How To Mount The Structure Of A Warm Water Floor

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

• Familiarization with warm floors
• Positive qualities and disadvantages
• Possible limitations
• Choice of method and scheme
• Design
• Preparatory activities
• Main nodes
• Crimping
• Filling the screed

For your own home, you should do the best and the most modern. Especially when it comes to heating. Here it is best to approach the installation of a warm water floor, which requires strict adherence to technology. The demand for it is constantly growing, but at the same time the stages of laying the pipeline and all its components remain unchanged. At the end of this process, all that remains is to perform a high-quality filling from the prepared solution or choose a flat method that allows you to move away from the "wet" methods.

Familiarization with warm floors

For a warm floor, certain nuances are characteristic, without knowing which a positive result cannot be obtained. If the technology is violated, then during operation it will be impossible to achieve effective heating of the floor base in the room. In addition, it is worth paying attention to the fact that such an installation is feasible for private construction. In apartment buildings it is unlikely that a special permit for the device will be obtained. And the heating season will affect the degree of heating of the air in the room.

New buildings include water floor heating systems in the project. So that there are no malfunctions of the heating, an autonomous boiler works instead of the central one. Due to the heating of the room, you can at any time and at your own discretion, adjusting the temperature conditions.

It is concrete that has a sufficient number of positive qualities, which at the same time has a simple installation, which is most popular when installing a screed. But if you pay attention to other main options - flat or semi-dry, then all the work can also be done without any particular difficulties. In addition, sometimes the results are even better than when pouring concrete.

There are several main and very important stages, according to which the installation of a water-type heated floor is carried out, the step of laying the warm floor is selected.

All of them should be adhered to without fail and all the time necessary to achieve results should be taken. These include:

1. Underfloor heating design and calculation.
2. Preparatory activities.
3. Assembling the collector group, pipeline.
4. Floor heating screed.
5. Flooring flooring.

Positive qualities and disadvantages

Underfloor heating can be compared to radiator heating. And here a large number of advantages immediately appear, which attract performers to choose this particular design to heat the entire room.

• Reduced heating costs. For standard premises, energy resources are spent about 25% less, and if the premises have very high ceilings of more than three meters, then by 50-60 percent.

  

  It is in the economy that the main advantage of using warm water floors lies.
• Not a single component of the warm floor will create obstacles during the planning and drawing of the room design. Radiator heating cannot boast of such quality. You constantly have to bypass the heating elements and come up with ways to bring the room into proper form.
• Uniform heating of the entire room from the base of the floor to the ceiling. In addition, with the correct choice of the pipeline layout, all sections of the floor will have the same temperature. This is especially true for children's rooms when children are constantly playing on the floor. The main thing is to choose the right step for laying the water floor.
• Do not burn yourself or get injured on the heating elements. All of them are safely hidden in the base of the floor.

But in any technology one cannot do without the drawbacks that performers face when installing and using a warm floor. The very process of laying a warm floor is very complicated.

Here, certain skills are needed that relate to the connection of all components to the collector group, as well as the placement of the pipeline on the base. So it is best to entrust the work to specialists in this area.

If the rules for laying a warm floor or poorly selected components and material for a warm floor are not followed, there is a high probability of leakage. It will be problematic to cope with this problem for the reason that it will be necessary to dismantle the flooring and screed in a separate area. It is worth remembering that the damaged area can be at different distances. Everything will depend on the length of the entire pipeline of the underfloor heating system.

Possible limitations

If the house has an autonomous heating system, then such a system can be performed without problems. The effectiveness of her work will be noticeable from the first days. But residents of apartment buildings with central heating are thinking about how to put underfloor heating. It is necessary that everything be included in the project. Otherwise, you will have to obtain the appropriate permission, which hardly anyone will give. This is all focused on changing the pressure in the central networks. In addition, there may be a danger for the residents of the house, as well as for engineering networks.

If you still want to arrange a warm water floor in a residential apartment building, a heat exchanger must be equipped. After that, an agreement is made with the operating organization.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of flooring. Even linoleum can be used. But if its grade is low, then there is a high probability of releasing an extraneous odor. The best option is tile or laminate.

When choosing a heating system, it is important to monitor the water temperature in the circuit, it should not exceed 50 degrees. For this, automatic three-way temperature valves are installed.

It is not recommended to use carpet or parquet as flooring. This is all due to their high heat-insulating ability. They also have low heat dissipation. In this case, the efficiency of the warm water floor system is noticeably reduced.

Choice of method and scheme

For the device of the "pie" of the warm floor, two main methods can be chosen:

1. Concrete. The simplest and most common option. The underfloor heating contour is laid under the concrete screed. A lot of work will have to be done. Sometimes it will be problematic even to carry out the installation on your own.

   

   Here you will need to choose the optimal layer thickness so that the quality of the warm floor is the best. Before laying the flooring, you will also need to wait until the solution is completely dry.

2. Grazing. Concrete work is not carried out here at all, and there is also no "wet" method. During the execution, no water is used at all. The main components are finished materials. This allows you to somewhat reduce the cost of installing a warm floor, as well as the period of its implementation. But it is worth noting that the larger the layer of the "pie" is obtained, the more funds will be spent. Depending on the material chosen, several varieties are distinguished in the work: a polystyrene system, as well as a wooden one (rack or modular).

In each case, you should know how to install a warm floor. All the subtleties are contained in the technology that must be followed.

The optimal distance when laying pipes for underfloor heating is 150mm.

Particular attention should be paid to the choice of the layout of the underfloor heating pipeline. There may be several basic options here: a snake or a snail. The "snail" method has the greatest efficiency, when pipes are located throughout the entire area of the room in a circle, starting from the walls and heading towards the central part. After reaching the center, the pipeline is directed back. The efficiency lies in the fact that the hot coolant will be distributed over the entire plane in the room. It will be positioned alternating with reverse flow, which will be cold. At the same time, it is very important to choose a step of the warm floor for laying pipes, which will transfer heat to the entire floor surface.

As for the "snake" scheme, it is less used as the main and only option. The fact is that the main heat will be concentrated in the hot coolant outlet section. The second half, where the cold flow will be directed to the outlet, will warm up noticeably less. An alternative and more effective option is a double snake. But the installation process takes longer and requires attention. There are also features in terms of the distance of the correct laying of the warm floor, on which the degree of heat transfer will depend, as well as its uniform distribution.

There is also a combined scheme, when both of the above options are combined with each other. So, for example, you can arrange a "snake" scheme at the entrance to the room, and in the central part of it, where you spend most of the time, you can choose a "snail" scheme.

Design

Beforehand, everything should be thought out correctly. From the options presented, one should choose a specific one, and then schematically display everything on paper on a scale, relative to the area of the room. By drawing the pipeline on paper, you can calculate the required amount in reality.

Particular attention should be paid to the collector group and the choice of a heating boiler. The capacity of the latter should be sufficient for the entire circuit. However, he should not work to wear. There must be a reserve of power. Among the nuances to which attention is drawn:

• The parameters of the entire room, its configuration and area.
• The temperature in the room, which will be needed during the operation of the underfloor heating system.
• Features of the pipeline, its diameter, as well as all other components. When a warm floor is arranged, the pipe laying step will indicate the required amount.

As for the tubes, it is necessary to calculate it in advance with an online calculator of water heating, so that there are no deviations during the installation of the entire structure of the warm floor. It is best to pay attention to the whole systems for the warm floor, where all the necessary components will be.

Video:

Preparatory activities

Any mistake made, even the smallest one, can lead to serious consequences. For this reason, the technology and installation instructions should be strictly followed. The entire base for underfloor heating must be leveled with a rough screed. Otherwise, the contour of the water floor will begin to deform, which will lead to "airing" of the system. In the presence of cracks or other defects, they must be repaired and repaired with mortar.

Initially, the installation of thermal insulation is carried out so that the heat is stored and transferred to the inside of the room, and not wasted on heating the floors below. The most optimal material for this is penoplex or polystyrene. If the material does not contain special fasteners for pipes (bosses), then a layer of reinforcement made of metal mesh is additionally arranged.

The damper tape is fastened around the perimeter of the room so that the screed is in proper form during operation and heating the room with a warm floor. An ordinary polyethylene film is selected as a waterproofing material.

To make the reliability of the entire structure high, a layer of reinforcement is also laid over the pipeline.

Main nodes

The laid pipes must be necessarily connected to the collector group. Most often this is associated with the installation of a manifold box, which is mounted on the wall.

The mixer is responsible for the uninterrupted circulation of the coolant in the pipeline system. Manifolds allow you to distribute flows of hot and cold media.

The heating boiler is selected based on the required power. The financial component of the issue will also play a significant role here. After all, you can buy boilers with automatic adjustment of the coolant supply, temperature selection and other parameters. In reality, it will be enough to correctly configure the system once, choosing the appropriate step for laying a water-heated floor and then using it for pleasure. An online calculator will help to correctly calculate the boiler power.

Excellent operation of the boilers is ensured by a circulation pump. Excessive pressure is not formed, but the coolant is simply directed into the pipeline. The most optimal pump option is a three-speed pump, which allows you to change the speed of the coolant in the system, depending on the season.

Particular attention is paid during the purchase to its performance and pressure. Performance is calculated using the formula:

Q = 0.86 * Pн / (tp.-tob.)

Pн - heating circuit power.

The head is calculated:

H = (P * L + K) / (1000)

P is the hydraulic resistance of each m.p. pipes

L is the length of the longest contour.

K - power reserve factor.

Crimping

When all the main types of work on the device are completed, the step of laying the pipes for the water-heated floor is selected,

measures should be taken to check the system for operability and identify possible defects. For this, hydraulic tests are performed. This checks the system not only for tightness, but also for strength.

Initially, water or other selected heat carrier is supplied at a pressure that will be approximately half that of the normal operating pressure. Pressure fluctuations in the system are possible. The tolerance is 0.02 MPa. In any case, the temperature of the coolant must remain unchanged.

The standard pressure at which the system is pressurized is 3-4 bar. The work is carried out for at least 24 hours to make sure there are no problems. The best tool for the job is a hydraulic press or an air compressor.

If any errors and problems are found with the pipeline, other components of the warm floor, repairs will have to be made. In any case, it is impossible to continue further installation activities.

Filling the screed

Most often, it is a concrete screed that is used to cover the entire contour of a warm floor. It is widely used, but ordinary concrete will not work.

If you use sand concrete, then be at least M300 in order to get high quality. A plasticizer and other possible additives are necessarily added, which make it possible to pour efficiently.

For the screed, you should choose the optimal thickness, which will allow you to warm up the room from the system in the required amount and with the proper use of energy resources. A very thick screed must not be allowed, which will exceed 10 cm. It will take a lot of money to set up a "pie" and a large amount of financial investment to pay for heating and the efficiency will be low.

When everything is produced consistently, observing the technology, you will get a really high-quality construction of the whole “pie”. The base of the floor in the room will warm up qualitatively over the entire area. Comfort and coziness will not leave the premises where the system is arranged.

Video:

Video:

Video:

Video: