The warm floor can not be called an achievement of modern technology, such systems were equipped in ancient Roman times. This has been repeatedly confirmed by excavations. Russia is a country where the climate is quite severe, which is why housing heating plays a rather important role. Recently, warm floors have become popular, which is especially true for the field of individual housing construction. Their application gives the premises a unique comfort and coziness. If you also decided to use this method of creating a warmer climate inside your house or apartment, then you can choose water or electric floors.
Modern solution
Heating floors powered by heating are more widespread today, this is explained by the fact that they are environmentally friendly, have a low cost and are durable. A similar system can be present not only in the apartment, but also in the office, as well as in the warehouse or industrial premises. The technology allows heating large enough areas, due to this, optimal circulation of heated air is guaranteed, the temperature at different points in the room remains the same.
Pros of using
Floor heating eliminates drafts, and if you equip it in a room whose ceiling height varies from 3.5 to 5 meters, then such a system will have no alternative, this is especially important for storage rooms where it is required to maintain a given temperature. It is noteworthy that to all the advantages of this floor, you can add the possibility of arrangement under any type of finish coating.
Installation of underfloor heating
Floor heating, equipped in this way, is a system created from plastic pipes. They should have a small diameter, metal-plastic or cross-linked polyethylene can be used as the material . These materials have high thermal conductivity, low resistance and impressive flexibility. The length of the pipeline can vary from 40 to 500 meters. Such pipelines are made as a whole, which is why the probability of leakage at the joints is completely excluded.
Floor heating created according to such a scheme must maintain a certain temperature; for this, a heating medium mixing unit is introduced into the system; it can include a thermostatic mixer, a pump, a collector, as well as a temperature sensor regulator.
main sources
The above system can operate from two sources, namely individual gas equipment or a central heating system. It is important to remember that connecting to the central system in a multi-storey building is prohibited, because then there will be a high load, water hammer may occur. This can be done after agreement with specialists in your field, this is relevant only for houses of new series, where there is a separate riser for pumping the coolant during a breakthrough in the heating system. In this case, heat consumption meters are installed. Alternative methods are preferred when the water parameters are set individually, in which case they will not depend on central heating.
Principle of operation
Floor heating works according to a certain principle, it is quite simple and consists in the fact that through the collector with a pump the heat carrier is pumped under slight pressure along the length of the laid pipeline. The finish coating, which has high thermal conductivity, heats up and transfers heat to the interior space of the room. The air temperature at the floor surface will be greater than at the height of human growth. Through the return, chilled water enters the riser of the central heating system, it can also be gas equipment for heating.
Installation diagrams
Floor heating systems are usually installed according to one of the existing schemes, it can be thin, light or concrete floors. In the latter case, we are talking about the main system, which is fastened on bearing reinforced concrete floors, while a concrete-based screed is used as a warm distribution layer. It will provide the highest possible heat dissipation. This system is also called wet or wet, it is as efficient and reliable as possible. This method provides maximum heat transfer, which covers the heat loss of the room. Such a floor has high strength, cheap, comfortable to use, environmentally friendly and hygienic.
Floor heating systems can be laid in those rooms where there are no reliable reinforced concrete floors. In this case, it is better to use a dry screed, it can be a polystyrene or wooden floor. Particleboard or polystyrene plates are used as the basis , they are stacked with plates and have special grooves for the pipeline. The next layer is gypsum fiber sheet, the main advantages in this case are the high speed of work, a small thickness and the absence of costs that are usually associated with concreting.
If you use a dry technique, then you do not have to wait about a month until the screed hardens, in addition, its thickness will be equal to the limit of 35 to 60 mm. The disadvantage of such a floor arrangement is its low heat dissipation, it can reach a maximum of 60 W / m2, and the high cost, which depends on the installation price, cannot be ignored. These systems are usually used during reconstruction, the need to carry out work in a short time, with a low height of the room, as well as in buildings with wooden floors.
Alternative solution
A thin scheme is used when arranging the floor in small rooms, the area of which does not exceed 7 m 2 , this includes kitchens, toilets and bathrooms. In this case, a woven base is laid on which a pipe of small diameter is mounted, up to 8 millimeters. As a top coating, a copper mesh is usually used.
The limitation of the use of this scheme is due to the high hydraulic resistance, because the pipes will have a small diameter, which means that a high load will be placed on the heating system.
Surface Preparation Tips
You can independently realize the heating of a private house, warm floors sometimes become the only right decision. However, before installing them, it is necessary to dismantle the old screed, reaching the base. Waterproofing is laid on the cleaned surface, the damper tape is laid not only around the perimeter, but also between the contours, if there are several. The method of insulation should be chosen depending on the target orientation of the system. If it is in addition to the main one, then enough foamed polyethylene, one side of which is covered with foil. If we are talking about an apartment, from the bottom of which there are heated rooms, then sheets of expanded polystyrene or extruded expanded polystyrene will be enough, their thickness can vary from 20 to 50 mm.
Indoor floor with cold overlap
It is possible to make heating in the floor of a private house, when there is a basement or soil below, using a heater in the form of an embankment of expanded clay or expanded polystyrene, the thickness of the latter can reach 100 mm, while the minimum value is 50 mm. A reinforcing mesh should be placed on top of the insulation, it will not be fixed in the screed layer, among other things, it will be possible to fix the underfloor heating pipe on the mesh. Sometimes special clips or fixing strips are used.
Selection of materials and devices
Floor heating of a private house can be realized from the heating system. However, you may additionally need:
- water boiler;
- Ball Valves;
- collector with tuning system;
- various fittings;
- pipes;
- charge pump.
The latter may be present in the boiler, but as for the collector, it should be equipped with a system for adjusting the warm floors. For laying the main route, fittings are needed, they will allow you to equip the system from the collector to the boiler. It is important to take the choice of material for pipes seriously. If you decide to prefer polypropylene products, it is best to choose reinforced with fiberglass, since polypropylene has a high linear expansion when heated. Polyethylene does not expand so much, so it has recently become widespread.
More about pipes
You can independently implement such heating. Water floor heating is best installed using pipes, the diameter of which varies from 16 to 20 mm. The pipe must withstand temperatures up to 95 degrees Celsius, while the maximum possible pressure should be 10 bar. It is not necessary to purchase expensive options with additional layers and oxygen protection. This applies to those people whose main task is to reduce the cost of installing underfloor heating.
Technology of work
If you decide to equip the floor heating in a private house, then you must adhere to a certain methodology, it provides for the implementation of preparatory work, laying of a damper tape, a heat-insulating layer and a pipeline. Preparation involves cleaning surfaces from dirt and debris, cracks and crevices should be sealed with concrete mortar. It is important to make sure that the irregularities do not exceed 5 mm, otherwise, air will leak during the operation of the system, and heat transfer will decrease.
If the rough floors are not even, they must be poured with a rough screed. The next step will be laying the damper tape, it will compensate for the thermal expansion of the screed. In order that the heat does not go to the neighbors, a layer of insulation should be laid. It can be mats of foam or polystyrene, on the surface of which there must be clamps for pipes. The thickness of the material will depend on the heat load: the more impressive it is, the thicker the insulation layer should be. The minimum value is 30 mm. Next, heating pipes are laid in the floor. They should be fixed in the grooves of the insulation using one of three mounting schemes. It can be styling:
- a snake;
- double helix;
- ordinary wash.
The latter option is the simplest and most reliable. The system should be pressure tested or subjected to hydraulic tests, this will make sure of the strength and tightness, and it is necessary to carry out these works after installing the distribution manifold and connecting the heating circuit. Water must be supplied under overpressure.
The underfloor heating should be poured with concrete screed, for this cement should be prepared, the brand of which is M-300 or higher. It is important to add a plasticizer, per square meter there will be a sufficient volume of 0.6-1 liters. A concrete screed should close the pipeline, the thickness should not be more than 15 cm. It is important to pour the mortar onto warm pipes so that after they do not break the concrete during expansion. After 28 days, the system can be started, the water temperature should rise gradually, the maximum level can be reached only on the third day of heating. After completing all of the above work, you should proceed with the installation of a decorative floor covering, it can be a laminate, linoleum, ceramic tile, as well as carpet.
Conclusion
The floor heating in the house is inert, but this characteristic can do a good job. If for some reason the boiler equipment is not able to heat water for some time, the system will give off heat to the rooms. But you need to be prepared for the fact that after the first start-up, warming up can take several days. That is why those people who have been using such heating systems for several years are advised to turn on the warm floors during the first frosts, this will prepare for the cold.