In this article, I will talk in detail about the types of warm floors and draw a detailed conclusion which water or electric floor heating and where it will be best to use and why.
After reading the article, it will be very clear to you which floor and in which case it is more profitable and less costly to use. And I will also tell you what kind of warm floors and where in no case should you use.
And first, let's define what a warm floor is. A "warm floor" is not exactly a floor, but a kind of heating element that is located under the floor covering and allows it to be heated to a temperature that is comfortable for us.
So, what kind of warm floors are there?
Warm floors are divided according to the type of floor heating. They are electric cable (hereinafter simply electrical), electric-infrared (hereinafter simply infrared or film) and water (where the coolant circulates through the pipes).
In electric underfloor heating, a special cable serves as a heating element, which will heat the surface. Such a cable is laid and filled with a leveling layer of the screed. The heating cable can be glued to the mesh with a specific pitch (usually 10 cm) and this type is called heating mats.
Alternatively, the cable is sold separately and fastened with the pitch you need. The temperature is controlled by turning the cable on and off using a temperature sensor located at the base of the floor covering using a thermostat.
In infrared warm floors, graphite plates are used as a heating element, which are laminated into a dense transparent film, when an electric current passes through them, they emit infrared heat. Temperature regulation is the same as for electric floors.
Water heated floors are more complex in the device and they work from a heat carrier. The heat carrier (water or antifreeze) is heated by the heating boiler and circulates through the pipes laid in the floor screed. Temperature control is more complicated here and is regulated using a mixing unit. You can make a separate adjustment.
It is impossible to connect the circulation of the coolant directly to the pipes of the underfloor heating without a mixing unit. Otherwise, the screed will overheat and collapse, and you will not be able to evenly warm the floor to a comfortable temperature.
Myth # 1: Cannot be installed under furniture
This is a common myth about warm floors. Supporters of this myth argue that the heating element cannot be installed under furniture without legs. The main argument is that there is a risk of failure due to overheating, since furniture without legs worsens the removal of heat from the tile surface. In other words, the heat has nowhere to go and the cable begins to heat up above the melting temperature of the insulation.
Warm floor under furniture
This is only true when using the underlay on the bottom and furniture without legs on top at the same time. In this case, a "sandwich" is obtained that impairs heat removal from the surface of the cable. But in 80% of apartments, the substrate is not used under the heating element, and more on that below.
The experience of installing underfloor heating by Heating-Systems specialists shows that electric underfloor heating works great under furniture... If insulation is not used, the furniture will not affect the overheating of the cable in any way, since the heat will go down.
Furniture from above is the same thermal insulation from below. But no one will be against the use of thermal insulation with underfloor heating. It would never occur to anyone to say that the heating system will fail due to the substrate.
Which warm floor to choose?
In order to determine the choice, you must first distribute all the floors according to their effectiveness and their areas of application, more precisely, according to restrictions.
| TP type | In a private house | In the apartment | Use in wet areas | Energy efficiency |
| Electric | + | + | + | + |
| Infrared | + | + | — | ++ |
| Water | + | — | + | +++ |
The table shows that the electric underfloor heating has no restrictions, but has high energy consumption costs. He also has a more complex device.
The water floor cannot be used in apartment buildings (with the exception of townhouses on the ground floors and apartments with autonomous heating.
And the infrared floor cannot be used in wet areas.
Having these data, we can make an intermediate conclusion that if you have a private house, then you need to opt for a water-heated floor. This floor will not overheat under the furniture, it will work economically, warming up the entire screed. It will have great inertia and cool down for a long time.
Due to the fact that liquid flows in the pipes, the placement of a water-heated floor over the living area of an apartment is prohibited. In addition, autonomous heating is rarely available, and there is no need to fence a bunch of unnecessary equipment in the presence of central heating.
It is FORBIDDEN to connect warm water floors in apartments to centralized heating!
You will sink the entire riser in terms of heat and they will come to you with an inspection, write out a large fine and force everything to be eliminated as soon as possible.
We need an electric floor heating in the apartment. It remains to decide which type of floor heating is more suitable for us.
Review of popular manufacturers
The final cost of 1 square meter of warm water floors also depends on the choice of components produced by various brands. At the moment, on the domestic market, you can buy a warm water floor Rehau, produced in Germany. The German brand guarantees high quality products and excellent consumer characteristics of the system. An affordable price for a Rehau warm water floor allows you to save money already at the first stage of a house heating project.
Among other advantages that distinguish the warm water floor Rehau, the following qualities should be highlighted:
- availability of a warranty from the manufacturer;
- environmental friendliness;
- quick installation;
- efficiency;
- the ability to use in heating schemes of varying complexity.
Manufacturers from other countries also operate on the market, these are:
- German brand Kermi;
- a brand from Finland Uponor;
- German company Oventrop;
- Turkish manufacturer Unipex;
- Ecoplastic brand from Poland, etc.
The choice of manufacturers is quite large and the consumer may not be limited to foreign brands, because in addition to those listed, companies from the Russian Federation and neighboring countries sell their products at more affordable prices on the market.
Underfloor heating electric how to choose?
So, we looked at a variety of electric floor heaters. Now let's consider specifically where they are best laid and under what floor coverings.
Which electric underfloor heating is better to use under the tiles?
In the apartment, we cannot put an infrared film floor under the tiles, despite all its advantages. Since it covers the entire area with a solid surface where the tile glue will be applied, and it will not work to lay tiles on it.
Of course, there are infrared film floors with perforations supposedly for tiles, but it is better to refuse to use them. There are far fewer good tilers than ads on Avito. Even without such a heater, tiles can be laid at random, but with such a film the contact with the glue will be even less and over time the tiles will begin to fall off.
Actually, by the method of exceptions, we came to the decision that a cable electric heat-insulated floor is needed under the tiles.Will it be on mats or just a heating cable depends on which warm floor is more convenient to lay. If the area is flat, then, of course, the mats will be more convenient and faster to mount, if you have a broken area, then take the cable, not the mats.
If you have a question about the manufacturer, then I will not recommend any of them. I can only say that Russian manufacturers have made great strides forward and offer high-quality material with a guarantee of 30 years or more.
If you can afford to buy a German cable from a well-known manufacturer, then well, no, don't be discouraged. The performance of the floor in the majority will depend on how you will lay it and, most importantly, that the heating cable is not damaged during the installation process.
Due to the likelihood of damage to the heating cable, I recommend pouring it with a self-leveling floor and only then lay the tiles. Some craftsmen put it directly into the tile adhesive. And here there is a high probability of breaking through the insulation with a spatula when applying glue.
Also, after hardening, the glue may end up with voids and then, due to poor heat transfer in this place, the cable will overheat and fail faster.
Warm floor under laminate or linoleum, which one is better to choose?
And now it's the turn of the infrared floor. The use of a film underfloor heating under flooring such as laminate or linoleum is fully justified. This is due to several positions:
Firstly, heating elements do not have to be placed in a screed, but rather placed directly under the laminate on a substrate with a reflective surface. This gives significant energy savings since it is unnecessary to heat the floor slab, but only the floor covering.
Secondly, laying an infrared floor is much easier from the point of view of technology and almost anyone can handle it with little repair skills and tools. In order to lay such a floor, it is enough to remove the old floor covering, lay the heating elements and put a new one.
Thirdly, the use of infrared underfloor heating is beneficial from the point of view of quick warm-up. If any other warm floor needs to warm up the screed, tile adhesive, etc., it takes a long time for the floor covering to warm up. The film floor will warm it up quickly enough, literally in 5-10 minutes.
Based on this, an infrared floor is best suited for coatings such as laminate or linoleum. It can be turned on only when it is really required and turned off when not required to save energy. You can get even more confused and put a programmable thermostat and set the time intervals for using such a floor.
Wide application for such a floor can be found on an insulated loggia. If you use it as an office or there are exercise equipment. Turned on, worked, turned off.
Another truly great advantage is its maintainability due to the fact that the heating elements themselves are in relative availability and least of all (relative to another TP) labor costs are required to replace or repair it.
Infrared underfloor heating does not fit in damp rooms due to the threat of electric shock. Due to its peculiarity, it is connected with a power cable to heating elements.
Heating cable and mat
Where is the best place to use the heating cable? Where you will have a minimum screed, or tiles with glue - i.e. kitchen and bathroom.
As a rule, after the completion of the work by the builders, there can no longer be any talk of a full-fledged screed. The maximum is 5-6cm.
If even less, then the choice is unambiguous - only the heating mat. It can be applied directly to the tile adhesive.
The disadvantage of an electric underfloor heating can be attributed to the fact that in addition to your room, you will also warm up the ceiling from below. At your own expense, you will also heat your neighbors.
You have a warm floor, they have a warm ceiling.
Comparison table of the efficiency of heating cable and infrared film floors:
You can compare the current prices of warm floors with heating cables or mats and infrared films, as well as their components, here.
Underfloor heating the pros and cons of using.
So, we have already covered pros and cons certain types of warm floors. Now let's talk about the general positive and negative aspects of using underfloor heating.
Pros of using:
- Of course, comfort comes first. Agree to walk on a surface that is pleasantly warm, and does not chill the soul (through the heels) with cold porcelain stoneware.
- If underfloor heating is used as the main, then this will seriously reduce the cost of heating the home. Being low-temperature (the coolant does not heat up more than 45 degrees), it does not require the boiler to heat the coolant to a high temperature and due to this, fuel is greatly saved.
- The room heats up evenly from bottom to top from floor to ceiling by natural convection. Unlike classic radiator heating, where it can be hot in the house and cold on the floor.
- If you completely abandon the radiators, then you will have absolutely flat walls without protruding parts of them. By the way, if you are in doubt to abandon radiators completely or not, you can safely save on them. Checked not by me alone and in more than one house.
- Warm floors do not dry the air, unlike hot radiators.
- You can still add many points in favor of TP, but they will no longer be so significant (for example, the use of French windows - there will be no protruding radiators or super-expensive floor convectors, you will notice that your children are less sick, etc.)
Cons of using underfloor heating:
- If we are talking about the use of underfloor heating in an apartment, then this is, of course, unnecessary spending on electricity. Because for heating your premises, you will still be counted by area).
- It is necessary to correctly calculate the entire arrangement of furniture at the initial stage. It is undesirable to install furniture on a warm floor. Firstly, it will dry out (wooden), and secondly, if the floor is electric, then the cable will overheat at the place where the furniture is installed, and it will soon fail. By the way, the water floor is devoid of the second drawback - it does not overheat.
- Maintainability of warm floors. Although if you remember that you cannot drill it with a perforator, install various sills and decorative elements, then nothing terrible will happen.
Features of using a warm water floor
The operation of such systems is quite simple, it is important to keep the following points in mind:
- The increase in temperature should be stepwise: after complete cooling, it is recommended to raise it by 3-5 degrees per day.
- The water temperature in the system should not be higher than 45 degrees.
- When arranging underfloor heating with your own hands, you should check that the room has normal air humidity: overheating at high humidity negatively affects human health.
Installation of this type of heating system is a rather fun and simple process, and if you have tools and instructions, you can cope with the work yourself. For a team of 2-3 people, a day is enough to prepare the base and install the pipes, and you can use the finished system 30 days after solidification or immediately if the base is a polystyrene flooring.
