Mats for underfloor heating

This floor heating used to be a curiosity for many, now this heating system has become as commonplace as classic batteries. She earned consumer love, due to the uniform heating of the premises and the absence of any additional appliances, which, as a rule, spoil the interior. And many people appreciate the warm floors for ease of installation. Such a system can be mounted independently without the help of specialists. The main thing is to understand how the system works and to choose high-quality materials for work. Mats for a warm water floor play an important role here. Why - we will tell in our review.

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The importance of thermal insulation

Some woe-masters believe that it is not necessary to lay mats under a warm water floor. There will be enough good waterproofing layer. But this is far from the case. This element is one of the most important in the arrangement of the heating system, and there are several reasons for this:

• If there is no good heat-insulating layer under the pipes or wires, then all the generated heat will go in all directions, including for the heating of floors and concrete screed. To get the maximum effect, you need to create a reflective surface, thanks to which all the generated energy will go up.
• Also, the heating mat, when properly installed, provides additional sound insulation. This is especially important for residents of modern high-rise buildings.
• Many materials for creating a thermal barrier have a thin film layer on their surface, which provides reliable protection against leaks. Additional moisture isolation prevents mold and mildew.

The choice of materials for installation will depend on whether your heating system is water or electric.

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Electric floor heating system

Many believe that an electric underfloor heating system is more efficient and economical. The temperature can always be adjusted using a special sensor, and water leaks are eliminated in principle.

Features of heating mats

The durability of the system largely depends on the correct choice of materials. Here, many prefer a peculiar element in the form of a heating mat, which consists of two parts:

• The basis is copper or steel wires. They give the necessary heat. These elements are attached to the grid.
• The grid, which is also the insulation protection of the mat, consists of fibers of polymers, fiberglass and rubber.

In fact, this is a ready-made fragment of a warm floor in the form of a roll, which is enough to lay out on the floor. The pluses, in addition to ease of installation, include the following points:

• The grid with heating elements is very thin, so it can be used in rooms with low ceilings, without taking precious centimeters from the height.
• Additional screed when installing heating mats is not required.
• Due to its design, such materials can be combined with any floor coverings; even laying a heating mat under a tile is possible.

Important! Before you purchase this material, you need to decide: the electric floor will be the main source of heat or additional. If this is the main heating system, then its power should be of greater importance than in the case of its application in addition to the main.

Another mandatory element of the electric floor system is special means of controlling the parameters of their work:

• The simplest adjustment device is a temperature controller. It can be electronic - with a small set of functions, or programmable, with the ability to set a specific time for heating the room.
• Systems can also be equipped with a sensor that does not require constant manual adjustment. He himself determines that the room temperature has decreased in comparison with the given parameters, which means that it is necessary to increase the heating power, and vice versa.

Power determination

Finishing flooring is also of great importance. Consider this using the example of laying a heating mat under a tile:

• If the thickness of the tile is not more than 7 mm, then - the power of the mat should be at least 100 watts per square meter. This will be enough to install a warm floor in the corridor or in the kitchen.
• If the porcelain used is more than 7 mm, then power from 150 W per square is already required. Such parameters are usually used when laying floors with high humidity, where not only heating, but also increased evaporation of water is needed.

Important! Increased power is also needed for a loggia or for a poorly insulated room.

Traditionally, heating mats are made with single-core wires, they are quite thin, not more than 3 millimeters thick. Also, more and more often on the shelves of stores you can see two-core cables:

• Single core wires are less powerful. But their most important minus is that when connected, they are able to create an electromagnetic field that does not affect the condition and health of a person in the best way. Radiation is within acceptable limits, but it is better not to use it for residential premises.
• In two-core cables, this drawback is eliminated due to the second wire, which compensates for electromagnetic radiation. They give more heat, but at the same time they cost more. But their use in residential premises is absolutely safe and does not cause discomfort.

Installation Nuances

A huge advantage of such heating mats is their ease of use. For installation, it is not necessary to carry out complex calculations of the required cable length and painstakingly lay the wires in a spiral or snake. You simply cut off a suitable portion of the roll and lay it on the floor. However, there are nuances here that should be taken into account:

• The area heated by the electric floor system should be no more than 80 percent of the total area of ​​the room.
• Laying the heating mat under the tile is done directly in the glue layer or in a thin layer of leveling soil.
• The use of heat-reflecting materials is excluded in this case.
• Heating mats are designed for a strictly defined area, usually in increments of 1 square meter. You can’t shorten the material, but you can round it down.
• In those places where heavy furniture or household appliances will stand, they are not recommended to be laid in order to maintain the integrity of the material.
• The connection points of the temperature sensors should be calculated in advance and drawn in the installation diagram with the designation of all elements. Thus, you will reduce both installation time and energy costs.

Important! In order for installation not to cause difficulties, use the instructions that are included in the material. Typically, manufacturers give not only a text description, but also a photo.

Combination with flooring

Electric-based heating mats can be combined with different materials, but some are not recommended for use at all:

• Heating mats are perfect for tiles, because tile is a good conductor of heat and does not deform from its effects.
• When flooring from synthetic materials, be careful. Not every laminate or linoleum is suitable for an electric floor heating system. Only special coatings that are resistant to temperature stress. See marking from the manufacturer.
• Under wood, this heating method is better not to use at all. Parquet, for example, is very quickly deformed from such a neighborhood and will become worthless.

Important! Regardless of what type of stoves are selected, when buying, you should ask the seller for a product certificate, which should indicate compliance with fire and environmental standards. It is better not to buy products without such documents, because the material may turn out to be a fake of low quality and cause serious problems in the operation of the entire system. And this may turn out to be unsafe for the health and even the life of your household.

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Underfloor water system

The choice of mats for a warm water floor is more complicated, since there are more varieties. Materials differ among themselves in the type of raw materials used, methods for fixing heating elements and technical characteristics.

Roll foil insulation

This material is made from penofol - foamed polyethylene, it retains heat. As an addition, one of the sides is covered with aluminum foil - it evenly distributes heat over the surface and does not allow overheating:

• The thickness of the foil rolls is small. Therefore, such heat-insulating mats for underfloor heating are good only if the system is designed for additional heating of the room
• This material is not at all suitable for ground floor apartments, under which there is a basement.
• Their optimal use will be in a small room with low ceilings. Then the system will be enough to warm the room, while not taking away the height.

Important! Such material is laid on the surface with the foil up, and the joints carefully glued with a special tape to give reliable protection against moisture.

• The disadvantage of such a substrate is the need for additional clamps for pipes - it can be a mesh or fixing clamps.
• If the main raw material for production is expanded polystyrene with a polymer film, then for the fastening of pipes on them, harpoon brackets will be required.

Important! The protective film gives the material extra density - it is able to withstand pressure up to 35 kilograms per cubic meter. In order that the installation of pipes does not cause trouble, special markings are made on the film.

Flat mats and panels

Flat mats for a warm water floor also have a small thickness - up to 0.5 centimeters, but their strength is already higher:

• The structure of the material is quite dense, it can withstand a load of up to 40 kilograms per cubic meter.
• They practically do not deform, do not deteriorate.
• The pipes are fastened using special plastic staples.
• This material is considered universal. It is suitable for laying on the first floors of buildings, where a warm floor will be the main heating system, and for any other premises as additional heating.

Important! Such a substrate requires marking under the pipes, which complicates the installation a little. Also, without fail, it is laid only on the film to protect the material from spoilage from the cement screed.

Profile mats with clips

Panels for a warm water floor with locks, or as they are also called “bosses”, are produced using special hydro-pellet stamping technology. Its application allows you to make even rows of curly ledges:

• This material is available in the form of rectangular sheets.
• Each has protrusions in the form of cubes, cylinders, polyhedrons, between which thin elements of the heating system are laid.
• The pipes are securely fixed without any additional fasteners, but the mobility of the structure when filling the screed is minimal.

Important! This material also has additional waterproofing properties. They are provided with a special laminating coating and centering locks at the ends of the panels. With their help, even from a large number of individual elements, you can create a continuous smooth surface, parts of which are securely fastened to each other.

Such panels for a new generation of warm water floors began to be used recently, but they have already earned immense popularity:

• Conventional heat insulators do not have the same strength as mats, but this layer is heavily loaded - many pipes with water passing through it, a cement base or flooring system.
• Their thermal insulation properties are more advanced. Heat losses are minimal, respectively - utility bills will be lower.
• They are also able to withstand huge temperature drops - from minus 180 degrees to plus 180 degrees.
• Mats are made from self-extinguishing raw materials, which increases their fire safety and harmlessness to the body.
• Thanks to the clamps, it allows you to quickly put them on the surface.
• Mats are a bit more expensive, but this difference is not critical. Once you have portable money for quality products, you get a reliable and efficient heating system.

Important! Using heat-insulating mats for underfloor heating, you get another advantage. Since the reflective surface of the material is high, the room warms up much faster than when using standard heat insulators.

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Installation Steps

Regardless of which system you prefer and which materials you choose, an important point is the preparation of the foundation:

• First, a cement screed is made - it should be smooth, without any irregularities or indentations.
• Then a layer of waterproofing is laid on it. This will put a reliable barrier to moisture, especially true for the water floor system.

Important! A waterproofing agent can be a bituminous coating, penetrating waterproofing. Film for the electric floor system is not used.

• After laying the mats, a damper tape is glued around the entire perimeter of the room.

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Stock footage

For many, the issue of using the underfloor heating system in an apartment or in a house is no longer a question. This method of space heating has long been proven effective in front of stoves, radiators, and other traditional heating systems. As the level of sales shows, heating mats have long become leaders in consumer demand, because installing the system with your own hands is not particularly difficult. Once again, we draw your attention to the fact that in the electrical system it is worth paying special attention to the power of the elements, the water floor will require high resistance to loads and waterproofing.