Which is better: underfloor heating or heating radiators?

Combined system

You can combine the two types of heating as follows:

• underfloor heating in addition to radiators;
• underfloor heating as the main source of heating, and radiators as an auxiliary one.

Air heating with a radiator and underfloor heating system

Often, to ensure comfort in two-story private houses, a warm floor on the ground floor is used as the main source of heating, and the upper floor or attic is heated with radiators. This combination allows you to take full advantage of the two systems. In the bedrooms you can adjust the temperature at night and during the day. And on the ground floor, the room warms up well.

If the heat loss of the room is large, then a combined system is arranged.

The main advantage of radiators

And it consists in the following: some types of radiator heating systems do not need light. That is, to heat the house, you just need to light up your boiler. A frankly strong advantage in those corners where there are problems with the supply of light.

With floors, this trick will not work. Therefore, if you are thinking about the question of choosing a warm floor or radiators and you have bad business with the light. We would still advise you gravity types of radiator heating.

The fundamental difference between underfloor heating and a boiler with radiator batteries

The main difference between warm floors and batteries is in the principle of operation. Underfloor heating contains heating elements that act on the ceiling, which heats the room. It warms up evenly, which means that people can walk barefoot and not be afraid of catching a cold. Heated air masses move upward, replacing cold, heavy masses moving downward.

The room is heated according to an inertial scheme - a concrete slab is heated, which further heats everything else. For those who do not like to wait a long time, it is better to stay on heating with a boiler, pipes and radiators.

But this is not such a serious feature to draw attention to, because in cold seasons, houses are heated around the clock.

“But the cold comes from the windows, radiators are installed in order to avoid these heat losses, and now everything is being removed from under the windows!” - the meticulous owner will say. Of course, this is so, therefore, small radiator batteries or so-called thermal paths are used together, which warm the window area and eliminate the fogging of the windows.

Are there any real savings when using underfloor heating?

But where can such savings come from if, theoretically, the same amount of heat should be spent to heat a room, regardless of the heating system?

When using a warm floor, saving heat becomes possible due to the specifics of its distribution. When using radiator heating, the heat is constantly in motion - it rises up from the radiator, then cools at the ceiling and falls down to the floor, and when using a warm floor, there is practically no circulation, and the highest temperature is located at the very floor. In the underfloor heating system, the temperature of the coolant most often does not exceed 55 degrees, and in the radiator heating system, the temperature often reaches 90 degrees.

But don't jump to conclusions. The difference in the temperatures of the coolants of the two systems under consideration is not in itself an indicator of savings.In order to maintain the same temperature in the room, the boiler in both cases consumes approximately the same amount of energy, in accordance with the elementary laws of physics. In this case, it becomes unclear where the savings can come from?

Comparison of different heating options

Despite the low energy consumption, underfloor heating requires significant financial investments and is inferior to heating with batteries in cost. It is more labor-consuming to install, repair and maintain, so it is advisable to use traditional radiators for space heating. If desired, you can combine batteries and underfloor heating to obtain combined heating. In this case, radiators are used to heat living quarters in apartments. Underfloor heating is installed in the bathroom, hallway, toilet and kitchen.

In private low-rise buildings, another option for organizing heating is also used. To maintain a comfortable temperature in the premises of the first floor, they use a "warm floor" system, and on the rest - traditional radiators.

24.08.2017

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Battery types

Radiators are made from different materials. They are:

• cast iron;
• steel;
• aluminum.

Each metal has its own pros and cons, which must be considered when replacing.

Cast iron

They have a working pressure of 9 bar. As for other characteristics, they are as follows:

• height - 350-1500 mm;
• depth - 50-140 mm.

Such batteries, although they began to be used for a very long time, are still very popular. Their main advantages:

• relatively low price;
• the ability to add sections;
• durability;
• the ability to use with any coolant;
• high efficiency.

If we talk about the shortcomings, which must be taken into account when comparing, that it is better to have a warm floor or cast iron batteries, then they are also very significant:

1. The room heats up for a long time after the batteries are turned on.
2. The heat transfer of cast iron batteries is 110 W per section, which is quite small.
3. You need a lot of coolant.
4. These batteries weigh a lot.
5. As a rule, the design does not differ in variety.

Aluminum and bimetallic

They appeared later than cast iron ones, but quickly gained popularity. Users appreciate:

• high heat transfer;
• ease of installation
• profitability;
• little weight.

In bimetallic batteries, most of these drawbacks have been eliminated.

Steel

There are two types of such batteries:

• panel;
• tubular.

The working pressure can be between 5 and 16 bar. Steel radiators give temperatures up to 120 ° C. Their dimensions may be as follows:

• height - 200-900 mm;
• depth - up to 225 mm.

Steel batteries are much more durable than others. They also have other advantages:

• high heat transfer;
• reliability;
• strength;
• low cost;
• easy installation;
• different connection options.

What is better water underfloor heating or radiators

Man is designed in such a way that he seeks to find the best possible solution at the best possible price. The heating system is no exception. Let's try to figure out which is all the same better: a system of water floors or radiator heating.

2. Distribution of heat. This is a clear advantage for water-heated floors. The radiator is often located in a localized location, under the windows, and the closer you get to the radiator, the warmer it is. On top of that, according to the principle of its operation, the radiator first heats the ceiling, and then the hot air flows down to the floor. Underfloor heating works differently. It is distributed over the entire area of ​​the room and the temperature will be the same on each square meter of the floor. Plus, a warm floor warms up the room from the bottom up.

3. Temperature regulation. Both underfloor heating and heating radiators are adjustable, but the only difference is that radiators do it much faster.The reaction time is from 20 minutes to 1.5 hours, depending on what type of radiators you are installing. Aluminum and steel react much faster than bimetal and cast iron. And warm floors, in turn, react to temperature changes in just two hours.

4. Comfort. This criterion is quite subjective. But, as it was written earlier, the warm floor evenly distributes the heat. Due to this, it is more comfortable to be in a room with warm water floors. And moving on the warm floor, you do not feel the heating of the floors, because the surface of the warm floor is only 28 ° C.

5. Service life of the system. There is a rather controversial point here. Both those and other manufacturers assure that their systems are designed for 50 years of efficient operation. But taking into account that the system will be mounted correctly, there will be no overheating and other situations. We can observe the work of cast iron radiators installed during the construction of old houses. They have clearly served their time, and nothing happens to them. Unfortunately, the water floor heating does not have the same delayed result. Warm floors entered our market about 20-30 years ago, so their service life has not yet come to an end. But for all the years of service, nothing happened with warm floors.

6. Maintainability. Of course, in most cases it is easier to repair a radiator heating system. The radiator is the main device that generates heat. And if something suddenly happened to him: a section leaked, a crack appeared from a blow, you just buy a new radiator and replace it. With water heated floors, this is impossible. If it happens that you overheat the pipe in the screed, it will be much more difficult to repair everything. First, you will need to find the place of breakdown (rupture) of the pipe, and this often requires a thermal imager, which is not cheap. After that, you need to open the screed at the place of leakage, dismantle the heated floor covering, and this is not only additional costs, but also dirt in the house.

7. Profitability. Installers like to say that heated water floors are 20-30% more economical than radiators. But, as practice shows, systems consume plus or minus the same. Of course, with additional costs for an air-conditioned gas boiler, you can save on heating when using a "warm floor" system. After all, such a system works when heated to 40-45 ° C, and radiator systems begin to work effectively only at 60-65 ° C. And if you take cast-iron batteries, then they need to be warmed up to 80 ° C so that they begin to give off heat. Therefore, at additional costs, a water-heated floor system will be more economical.

8. Aesthetics. The clear winner here is water heated floors for the reason that the entire system is hidden in the screed and does not take up extra space outside, unlike radiators. If you want to make a special design and put furniture in a certain place, nothing will hinder you. And radiators do not always fit into a modern interior. If you count, then the advantages of a water-heated floor are more. But this does not mean at all that the radiator heating system is worse. Both systems will cope with the heating of your home. But what it will be, it's up to you to choose.

Test run of the water floor

After completing the assembly of the system, before pouring the screed, it is checked for operability. Thanks to this procedure, it is possible to eliminate imperfections made during installation. The circuits are washed and then filled with a coolant that will be in the system.

Before making a screed, you should not drain the liquid from the pipes; it is laid with filled pipelines so that they are in working order.

There are three ways how to check the warm floor before pouring and identify imperfections:

• the system is brought to operating temperatures and left so for several days;
• test under overpressure conditions on a cold heat carrier;
• pressurize with air.

The choice of test method depends on the personal preference of the property owner, but starting the system at elevated pressure without a concrete screed can result in pipes flying out of the nests. This is the case when using mounting straps or single fasteners. It is advisable to install a thermostat for a water heated floor, which will save resources.

To prevent this, before a test run with a specific step, beacons for the screed are installed and fixed with small portions of the solution. Pressing can be done after the cement holding the guides has set. It turns out a kind of frame that holds the pipes, and as a result, they remain in the nests.

Guides will not interfere with eliminating flaws. If during the laying process the pipes were not bent, the bay was rolled out, then the pipelines are intact and there will be no problems with them. Leaks can appear only at the junction of the pipes with the manifold or in the piping of the heating boiler.

The frame should be erected when self-focusing fastening systems have been used. If the pipes were fixed to the mesh, no problems arise.

System testing using each method is performed in a specific sequence:

1. The first option is running at operating temperatures... The system is brought to the desired temperature mode gradually, starting from 20 degrees and raising it to 50 degrees. At this time, they observe the contours, places of joints and joints. In the event of leaks, the system is stopped, the liquid is drained, the malfunctions are eliminated, it is refilled and tested again. After the working environment is brought to the required temperature, the warm floor is left for 2 - 3 days. If there is no damage, the screed is poured, having cooled the coolant in advance.
2. The second option is a check under conditions of increased pressure... It is easier to perform. The structure is filled with a working medium, a pressure is created that is 1.5 - 2 times higher than the working pressure in the underfloor heating system, and they wait a day. If the drop of this parameter in circuits from PERT or PEX products does not exceed 1.5 Bar, this means that there are no leaks and a screed can be made. In the presence of deficiencies, a set of measures described in the first testing method is carried out.
3. The third option is dry crimping, which is used if it is impossible to use the coolant. In this case, air is pumped into the system by a compressor. But in this situation it is necessary to create a pressure that is 2 - 3 times higher than the operating parameters. You need to know how to pressurize a warm floor with air, since this method is not considered reliable, especially when antifreeze is used as a coolant. Therefore, experts advise checking with a working fluid, and, moreover, that the screed is poured with pipes filled with liquid.

When the test is carried out at a pressure above 4 bar, the air vent valves must be closed. The fact is, after a while, liquid begins to flow out of them.

Each test method described above is applied to a specific type of tubular product. For example, for pipes made of metal-plastic, a cold water test is used at a pressure of 6 bar. If this indicator has not decreased during the day, this means that the system can be poured with a mixture with cement or the base sheets can be mounted when they equip the flooring system.

The cross-linked polyethylene structure is crimped differently. First, it is verified 3 times on a cold liquid under high pressure. The value of the test indicator should be 2 times higher than the working one, but not less than 6 bar. It is brought to 6 bar, then it starts to decline.

After 30 minutes, the pressure in the system is again raised to 6 bar, after half an hour the procedure is repeated again. This is done 3 times.Then the pressure is increased to the pressure test (it is 2 times more than the working pressure) and left for 24 hours. If during this period the drop is insignificant - less than 1.5 bar - and there is no trace of leaks, then the test is successfully completed. It is necessary to obtain a crimping certificate after completion of the work.

By the way, according to the standards in force in Germany - it is on the territory of this country that there are the most stringent requirements regarding the safety of the use of construction technologies and materials - after the completion of pressure testing in cold water, you need to run the system under operating temperatures.

For this, the heating equipment is brought smoothly to the required temperature regime and left for several days. If all the tests have been successfully passed, this means that the system is reliable, you can make a screed and start starting the warm floor.

Radiators are all clear and simple

With radiators, everything looks much easier. Having an autonomous heating boiler or central heating system, we ourselves determine how the pipeline will be installed and the heating devices connected. Two types of heating systems are commonly used, open and closed. In the first case, you will need to lay one highway, into which all the batteries available in the house will be connected in series.

With an open heating system, you will have to lay two pipes, a supply line and a return line. In this case, the batteries are connected in parallel. This connection scheme is very convenient. You can always turn off one of the radiators, thereby reducing the load on the boiler and lowering the temperature in the room.

Of all you need to equip this heating option, the radiators are the most expensive component. These appliances, cast iron or steel, are quite expensive. However, in terms of operation, efficiency and durability, it is difficult to compare with them other materials. Bimetallic or aluminum radiators are cheaper, but inferior to cast iron batteries in efficiency and reliability.

New models are installed in new buildings, where in most cases there are autonomous gas boilers.

Warm floor

A warm water floor is a concrete floor with a built-in piping system. This cake is laid on a cushion made of insulation. The heat from the floor is distributed evenly over the area of ​​the room. Consider the advantages of this type of heating:

The disadvantages include complex and expensive repairs in the event of a leak, which is associated with the technology of laying the pipeline. Long heating and cooling of the floor. Small children get tired quickly, as their metabolism is faster, the child will be constantly hot.

Advice. Installing an electronic thermostat will allow you to smoothly adjust the temperature in accordance with weather conditions.

Having weighed all the advantages and assessing the disadvantages, it is worth making the only correct decision in choosing a heating system for a private house. In any case, success is guaranteed by the correct calculation and installation, then the disadvantages will pass into the category of advantages.

About the role of the sensor

It should be remembered that in setting up a warm floor there is one irreplaceable part - this is the sensor. The control unit adjusts the floor heating and saves electricity. The biggest savings come from programmable devices, but they are expensive.

The ability to adjust the warm floor as needed saves energy and, consequently, money.

The effect lies in the matching of the electrical power of the floor and the meter. Heating the floor to the required temperature is only possible with sufficient power. Therefore, when buying, you need to be interested in the characteristics of the product.

In some cases, in rooms with a large area, it is necessary to connect more than one regulator.

An important point is the type of setting. You should find a way for yourself so as not to make holes in the wall, but limit yourself to a box for a thermostat. Do not deviate from the recommendations in the instructions.

Both functionality and appearance are all significant factors. You can consult with specialists. Particular care must be taken when installing an insulated floor in rooms subject to moisture (bathroom).

The control unit must never be installed inside, you need to pass the cable to the heaters through the hole in the wall and place the sensor in the corridor.

We recommend: How to connect a warm floor in an apartment?

Electronic tuning equipment is able to serve different operating modes of floor heating with a high degree of energy savings. But this is an expensive technique.

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Electric underfloor heating

Compared to a hydraulic floor, an electric floor has a number of advantages:

• can be laid in any room;
• no major repairs required;
• you can use the existing coating and you do not need to install an additional heat insulator;
• the floor height does not change;
• the room warms up quickly.

Heating elements are different. Depending on this, underfloor heating systems are divided into three types:

• wired;
• film;
• with carbon rods.

Wired

The wired option is more familiar and more understandable, but it has very significant drawbacks compared to the film one:

• consumes a lot of energy;
• is expensive;
• afraid of overheating, that is, you need to be extremely careful about the arrangement of furniture;
• creates electromagnetic fields around conductors;
• requires screed installation.

Film floor

It is more practical and more convenient than wired. Its main advantages include:

• low power consumption;
• lack of magnetic fields;
• can be installed without screed.

Carbon rod system

So far, this is the most modern version. It is quite rare, but it is necessary to know about the advantages and disadvantages. The advantages are as follows:

• the ability to independently regulate heat distribution;
• does not overheat, that is, furniture can be placed as you like;
• does not consume too much electricity;
• fits under any coating.

Advantages and features of warm floors

It is worth considering the superiority of the relatively new underfloor heating system. Naturally, there are many positive aspects, otherwise such floors would not have gained such popularity, which is also growing rapidly.

The question of savings. The temperature of the underfloor heating system is lower than that of radiator-based heaters because they take up less space. And from school, it should be known that heating water from 40 to 50 ° C will require less energy than heating water with such a step, but already from 60 to 70 ° C.

Let's take this into account for the future. Further, savings are obtained due to the very process of heating the air. Due to natural physical processes, air circulates around the room, as a result of which the distribution of flows occurs, near the floor the temperature is kept at values ​​of 26-30 ° C, and in the upper layers it is slightly lower, and is 22-24 ° C. And only near the ceiling, where the temperature indicators are not so important, is it 18 ° C.

Such indicators are quite comfortable for the average person. It may seem that this is an ideal temperature distribution, but there are some nuances here. This item makes it possible to better understand what is cheaper - underfloor heating or radiators.

Heating a room with batteries has a slightly different temperature distribution.Batteries heat the air directly around them, somewhere up to 50 ° C, after which it rises to the ceiling and cools down to 40-45 ° C - it is replaced in the lower layers by cold streams, and so on in a circle. The result is ineffective heating of the room, and we have to walk on a cold floor, the temperature of which usually does not exceed 16-18 ° C.

Based on such statistics, adherents of a new type of heating with underfloor heating with electric underfloor heating concluded that due to a more correct distribution of heat fluxes throughout the room, underfloor heating is more preferable and allows you to heat the room 30% better at the same cost (about

What is better for a person a warm floor or radiators

But further we will talk about the most important thing - about thermal comfort. A person feels best indoors when his legs are warm, the middle part of his body feels moderately warm, and his head is relatively cool. It is according to this scheme that warm floors are distributed, but with a radiator heating system, the opposite will be true, that is, it will be cold below, and warm above.

According to research results, if you lower the average temperature in a room heated by warm floors, somewhere by 1-2 degrees, then a person will have about the same feeling of warmth as in the room that is heated by radiators and in which the average temperature did not change ...

Frankly speaking, this statement is absolutely true and is not a trick of marketers, so the benefits of underfloor heating are obvious. No calculations are needed to understand that it is much more important for a person to be warmer not in the upper, but in the lower half of the room. And here the question may arise, what will be the benefit in monetary terms?

What is a radiator and underfloor heating?

Radiators or, as we used to call them, batteries are heating heat distribution devices that are installed on a wall or floor and work on the principle of convection and only partially on the principle of radiation.

Underfloor heating - heating heat distribution system, which is laid under the floor surface, therefore, the heat supply comes from below. If in radiators the main principle of heat distribution in the room is convection and the auxiliary principle is radiation, then in the "warm floor" everything is the other way around, the main principle is radiation and the auxiliary principle is convection.

Best Answers

Rost:

Everything is very simple! To understand which is better, you need to do the following: 1. You need to calculate the heat loss at home, knowing its shape, materials, etc. this is relatively easy to do, there are textbooks in the end. 2. Knowing the heat loss, you can choose the power of the boiler and the brand of radiators and their number, well, or the warm floor. When choosing, you will have to calculate how much heat the boiler will give, how much heat the house will receive through radiators or the floor. this is where it turns out which is best for your particular case. Without doing this, arguing that it is better is wrong.

But, you can just make warm floors and everything, like everyone else, you will be warm and comfortable, did not hear that someone else was cold. Maximum hemorrhoids, this is possibly a higher fuel consumption than with radiators, and depending on which heating system. The bourgeois, for example, mainly have low-temperature boilers, so heated floors are popular with them, they give high efficiency at the same time, and in our country, like parvilo, they use high-temperature systems, in such systems the floors are not efficient in terms of fuel consumption efficiency, the floor efficiency is lower, i.e. Since the heat transfer of the floors does not correspond to the amount of heat that the boiler gives out (roughly speaking), the coolant does not have time to cool down significantly, since the warm floor consists of concrete, its thermal conductivity is much worse than that of metal. But if you forget about it, it will be quite comfortable. But in any case, it is most correct to make a calculation, and what to determine what is best and for what.

Pyih:

radiators - it is more convenient to change - warm floors - if correctly made - more economical.

Just Olga:

The radiator heats only the air, and the warm floor does not heat the air. If your apartment is cold, you need normal heating. To do this, buy good batteries or heaters. The warm floor is pleasant for your feet, you do not need a carpet and you can walk barefoot. Often it is made under the laminate or tile, which always remains cold.

Nadezhda Zhumatiy (Maslova):

When the floor is heated, warm air, rising up (the law of physics), heats up all the air in the room from the floor itself; at the same time, the walls must be very well insulated to avoid mold on them. Radiator heating warms up the area along the walls and windows. You can reduce heat loss by gluing specials on the walls behind the radiators. reflectors; in this case, some of the heat will pass to the center of the room. If there are no financial problems, it is better to do underfloor heating.

Arthur Zarembo:

If the heating system is low-temperature, with a heat carrier 40-45 deg. , then underfloor heating can give a good result in terms of comfort and energy saving. If the heating system is high-temperature up to 90 degrees. , then the use of underfloor heating entails increased energy consumption, it will be comfortable, but the energy consumption will be more than when using radiators. At high temperatures, the efficiency of the system on the radiators is better or higher. Gas costs money for the bourgeois, so they use low-temperature systems and underfloor heating, which is very economical and efficient. But, sellers do not delve into these nuances, and sell floors to everyone, stupidly translating bourgeois booklets in which gorgeous indicators are shown. This is a boman.

Natalia Terekhova:

Where are the floors? In the bathroom? The kitchen? Generally, radiators are used for heating. Warm floors are used in large kitchens and bathrooms, where there are exterior walls and tiles. In all other cases, these are unnecessary costs. Floors are not a substitute for heating. And by the way, this is a rather complicated redevelopment in legalization. IT cannot be legalized after rework. Until only after the project has been approved by all the rules.

Andrey:

Try to make a warm floor, it is better than radiators in all respects, except for the initial investment.

Avanez Kirpikin:

What is better depends on the design of the house and the heating system. Comparing a radiator and a warm floor is stupid in principle. Warm floor is, roughly speaking, a radiator wrapped in a fur coat. It works in a completely different way. It can be done well both on radiators and underfloor heating. Although underfloor heating is often not enough, it depends on the region and the heating system. Before you do something, figure out what and how. As for the best indicators, about which the previous speaker speaks, it is worth clarifying under what conditions they are obtained, and what kind of indicators are they, what are they called, what parameters or numbers have?

Thermal management of electric floors

The electric unit that warms the floor can be adjusted, and the operation of the heating device is debugged. This is done by turning the heating on and off, adjusting the temperature, and adjusting the repeatability of the process of turning the heating elements on and off.

Thermostats for electric underfloor heating

The electric adjustable floor is controlled by special panels. They differ in appearance, in the place of installation, in the means of attachment and in the number of connected sensors.

Thanks to the control panel, electricity is saved, it is possible to regulate the temperature regime without overheating.

The operating principle of the panels is special:

1. electric underfloor heating is adjusted quite simply by an electronic-mechanical regulator with a meager set of functions. Manual wheel control like an iron. The wheel is connected to a constant temperature regulator.In this case, simplicity is the best solution both in terms of price and strength (rarely breaks, easily repaired);
2. the digital control panel functions as an electronic mechanical regulator. The difference is that instead of a wheel, buttons or a sensor are arranged. The control unit is equipped with electric sensors that measure the overall temperature in the apartment and transmit this data to the thermostats;
3. a modern part is the thermostat, which can be programmed. It contains several sensors for measuring temperature indicators. These sensors send information to the control device (controller). It is able to simultaneously maintain different temperatures in separate rooms;
4. and the most modern regulators are controlled from the Internet. For example, leaving home, you can turn off the heating, and returning home, turn on the system from the phone. The floor will warm up by the time it arrives.

We recommend: How is the underfloor heating mesh laid?

When choosing your option for a warm floor, it is recommended to take a closer look at the digital project. The advantages consist of ease of use, affordable prices.

In addition, the variety of design solutions contributes to the entry into the overall color of the apartment design. It is also important that the dimensions of the sensors and heating objects are combined.

Installation of electric underfloor heating

The installation of cable and infrared systems is, of course, somewhat different. At the same time, cable systems are divided into two types:

• actually cable;
• cable in a reinforcing mesh.

In addition to the system itself to be mounted, you need:

• mounting wire;
• grounding cable;
• fasteners;
• regulator;
• thermal sensor;
• RCD system.

As in the case of a hydraulic floor, the first step is to prepare the room - to level the surface and lay a layer of thermal insulation and vapor barrier. The infrared floor just needs to be spread over the surface and attached with tape.

1. Install a layer of heat reflector.
2. Measure the resistance of the heating cables - this must be done before laying.
3. Compare the discrepancy with the data in the passport - it should not be more than 10%.
4. Lay the cable and secure.
5. If you need concrete pouring, lay a reinforcing mesh.
6. Connect the power cable and heating element.
7. Lay the cable in a corrugation.
8. Attach the corrugation to the floor.
9. Check the resistance again.
10. Pour screed or tile.

Warm water floor. Installation and main features

You still doubt the choice. What is better, to dwell on radiators or to start preparing the installation of underfloor heating. Just estimate the amount of materials, equipment required and the level of work in each case. This will immediately give you answers to many questions, leave heating radiators or rely on underfloor heating.

First, you need to understand what the main stages of the installation of warm floors are. Why start with this heating option? The thing is that this method is considered newer and less studied for most consumers.

installation of warm water floors is best done in a new building, when finishing work has not yet begun, and instead of the floor there are simple concrete floors. We take into account the fact that with water circuits laid in the floor, the ceiling height in heated rooms will decrease by 100-150 mm. For a private house, this does not pose a problem, while for a city apartment, it sometimes becomes critical.

basic installation is as follows. A surface is prepared on which a layer of thermal and waterproofing is laid. Next comes the mesh or special mats, on which the water pipes of the heating circuit are laid. As a result, your floor looks like a puff pastry. This design is called a puff cake, in which each layer plays its own, definite role.

Before concrete wet works, a damper tape is glued around the perimeter of the room, playing the role of a compensator for the thermal expansion of the concrete surface. The water pipe is laid in two patterns, a snake or a spiral. Depending on the intensity of heating, you yourself choose the installation scheme.

only after connecting the water circuits to the distribution equipment (pumping and mixing unit), a test run is carried out. If no flaws are found in the technical part of the system, there are no leaks and the heating is in accordance with the specified parameters, you can start laying the concrete screed.

Heating by the type of underfloor heating without radiators is usually chosen when there is a powerful autonomous heating boiler of high power. In a house where constant heating is required, there is a constant consumption of hot water; underfloor heating must work without interruption. It is due to the powerful boiler that the required heating rate of the coolant and the flow rate that meets the technological parameters are achieved.

Heat regulation methods

Modern floor heating equipment is regulated depending on the desired mode:

1. heat the whole house;
2. heat the floor in a separate room;
3. establish different temperature heating in several rooms.

Heating can be adjusted manually. The homeowner independently sets and controls the heating of his home to the level of his personal sense of comfort.

Often, users want to know how to set up their own water heating mechanism for their home:

1. the temperature of the carrier of thermal energy is regulated;
2. Manifolds and mixing units are adjustable.

The reference points here are the measurements of the temperature of the coolant in the distributors during supply or return. With water heating, heat sensors are mounted on collectors. They are part of the thermostatic valves through which the underfloor heating is controlled.

Radiators

The advantage of the classical method is the low cost of installation compared to a warm floor. And the main disadvantage is the uneven distribution of heat. Much depends on the type of radiator and the way it is connected. The coolant of an effective battery is about 70 degrees. It is the high temperature that allows the radiator to have compact dimensions. The lower the temperature of the coolant, the more radiators are required to heat one room. What are the other advantages and disadvantages of the classics:

the radiator and heating pipes are always in sight, which affects the interior design;

• the performance of the radiator is easily regulated by the thermostatic head, the temperature change will occur within an hour, while in the underfloor heating system you will have to wait several hours;
• due to the fact that the entire system is in sight, it is easy to repair it, to replace some elements with more efficient ones. Underfloor heating is installed in a concrete screed once and for all;
• finned radiators give off heat by convection by 80%, the rest is radiation;

Finned radiators in the interior

• convectors transfer heat by convection, which leads to an increased circulation of dust in the room;
• aluminum radiators emit only 8% of heat, the rest is convection;
• panel radiators emit 35%, the rest is convection.

We mount the water floor

In a private house, no one will forbid you to put a hydraulic underfloor heating. But you need to mount it with high quality, because comfort, safety, and the durability of the system itself, and savings depend on it.

Premises preparation

Any important business must begin with preparation, in this case, the premises:

1. Mark the level of the top layer of your floor.
2. Drill the holes for the pipes.
3. Make tech niches.
4. Prepare the subfloor - it must be leveled so that the skew does not exceed 5 °.

Thermal insulation

After the room is ready, it is necessary to install thermal insulation.

Foam, polyurethane and other similar materials are suitable for this. Best of all is a vapor barrier - for example, made of polystyrene.

The vapor barrier must be fixed and glued, for which a damper tape made of expanded polyethylene is used. It is attached around the perimeter and at the joints slightly above the screed. Then the heat insulator is laid - the mounting plate.

Pipe laying

A variety of pipes are used for underfloor heating:

• copper;
• steel;
• polyvinyl chloride;
• from metal-plastic;
• high strength polyethylene.

When laying pipes, you need to follow some rules:

1. It is necessary to retreat 15 cm from the outer wall.
2. Pipes must not be laid at the joints of floor panels.
3. In the middle of the room, installation with a large pitch is possible.

As for the types of styling, there are several of them:

• snake;
• double snake;
• snail.

In addition to preparation and installation, the installation includes the following steps:

• connection to a distribution manifold;
• crimping;
• pouring with concrete;
• installation of an expansion joint.

The first option is for copper or polyethylene pipes, the second is for steel and metal-plastic. Pressure testing is carried out before pouring concrete, since at this stage the quality of the entire system is checked.

Without filling

Not so long ago, the so-called non-pouring hydraulic floor appeared. It is still not very popular, and its efficiency is lower, but it can be used in apartment buildings. It is much easier and faster to mount it:

1. Thermal insulation is laid on the floor.
2. A layer of chipboard or polystyrene boards is laid on top.
3. The main layer is laid with heat-distributing plates.
4. The plates are covered with a vibration-insulating layer.
5. All this is covered with an outer layer, usually a laminate.

Preparation and commissioning

When setting up underfloor heating, a thermal head is used in the form of a conventional tap, which is installed for water supply and reverse flow. Such a system is not assessed unambiguously:

• firstly, saving finances for the installation of the circuit is a plus;
• secondly, complications in operation, that is, frequent use of the thermal head disables it, an early replacement is required.

We recommend: How to turn on the warm floor?

A convenient device is called a flow meter (or rotameter), which is installed near the collector at the circuit holes. Adjustment in this situation is the control of device readings (0.3 ... 0.5 liters).

The first start, done correctly, reveals weak points, malfunctions, possible malfunctions in the floor heating system.

Every year, with the onset of a cold snap, heating is started.