How To Choose An Electric Warm Floor For Laying Ceramic Tiles

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

• Electric underfloor heating
• Cable option
• Heating mats
• Film floor

The tile has a huge number of advantages, including practicality, durability and beauty. It also includes excellent thermal conductivity. But often in the cold season, coolness emanates from it, which does not always lead to comfort. To avoid this, there is one very good option - to install a warm floor. But it is important to know which warm floor to choose under the tiles, depending on the specific situation.

Electric underfloor heating

The most optimal option for heating the sub-floor with tiles is an electric underfloor heating. Its main advantage is that it can work all year round. The heating season will have no effect here. The dwelling will be warmed up even in the spring-autumn period, when it is damp and cold outside.

They are most often used in apartment buildings and, in some cases, in private ones. It can act not only as the main source of heat, but also as an additional one that turns on periodically. The main thing is that in this case, ceramic tiles are perfect as a floor covering, which will delight residents with their beauty and comfort. Here you can adjust the temperature level to suit the season and weather conditions. This is not possible with water-heated floors.

It should be noted that several types are distinguished in electric warm floors, which have their own advantages and disadvantages. One has only to figure out which one will be the most optimal for laying ceramic tiles on the base of the floor.

This will help to get an answer to which electric floor is better for a tile. Among all the variety, the following can be distinguished:

• Cable underfloor heating that requires an additional concrete screed prior to laying the floor covering.
• Electric heating mats to avoid shortening the distance from the ceiling to the floor.
• Infrared floor heating, one of the most modern and progressive.

Cable option

In rare cases, a cable underfloor heating is used under ceramic tiles. And there are several reasons for this:

1. The need to pour a concrete screed, the thickness of which usually reaches 40-50 mm, depending on the evenness of the entire base and the contents of the "cake".

   

2. With an additional layer of tile adhesive and the tiles themselves, the distance from the ceiling to the floor will be reduced by 60-80 mm. This will not work for rooms with low ceilings.
3. A load is created on the base due to the concrete screed. This will not always be beneficial for apartment buildings.

The installation of a cable underfloor heating is best performed when receiving a new home. Living space without finishing will allow you to mount underfloor heating at no extra cost. It is enough just to arrange a rough floor to level the base, in order to continue to lay the cables of the electric floor heating in the future. In some cases, the cable floor is attached precisely to the rough finish, placing it in the screed.

It is necessary to decide here only on which cable to buy for laying under the floor covering. It will also tell you which warm floor to choose for the tiles.

There are single-core and twin-core cables. A less expensive and budget option is single-core. But if the layout of the room where the installation is carried out is very complicated, then you cannot do without a two-core option. After all, a return to the thermostat must be arranged here without fail. Both ends of the cable should come to the same point. Two-core cables are thick. Laying with them is much easier due to the fact that its ends are not tied to each other.

The beginning of the operation of the electric cable underfloor heating is focused on the complete drying of not only the concrete screed, but also the tile adhesive. If this is neglected, then the solution itself and the glue will begin to crack, flake off and lose their qualities.

Heating mats

If you take into account the sports industry, the mats are quite thick. With regard to warm floors, everything is somewhat different. Heating mats are based on cables of insignificant thickness, very thin. They are placed in a reinforced mesh. The roll thickness is only 3 mm. In this case, the distance from the ceiling to the floor will remain practically unchanged.

Heating mats for ceramic tiles are suitable when there is already a concrete base in the house or apartment. It is enough just to roll them out on the floor surface, after which they are covered with special tile glue. In the future, it remains only to produce the flooring of the floor covering, namely the tiles. Therefore, this is all suitable for rooms that already have low ceilings.

During the installation process, you do not need to apply professional knowledge. The work can be carried out on its own, without the involvement of specialists. Probably, everyone is able to lay the heating mats on the surface, and then bring the existing cables into the socket. It is there that the thermostat will be installed.

You can also pay attention to the cost of laying such a variant of an electric heated floor under the tiles. Compared to a cable floor, the price will be about a third higher. But still, positive qualities can attract performers to their side. Heating mats can even be classified as one of the best underfloor heating for tiles.

Film floor

Among the modern and most popular are the film electric warm floor. It is also called infrared. When choosing a warm floor for a tile, a specialist will help to decide which one is better.

During operation, it does not let infrared radiation into the space under the floor, and also does not emit electromagnetic waves. Some say that there is a lot of harm from it to human health. But if you look at all the parameters and data, then we can say with confidence that it is no more harmful than being around a person. Everything is in accordance with current regulations.

The foil floor is one of the most efficient and heat-saving indoors. Installation does not take much time and can be done in the shortest possible time, even on your own.

The material for infrared underfloor heating is a polymer film, which is divided into squares, in which a large number of plates are soldered to heat the subfloor. These plates are activated by switching on the electrical network.

As for the device of ceramic tiles on top of an infrared warm floor, there is a peculiarity here, which is that it is best not to apply tile adhesive directly to elements that transfer heat. Most often, a plasterboard layer is used to separate the film and glue. In this case, the reflective properties of the coating are somewhat reduced. In this case, the heating of the subfloor increases over time, which will increase energy costs.

The efficiency of infrared underfloor heating is very high. But it practically does not match with ceramic tiles. Some experts do not even recommend combining these components in one room. The film of the electric underfloor heating is very weakly connected to the tile adhesive. An alternative option, if you cannot do without an infrared warm floor, is carbon.

The quality of the bond between the tile adhesive and the underfloor heating foil itself can be improved. For this, an assembly fiberglass mesh is used, which has small cells up to 30 mm.

Experts say that when an infrared warm floor is installed under ceramic tiles, the degree of heating of the air in the room is significantly reduced. That is, all properties are reduced to a minimum. This applies not only to tiles, but also to porcelain stoneware.

So it is better to think about more budgetary indoor heating options than to purchase expensive materials and spend their properties in combination with each other. When choosing a warm floor under an electric tile, which one is better, one should proceed from the specific situation. It will not be superfluous to consult with experts in this industry.

If you need a warm floor under the tiles, it is important to think about which one is better to choose so that it not only heats the room from the very base, but also has a low power consumption. In addition, the cost must be combined with the quality obtained.

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