from Europe, both Finnish engineers, and Czech and German for them, this is, first of all, a well-developed system consisting of several elements:

• Management and control systems;
• Equipment protection system;
• Heating elements.

At the same time, for example, the Finnish development of ENSTO Finland offers an integrated approach - not only a cable is calculated in the kit, but also a programmer, a heating controller with a liquid display, a temperature sensor, and in addition to the cable itself, there is a mandatory installation tape and installation instructions.

Such an integrated approach is typical when ordering equipment from ProfiTherm (Poland-Germany), Nexans (Norway).

The Danish concern Devi (Denmark) in its arsenal offers, among other things, additional equipment that will eventually turn a home into an ultra-modern "smart home" with the ability to control the heating system from a smartphone screen literally from anywhere in the world where there is Internet.

Of course, such a solution is somewhat more expensive compared to the usual option of using a domestic heating cable from the nearest market, but even at the same time, self-assembly and installation of a warm floor under the tiles will not be easy cheaper, it will allow you to significantly save already literally in the first heating season. At the same time, the system can be assembled by analogy with the proprietary one, but using domestic components. Read more about choosing electrical heating cables.

Planning for underfloor heating

The optimal moment for planning such a heating system is the moment of developing a working project for the construction of a building or repairing a room, when it is possible in practice to calculate the required amount of materials and most rationally distribute the installation sites of control units. And also think over how to make reliable wiring to the control unit, because equipment such as an electric floor heating requires a separate, reliable power line.

Floor power calculator

With the help of an online electric floor heating calculator, you can calculate the power.

Floor width (cm.)
Floor length (cm.)
Is the room warm?	Typically Warm (warm walls) Cold (ground floor, thin walls)
Heating type	As main heatingHeating for comfort

Calculators from wpcalc.com

Considering the options for laying, you should understand what kind of layout of furniture and household appliances is planned in the future. This is important, first of all, in order not to lay an additional cable under the kitchen or bathroom. The measurement is most realistic to do directly on the spot, the distance between the cable lines is recommended to be made at least two cable turning radii, for example, for the Danish "Devi" it is 10 cm. In reality, for economical heating and constant maintenance of a comfortable 22-23 degrees in the room, it is enough to do a step of 12-15 cm between the cable lines.

It is recommended to indent from the outer walls at 10 cm, and from the inner ones 5-7 cm. When calculating, it is recommended to immediately make a margin of 10-15% of the estimated cable length. When calculating, it is recommended to take into account:

• the perimeter of the room for the installation of a thermal insulation barrier;
• the area of the room for calculating polystyrene foam insulation, waterproofing layer, calculating the number of ceramic tiles.
• the height of the control units - it depends on how many corrugated sleeves are needed and how long it will be necessary to order the wires for the sensor.

The warm electric floor under the tiles in its design is somewhat reminiscent of a layer cake with many layers, each of which has its own installation technology and purpose. So it is necessary to consider each of the elements in more detail.

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Base cushion laying technology

Considering the installation of an electric floor under a tile based on a heating cable, a classic example of the device of such a heating system using all layers and their construction technology is taken.

The basis for the first layer of thermal insulation is a concrete floor slab. The subfloor surface is cleaned of debris and dust and, if possible, is treated with a primer to strengthen the surface layer. Next, the walls are insulated - with a foam no thinner than 1 cm around the perimeter of the room, a contour up to 10 cm high is arranged. foam plastic 2 cm thick.

On top of this coating, a film thermal insulation layer with foil is laid. The material is laid up with foil, while the edges must be brought onto the walls by at least 10 cm and secured with masking tape.

For the device of the concrete screed, an additional reinforced belt made of metal mesh or reinforcement with a diameter of 6-8 mm with a pitch of 15-20 cm is used. The filling is carried out with cement concrete based on cement grade M450 or M500. The thickness of the screed must be at least 5 cm. At this stage, special attention is paid to the formation of a flat horizontal surface. The poured screed must completely dry naturally, without additional stress and drying. As an option to accelerate drying, it is allowed to use a plasticizer for concrete, but even so, such a plasticizer must be allowed for indoor use. It is recommended to start the continuation of work on the further installation of a warm floor under the tiles no earlier than after 3 days. When concrete begins to gain its commercial strength.

Installation of warm floors

The ease of installing a warm floor under the tiles is comparable to assembling a designer, as in the designer there is an instruction, there is also the required number of parts and there is also a drawing with the final view of the finished structure.

Initially, the places for installation of control elements are mounted in the walls and a box for these elements is installed. At this stage, the leads of the power supply wires are simply inserted into the box and insulated; safety precautions must be observed at all stages of installation. Corrugated sleeves are placed from the box into the wall prepared in the wall - one for the temperature sensor, the other for the heating cable. The corrugation for the sensor extends 1-1.5 meters across the floor. The end is insulated with PVC tape to prevent concrete mortar and moisture from entering the corrugation.

The mounting tape for fastening the cable is laid out perpendicular to the direction of cable laying. It is simply nailed to the floor. The driving step is 15-20 cm. The distance from the outer walls to the mounting tape is 15 cm.

Cable laying begins with the installation of the termination included in the kit, it is installed on the end of the cable, which is mounted in the most remote place of the structure. Using pliers or round nose pliers, the cable is fixed to the mounting tape. Cable routing should not have sharp bends and breaks. Each element of the intersection of the cable and the mounting tape must be fixed. The heating cable is laid without stretching, but at the same time it should not be loose.

After the end of laying, the end of the cable is cut taking into account the margin for installation in the control device. Through the corrugated pipe, the end of the cable is inserted into the back box.

A temperature sensor is installed at the same time. It just slips along the corrugation. At the end of this stage of work, the resistance of each of the cores and the entire cable is checked without fail using a tester.

At this stage, usually professional installers connect the control system and check the functionality.

If there is a special need to carry out a test run of such a system, then later, during the pouring of the screed or laying the tiles, not only turn off the power supply, but, if possible, remove the control unit and insulate the electrical wire to prevent unintentional switching on!

Preparation for laying tiles

The installation of an electric underfloor heating under the tiles at the stage of cable installation does not end, it is also necessary to make a screed for laying the tiles.

A traditional screed for tiles should be at least 4-5 cm, and it is desirable to have additional reinforcement, but in view of the fact that a heat cable is laid here, it is recommended to use a special mixture for thermal work, and instead of metal reinforcement, use a fabric reinforcing mesh.

The thickness of such a screed will be no more than 1.5-2 cm. It is recommended to pour the screed in one pass. It is important that during operation there is no damage to the heating cable, because if it is damaged, you will have to install underfloor heating in a new way. Therefore, it is recommended to use a self-leveling screed and a roller with rounded plastic spikes.

The tiles are laid on the hardened screed after final drying. As an adhesive, it is recommended to use a special ready-made adhesive thermomixture.

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