Homemade water heated floor. Do-it-yourself warm water floor: features and nuances

Is it possible to make a warm water floor with your own hands in an apartment or a private house? At first it may seem that this is not real. If you have ever watched how professional installers work, then this picture should have caused a feeling of confusion in an unprepared person.

Intertwined liquid heating pipes, manifolds, thermostats and other equipment - how can a non-professional figure it out?

It turns out that it is quite possible for an ordinary person to mount a warm water floor with their own hands - you just have to follow the step-by-step installation instructions and choose the right equipment at the planning stage.

So, what do you need to assemble a warm water floor with your own hands? Let's go point by point.

Heating planning and calculation

The basis of any successful work is advance planning, taking into account all the nuances of the upcoming processes. In the matter of arranging liquid heating, there are no trifles that you can ignore. All work must be thought out in advance, equipment must be calculated, and each stage of work must be thoroughly calculated.

1. Calculation of the power of the water floor installed in the room.
2. The length and cross section of the pipes of the water floor.
3. Type and number of collectors per room.
4. Type and number of temperature controllers.
5. Type and number of mixing units (in case of using a boiler).

If it is the only source of heating in the room, then the power of the water floor is calculated using a simple formula:

Number of square meters of the room / 10.

Thanks to this formula, you can simply calculate the power needed to heat a room with good (according to the new SNiP) insulation and ceilings 2.5 meters high.

The next step is to select the length and cross section of the liquid low-temperature heating tubes. Each normal manufacturer marks his product and in the characteristics indicates the heat transfer parameters per linear meter of pipe. In this case, of course, pipes of different sections will have a different heat transfer rate per linear meter.

It is enough to calculate the heating power for this room. It will take 1.8 kW of thermal power. Next, we divide the received thermal power by the heat transfer of 1 linear meter of the water tube and get the total length.

One is usually mounted per room. Although sometimes, depending on the total area and cubic capacity of the room, 2 or 3 collectors can be mounted.

Why is the standard ceiling height taken at 2.5 meters? Because it is not rational to heat higher rooms with a warm floor. For example, for a room with a second light, built-in floor convectors or a PLEN heating system are more suitable than a liquid low-temperature floor.

The temperature regulator is responsible for constantly maintaining a comfortable temperature in the floor heating pipes. Since the pipes are mounted under a screed or finish coating, the temperature of the pipes themselves is higher than the temperature in the room they heat.

Monitoring and procurement of equipment

The easiest way to purchase equipment for a warm water floor is to monitor the heating equipment market. In the process of such monitoring, you will know which specialized company sells equipment at the lowest price.

Why not buy the cheapest options in different places - tubes from one supplier, and manifolds and regulators, for example, from another? Because the equipment purchased in different places may “not dock” during installation.

Preparation of ceilings for installation of underfloor heating

To fully realize all the benefits of a warm water floor, you need to properly mount it. The best installation method would be to install a tubular system on a reinforced concrete floor of the first or second floor (for a private house) and the subsequent arrangement of the screed.

For an apartment in a multi-storey apartment building, you will not have such a choice and you will have to equip heating for those ceilings that were laid down by the designer and implemented by the builders during the construction of the house.

What is the best way to prepare concrete floors for the installation of liquid heating pipes?

First, all finishing coatings should be dismantled if they have already been mounted on the floor.

Secondly, it is necessary to level the surface of the concrete floor, remove the influx of concrete and other irregularities.

Thirdly, you need to completely clean the ceiling of all contaminants, remove the remnants of materials left over from the work during which you leveled the concrete surface - dust, pieces of concrete.

Installation of a warm water floor

Let's go through all the stages of installing a warm water floor on a concrete floor:

The substrate is laid on the concrete surface. If for a film floor this substrate is made of polyethylene foam, then for a tubular floor it is made of foil materials.

Then the pipe is installed and connected to the fittings and valves, as well as to the manifold.

And finally, the pipes are connected to the heating regulator.

Our system of liquid low-temperature heating is ready. It remains only to check it and adjust.

Checking and adjusting liquid heating

The system is checked with a gradual increase in pressure and the same gradual rise in temperature in the tubes.

The check should be carried out for at least a day in different modes.

In case of a successful check, it will be possible to proceed with the arrangement of the screed and the subsequent installation of the final floor covering. Adjustment of the warm water floor is made only after the finish coating is installed.

The "warm floor" system is no longer a curiosity. This article will help you understand not only the principle of operation of a water and electric underfloor heating, but also to install it yourself. This will significantly reduce financial costs and avoid possible errors during the installation process.

Comfort in our home is inextricably linked with warmth. Living without a comfortable indoor temperature is not only uncomfortable, but also unsafe for human health. In this article, we will consider a variant of the heating system, which is very popular with consumers - underfloor heating (electric and water). Having become acquainted with this material, you will learn much more information about underfloor heating than by looking at ordinary advertising booklets. What are the main parts of the underfloor heating, how is it installed, what are the features of the use of such systems - we will talk about all these aspects in the article.

Underfloor heating has a long history. Naturally, in ancient Rome it was not about modern electric heated floors, but the principle of floor heating in a Roman bath is the same as when using a warm floor. Smoke from the stove through special channels passed under the floor and heated the room. In addition, the stones retained heat for quite a long time, which made it possible to use the burned material more economically. With the advent of steam (water) heating, this principle of space heating was also not forgotten. Underfloor heating, which is heated by water, is used quite widely today. In the last 30-40 years, electric floor heating has been very popular.

Roman bath in Beirut

There are a lot of reasons for this - from ease of installation and maintenance, to durability and low cost of electricity. Moreover, in a cold climate (Scandinavia, the far north of our country, etc.), electric underfloor heating becomes simply an indispensable option for space heating. There are also options for combined heating - underfloor heating and water heating. This allows you to significantly reduce energy costs during the heating season.

Let's see what is the fundamental difference between underfloor heating and traditional water heating. First of all, it's comfort. Recall the principle of operation of traditional heating. The radiator is placed on one of the walls of the room, most often under the window, since it is there that the greatest heat losses occur. Warm air rises, thereby displacing colder air, which in turn heats up as it passes through the radiator. The most comfortable temperature will be 1.5-2 meters from the radiator. Warming up the room with traditional heating occurs unevenly. The principle of operation of a warm floor is somewhat different.

The heating area of ​​the room is many times larger than the area of ​​the heating radiator, since the heating element is usually laid over the entire area of ​​the room. It is enough to recall the old adage about keeping your feet warm, and it immediately becomes clear that no other type of heating will create such comfort in a room as a warm floor. However, there are certain pitfalls here as well. This is due to the fact that the temperature range at which a person feels comfortable is very small (from 25 to 28 degrees). The comfort zone in the room seems to change and is located not at a certain distance from the heater, but at a certain height around the entire perimeter of the room (due to the laying of the heating cable). The comfort temperature zone is located in the lower part of the room at a height of up to 1 meter from the floor. In the upper part of the room there are colder layers of air.

However, this does not cause discomfort in a person, which is due to his physiology. In addition, the warm floor allows you to change the temperature in the heated room as quickly and simply as possible - for this, one turn of the temperature control knob or a command from the Smart Home system will be enough. It should be noted that this only applies to electric underfloor heating. In the case of using water or combined underfloor heating, a quick adjustment of the air temperature in the room will not be possible. In addition, do not forget that the effective operation of the warm floor is significantly influenced by such factors as the presence of furniture in the room, carpet on the floor. This is due to the fact that any material has a certain thermal conductivity (measured in W / (m K)). This indicator is important for us not only when choosing thermal insulation, which will avoid heat loss, but also when choosing a material that will cover the warm floor itself and on which we will walk (linoleum, parquet, laminate, tile, etc.).

Underfloor heating device

Underfloor heating is quite simple. Both water and electric floors are mounted on a special heat-insulating material, then they are poured with cement-sand mortar, tiles, linoleum or any other floor covering are laid on top of the resulting screed. The source of heat will be either water or a special electric cable. Here we will talk about the device of this electric heating cable in more detail.

1 - overlap; 2 and 7 - cement-sand screed; 3 - thermal insulation; 4 - mounting tape; 5 - temperature sensor; 6 - heating cable; 8 - ceramic tiles; 9 - thermostat

Outwardly, the cable for the "warm floor" system resembles an antenna cable. But its purpose is not to transmit a signal (electricity) over a distance, but to convert electrical energy into thermal energy. A very important parameter that characterizes a warm floor is its specific heat release. For different manufacturers, this figure ranges from 15 to 25 W / m. At the same time, one should not forget that the insulating layer that covers the heating element itself is able to withstand heating to temperatures above 100 degrees, which is very important, since most often the cable is poured with a screed and it must give off heat without harming the insulating layer.

Underfloor heating cable design: 1 - insulation of current-carrying cores; 2 - heating conductors; 3 - drainage conductor (grounding); 4 - foil screen; 5 - external insulation

If the cable overheats, the insulation layer will be broken and a short circuit is possible. Repairing a warm floor is a rather troublesome and expensive task, since it is almost impossible to accurately determine the location of the cable damage. It is for this reason that you should not choose a cable with a higher specific heat and during installation it is necessary to observe the recommended distance between the threads, as this can also cause overheating and short circuit of the heating cable. These breakdowns are excluded in the case of using a water-heated floor. But even there there may be some complications, for example, cracks in pipes, fittings and, as a result, leakage of the coolant. Such an emergency in a private house will not have any special consequences (you can simply damage your property), but if such a breakdown occurs in an apartment building, you may have to compensate the neighbors for the results of flooding their apartments. High-quality waterproofing can minimize possible troubles in case of emergencies. However, if a warm water floor is connected to a central heating system with a high coolant pressure, then waterproofing can do little to help.

We mount an electric warm floor with our own hands

Let's take a look at how to install underfloor heating on our own. First of all, you need to decide for what purpose a warm floor is purchased - as additional heating in an apartment, as a heating system on a glazed loggia, etc. Consider, as an example, installing a warm floor in an apartment (room) as additional heating.

Quite often, underfloor heating is installed in the kitchen and bathroom, since it is there that it is possible to lay the heating cable under the tile (this is the most common way to install a warm floor).

As additional heating, 100-120 W per 1 m 2 of the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room will be enough for you, subject to the obligatory use of good quality heat-insulating material. For a kitchen with an area of ​​10 m 2, you will need about 45-50 meters of cable (the seller can accurately provide this data, since the power of the heating cable varies). It is also worth checking with the seller the minimum allowable distance between the threads of the heating cable (this is necessary in order to avoid local overheating of the cable).

Before laying the heating cable, it is necessary to free the room from furniture, remove the old floor covering and carefully prepare the floor surface - level it, remove construction debris, and, if necessary, make a thin cement screed. After that, you need to prepare a place on the wall for installing a special electric thermostat, with which you will regulate the temperature of the warm floor. If necessary, equip a separate wiring for connecting a warm floor. After completing these preparatory work, you can proceed to the arrangement of thermal insulation and direct laying of the heating cable. Some craftsmen advise, in addition to thermal insulation, to make waterproofing to avoid condensation near the heating cable. Polyethylene film is used as waterproofing. Modern building materials make it possible to minimize the loss of usable space (do not forget that thermal insulation, cable, cement screed all together reduce the usable volume of the room).

So, penofol is quite often used as thermal insulation - a modern heat-insulating material that has a special coating of foil with a thickness of about 14 microns and polyethylene foam with a self-adhesive layer. This material is very thin and light, while the coefficient of thermal conductivity of penofol is 0.049 W / (m K). Penofol is supplied in rolls, after laying the foam foil with the foil up, it is necessary to glue the joints between the rolls with special mounting tape. After the insulation is completely laid around the entire perimeter of the room, a thin reinforcing mesh is laid on top of it, the main task of which is:

• exclude overheating of the cable from contact with thermal insulation;
• to give strength to the cement-sand mortar, which will be poured into the floor.

The cable is mounted using a mounting tape, which is fixed to the floor. This tape allows you to eliminate kinks, keep all the distances between cable loops. The cable is laid in increments of about 20-25 cm. Normal operation of an electric underfloor heating is impossible without installing a special temperature sensor. It is necessary to provide for the possibility of replacing it without subsequently destroying the concrete screed. To do this, the temperature sensor is usually installed in a special tube, which is poured with a cement screed along with the cable.

Before pouring the mounted underfloor heating, they check it, check once again the correctness of the entire installation and the reliability of the connections.

There should be no errors at this stage, since to eliminate them you will have to dismantle the cement screed. The serviceability and performance of a warm floor can be checked not only by applying voltage to the heating cable, but also by measuring the resistance of the cable using a special tester. All parameters of such measurements are indicated by the manufacturer in the passport for the product. After the check, a cement screed up to 3-4 cm thick is made. The pouring should be carried out evenly, special attention should be paid to ensure that no voids form in the screed, as this can lead to overheating and failure of the heating cable. After you have made the fill, you need to wait for it to dry completely.

If the work on laying the flooring can be started after 4-5 days, then the control check of the performance of the warm floor can be carried out no earlier than after 30-35 days. And the point is not at all that a wet screed can cause a short circuit and render the heating cable unusable. Most materials expand at high temperatures and contract at low temperatures. Any material has its own coefficient of thermal expansion. If the heated floor is turned on before the concrete screed is completely dry, the mortar will dry unevenly, cracks and voids will form in the screed, which we fought so hard during pouring. This will increase the risk of premature failure of the heating cable. It is also worth considering the location of the furniture in the room and do not lay the heating cable in the places where it will be placed.

Do-it-yourself installation of a water-heated floor

Installation of a warm water floor is carried out in approximately the same sequence as the installation of an electric one. However, do not forget that water and electric heating obey different laws of physics. If an electric heating cable has the same (or almost the same) temperature along its entire length, then the situation is somewhat different with a water floor. We have already talked about how the coolant (in this case, water) is heated using a variety of heating devices - electric and gas boilers, liquid and solid fuel boilers, etc.

The coolant will have the maximum temperature immediately upon entering the heating system from the boiler heating chamber. Circulating through the system, the water gradually gives off its heat and returns to the boiler already significantly cooled, which means that the coolant that will circulate through the underfloor heating system will have a different temperature at the inlet and outlet. With improper installation, you should not expect effective work, as the room will warm up unevenly. We will tell you a little later about how to avoid mistakes when installing a water-heated floor, so as not to violate the description of the sequence of work performed.

There are several options for laying a water-heated floor:

• concrete installation system (the most common today);
• flooring system.

The floor system for mounting a water-heated floor, in turn, is divided into:

• polystyrene foam mounting system;
• wooden floor heating installation system.

The concrete water floor heating installation system (same as the electric floor heating installation described above) is the most widely used due to its low installation cost. All laying works are carried out in several stages. The sequence of work and materials used are the same as when laying an electric floor heating. Water heated floor pipes are not afraid of overheating, unlike electric cables.

However, their laying must be carried out not only carefully, without strong bends and fractures, but also in a strictly defined sequence. A light reinforcing mesh is not suitable in this case, it is necessary to use reinforcement with a diameter of 4-5 mm, the mesh size is about 150 mm. This is due to the fact that the water-heated floor has a rather significant weight. The pipe laying step can be very different (water pipes are not afraid of overheating), but in any case, the distance between the pipes should not be more than 300-400 mm, as this will significantly reduce the efficiency of this heating system, and also lead to the appearance of cold stripes on the floor - areas of the floor with a lower temperature. Pipes are attached to the floor with dowels and clamps.

In practice, several options are used for laying pipes of a water-heated floor:

1. Spiral
2. Snake (parallel method).
3. Meander (double snake).

It would be wrong to recommend any one method of laying pipes as the most effective. When installing a water-heated floor, a number of factors should be taken into account, including external walls, the presence of window openings, etc. - it is in these places that pipes with a hotter coolant should pass.

The length of one loop of water heated floor pipes (from inlet to outlet) should not be more than 100 m, due to the fact that there will be significant hydraulic losses in the system and such a floor will not work effectively. For 1 m 2 of the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe room, about 6-7 linear meters of the pipe go. It depends on the distance between the pipes.

Both ends of the pipe (supply and return) are led to a switching (collector) cabinet. This cabinet is mounted either in a special niche in the wall (it has yet to be cut down), or made overhead (open). The placement of the collector cabinet depends only on your desire and capabilities (arranging a niche in the wall is a rather expensive type of work). Not only pipes will be placed in the collector cabinet, with the help of which the underfloor heating is connected to the main heating circuit, but also valves that will allow not only to shut off the coolant, but also to regulate the floor temperature in the room.

The temperature can be adjusted not only manually, but also with the help of a special electronic valve that will respond to signals from the temperature sensor (the temperature sensor is installed in the same way as when installing an electric floor heating). This leads to an increase in the cost of the system, but it is more convenient during its operation, as it makes it possible to connect a water heated floor to the Smart Home system. This system will not only allow you to control the temperature in the room, but also save you from a flood that can happen when the heating pipes leak.

Before pouring the pipes with a cement screed, it is necessary to pressure test the entire system in order to exclude possible leakage of the coolant.

The flooring system of a water-heated floor allows you to exclude the installation of a cement screed from the installation process. This not only speeds up the process of commissioning the floor, but also significantly reduces the cost of possible repairs. Moreover, this system is much lighter than a traditional water heated floor, which can significantly reduce the load on the floor slabs, the supporting structures of the building (the weight of 1 m 2 of a traditional concrete water heated floor is about 250-350 kg, while the weight of a floor water floor floor is about 35-50 kg depending on its type). There is one significant remark - it is impossible to connect a water heated floor to a centralized heating system without prior approval from the housing and communal services and heat supply organizations.

Combined systems "warm floor"

These systems are most often found in those houses where the main role in heating is played by a water heated floor. In spring or autumn, there is always such a period of time when it still makes no sense to turn on the heating in the house completely (the microclimate is quite favorable), but to create even more comfortable conditions, it would not be superfluous to slightly increase the temperature in the room.

If in houses with individual heating it is still possible to independently turn on the heating and set it to the minimum temperature regime, then in houses with central heating there is no such possibility. This is where the combined warm floor will come to the rescue, the electrical part of which will allow you to create a favorable microclimate in your apartment. Installation of such a floor is carried out in the order that we wrote about above. Do not forget that the simultaneous operation of an electric and water heated floor can lead to overheating of the heating cable. These features should be taken into account when installing this design.

We hope that this article will help you make a successful, profitable and right choice, and the purchased equipment will delight you with flawless work.

Underfloor heating is used as an addition to the heating system, for heating local areas of the floor, such as in the bathroom, or on the balcony. And also as the main type of heating, this method of application is less common. There are several types of implementation of this system, each with its own advantages and disadvantages. In this article, we will look at how to make an electric underfloor heating with our own hands, and also look at the differences between the types of heating.

Types of electric floor heating

As already mentioned, they distinguish different. First of all, there are two main areas - water and electric. What are the advantages of electric underfloor heating over water?

Electric underfloor heating:

unlike water, it will not freeze under any circumstances;

the pipeline of a water-heated floor can be damaged (for example, when freezing), flood the neighbors from below, ruin repairs in apartments;

since a cable or film is used, the thickness of the entire system decreases, from 10-20 mm to 4-7 mm. Accordingly, the floor level will change to a lower height;

Electric underfloor heating requires virtually no maintenance, except for checking the RCD and the condition of the contacts.

According to the heating elements are divided into:

It can be resistive one- and two-wire and self-regulating. Resistive cables require an additional thermoregulator, and for self-regulating cables you can do without it.

In principle, this is the same heating cable, but fixed on a fiberglass mesh or film, which speeds up and facilitates installation. It just needs to be rolled out on a heated surface. And cable systems need to be additionally fixed on the floor, we will consider this later.

This type is a flexible canvas on which conductive carbon lines are applied, they represent a heater. Film heaters are also called infrared heaters. An interesting feature of such a system is that it can be laid directly under laminate, parquet, carpet or linoleum. Usually the width of the canvas is 0.4-1 m.

4. Rod. It resembles the previous two types, but it uses carbon rods connected in parallel on a conductive bus as a heater.

Where is underfloor heating installed?

Most often it is installed in the kitchen and bathroom. The reason for this is the high humidity in these rooms, in addition, with high humidity, the cold is felt more strongly. When you get out of the bath, standing on a warm floor is much more pleasant than on a cold tile. And in the bathrooms of most apartments there are no heating radiators. Therefore, installing a warm floor will increase the overall temperature in the apartment. Often installed near pools, in baths, toilets.

Less commonly installed on balconies and loggias, if you use them as a functional space of the room. It also makes sense to install in living rooms, especially in apartments located on the ground floor or private houses, when it pulls cold from the floor.

Installation advantages:

the temperature rises throughout the room and you can be in it without shoes;

humidity decreases;

reduces the likelihood of mold.

Design: do-it-yourself electric floor heating

To provide the floors with the right amount of heat, you need to choose the appropriate power. It depends on many factors: surface temperature, thermal insulation and other things. Approximate power values ​​per square meter:

bedroom - 100-150 W / sq.m;

entrance hall, corridor, kitchen - 150 W/sq.m;

toilet, bathroom - 180 W/sq.m;

balcony, loggia - 200W/sq.m.

The general scheme is shown in the figure below.

Heating cable laying

The main task when laying is to lay it so that the heat is distributed evenly. Therefore, it is laid either with a snake or with a spiral converging to the center of the room.

It is not necessary to lay heating elements under furniture, experts identify two reasons: it can overheat and fail, and it also makes no sense to heat this space. First of all, you need that warm surface on which you walk.

In order for the cable to be laid firmly, it must be fixed to the surface. There are two options for how this can be done:

1. Fasten to the floor on metal mounting tapes or plastic strips with clamps.

2. Lay the mesh, to which the cable is fastened with plastic clamps.

To distribute heat evenly, the cable is laid in concrete at different depths:

from 1 cm, with a laying step of more than 7.5 cm;

from 2 cm, with a laying step from 7.5 cm to 10 cm;

from 3 cm, with a step from 10 cm to 12.5 cm;

from 4 cm, with more than 12.5 cm.

The next problem to be solved is how to lay the cable. It depends on the flooring. In general, the order is as follows:

1. A reinforced cement-sand screed 3 cm thick is laid. To compensate for the thermal expansion of the screed, a damper tape is laid. If the floor is concrete, this step can be skipped.

2. Installation of thermal insulation. It is needed in order to reduce heat loss down. For these purposes, you can use expanded polystyrene foam boards, basalt fiber materials, etc. Thermal insulation on a foil base must be laid so that the metallized layer faces the heat source. This reflects heat better.

The stronger the floor freezes, the thicker the thermal insulation layer should be, up to and more than 5 centimeters. There are also special substrates on which it is convenient to mount the cable. The joints of the substrate are glued with aluminum tape or other adhesive tape.

3. The cable and temperature sensor from the thermostat are laid.

4. A reinforcing mesh and a finishing screed are laid on top of it.

Cable laying is carried out after the screed has completely dried, it depends on the environmental conditions and the composition of the solution, it can take a long period, up to a month.

If there are tiles on the floor, then another cement screed with a reinforcing mesh is laid over the heating elements.

Heating mats and film floor

The installation process of these types of heaters differs only in that they need to be rolled out on the floor, like wallpaper. The film underfloor heating can be laid directly under the floor covering without finishing screed, for example under linoleum or parquet, due to its small thickness (up to 1 mm). This allows you to make a warm floor in a short time and at minimal cost.

The temperature sensor is mounted on top of the film.

Wiring diagram

As already noted, the heating elements are connected to the thermostat, and the temperature sensor is also installed above or below them, so that it is evenly removed from the cable turns, if heating cables or mats are used, this is necessary to ensure the accuracy of the readings. This may require wall chasing or a groove along the screed. A typical connection diagram is shown below.

It is better to lay wires to the heating elements in the corrugation. If possible, the heating system must be connected to ground.

Typical IR film connection

For cable

Conclusion

Installing a warm floor is a simple task, but quite labor-intensive, you need to go through all the stages of floor construction. Including pouring screeds, laying thermal insulation, heating elements, connecting electrical wiring. However, this will ensure a comfortable stay in the room at any time of the year and weather.

The underfloor heating system will be a great addition to the main heating system. Also, a warm floor can safely perform the functions of the main heating without the need for additional devices.

Often, owners decide to install underfloor heating on their own. And if for the connection it is necessary to have the skills to perform electrical work, then the independent arrangement of a water-heated floor is within the power of everyone. Read the instructions and get started.

Preparatory work

First step

Dismantle the old screed to the very base. Control that surface differences do not exceed 1 cm.

Second step

Lay a layer of waterproofing material on a thoroughly cleaned surface.

Third step

Fasten the damper tape around the perimeter of the room. If your system will consist of several circuits, the tape must also be laid in a line between these circuits.

Fourth step

The thermal insulation material, as well as the order of insulation, is selected individually in accordance with the conditions of a particular situation.

So, if the system will be used as an addition to the main heating, it will be enough to lay polyethylene foil.

In most situations, foam or other suitable material is used as a heat-insulating material.

Also on sale are heaters designed specifically for installation in combination with underfloor heating pipes. In their structure there are already channels for laying pipes.

Fifth step

Lay a reinforcing mesh over the thermal insulation. It will help increase the strength of the screed, which you fill the pipes with.

In this case, the pipes of the system can be attached directly to the grid, eliminating the need for special clips and strips. In this case, ordinary plastic ties can be used for fastening.

You need to perform an individual calculation and determine the optimal pipe laying parameters for each individual room.

The calculation is easiest to do with the help - this will give you the opportunity to save time and effort.

It is rather difficult to calculate the required power for each individual circuit solely using formulas. Such a calculation requires taking into account many parameters. In this case, the slightest mistake can lead to extremely adverse consequences.

To perform a system calculation, you need to know the following parameters:

The listed parameters will allow you to calculate the optimal length of the pipes to be laid, as well as the appropriate pitch for their placement to ensure the required level of heat transfer.

You must also choose a suitable pipe laying route. Remember: when passing through pipes, water gradually loses heat. So distribution must be carried out taking into account a number of important nuances, namely:

• it is recommended to start laying pipes from the less warm (external) walls of the room;
• if the pipe is not introduced into the room from the side of the outer wall, then part of the pipe from the point of entry to the wall must be insulated;
• in order to gradually reduce the intensity of heating from the outer walls of the room to the inner ones, the “snake” laying option is used;
• in order to ensure uniform heating of the space in rooms that do not have external walls (wardrobes, bathrooms, etc.), the spiral mounting method should be used. In this case, the spiral should develop from the edge of the room to its middle.

The most commonly used step for laying underfloor heating pipes is 300 mm. In places with increased heat loss, the pipe spacing can be reduced to 150 mm.

It is desirable that the resistance of the pipes in the circuits connected to a common collector be the same. To do this, it is necessary to divide especially large contours into several smaller contours. Particularly large in this case are circuits whose pipe length exceeds 100 m.

Also, experts strongly do not recommend heating several rooms with one circuit. Attic floors, glazed verandas, balconies, etc. rooms must be heated by a separate system circuit. Otherwise, the heating efficiency will be significantly reduced.

Underfloor heating system installation guide

Proceed with the installation of the system. The work is carried out in several stages.

The first stage - the collector

The collector is mounted in a collector box specially designed for this purpose. Usually the thickness of such a box is 120 mm. Select dimensions in accordance with the dimensions of the collector rough and taking into account the dimensions of various add-ons such as drain sensors, pressure sensors, etc.

Arrange the manifold group so that there is a gap under it sufficient to bend the pipes.

Install the manifold cabinet. Do this so that the pipe lengths from each heated room and system circuit are approximately the same.

Most often, collector cabinets are simply mounted into the walls - 120 mm thick allows this. The collector box must be installed above the floor heating system.

It is important to remember: it is categorically not recommended to create all sorts of niches in load-bearing walls, and in most situations it is even strictly prohibited.

The collector cabinet is assembled in accordance with the attached instructions, so you will not have any problems and difficulties at this stage.

Second stage - heating boiler

First of all, choose the right power. The equipment must normally carry the incoming loads and have a certain power reserve. The calculation is extremely simple: you add up the power of all underfloor heating systems and add a 15 percent margin.

The coolant in the system under consideration is provided by a pump. The design of modern boilers includes a suitable pump initially. Usually its power is sufficient to ensure the normal functioning of the system in rooms up to 120-150 m2.

In the event that the dimensions of the room exceed the given values, you will have to install an additional pump. In such situations, the pumps are installed in remote manifold cabinets.

Shut-off valves must be installed directly at the points of input and output of the heat carrier from the boiler. With these devices, you can turn off the heating equipment when necessary, for example, for repairs or preventive maintenance.

Most often, home craftsmen give preference - they are the easiest to install and show themselves very well when working in combination with a floor heating system. To install and connect the equipment, simply follow the manufacturer's instructions.

Prices for the range of heating boilers

Heating boilers

The third stage - pipes

Pipe laying is carried out in accordance with a previously prepared scheme. To fasten elements, profiles with holes for accommodating screws are usually used.

You can also attach the pipes to the grid using plastic ties - this has already been mentioned earlier.

When attaching pipes, make sure that they are not pinched too tightly - it is better when the loop is free.

Try to make bends as accurate as possible, while observing the recommendations for the minimum allowable radius. In the case of polyethylene pipes, this radius is usually 5 pipe diameters.

If you pinch the polyethylene pipe too much, a whitish stripe will form on its bend. This indicates the occurrence of a crease. It is forbidden to use such pipes - a breakthrough will appear very quickly at the place of the crease.

Connect the pipes of the system to the collector using a fitting or a eurocone system.

After completing the installation of the system, be sure to check. To check, fill in water, apply a pressure of about 5 bar and leave the warm floor in a similar state for a day. If after 24 hours there are no noticeable expansions and leaks, you can proceed with the arrangement of the screed.

Fourth stage - screed

When pouring, the pipes must be supplied with operating pressure. After pouring, the screed must be left to dry for a month. Only after the full curing of the screed, you can proceed to laying the finish coat.

When forming a concrete screed, it is necessary to take into account a number of important features related to the nature of the distribution of thermal energy in the thickness of the pour and the applied topcoat.

If tiles are to be laid, the thickness of the screed should be about 30-50 mm. Or you can reduce the distance between the pipes to 100-150 mm. Otherwise, the heat will be distributed absolutely unevenly.

In the case of laying linoleum, laminate panels, etc., the thickness of the screed should be even smaller. To strengthen the fill in such a situation, it is necessary to use an additional reinforcing mesh laid over the pipes.

Prices for various types of screeds and self-leveling floors

Screeds and self-leveling floors

Thus, laying the underfloor heating system without any problems is carried out on its own. It is only necessary to follow the given provisions of the instructions and take a responsible approach to the implementation of all activities.

Successful work!

Video - Make a warm floor with your own hands

In rooms heated using underfloor heating technology, the feeling is much more comfortable than with a traditional radiator system. When the floor is heated, the temperature is distributed in an optimal way: it is warmest for the feet, and at head level it is already cooler. There are two ways of heating: water and electric. The water one is more expensive to install, but cheaper to operate, so that's what they do more often. You can slightly reduce installation costs if you make a water-heated floor with your own hands. The technology is not the easiest, but it does not require encyclopedic knowledge.

Device and principle of operation

For water heating of a warm floor, a system of pipes is used through which the coolant circulates. Most often, pipes are poured into a screed, but there are dry installation systems - wooden or polystyrene. In any case, there is a large number of small cross-section pipes laid under the floor covering.

Where can you mount

Due to the large number of pipes, water heating is done mainly in private homes. The fact is that the heating system of high-rise buildings of early construction is not designed for this method of heating. It is possible to make a warm floor from heating, but there is a high probability that either you will be too cold, or your neighbors from above or below - depending on the type of power supply to the system. Sometimes the entire riser becomes cold: the hydraulic resistance of the water floor is several times higher than that of the radiator heating system and it can clog the movement of the coolant. For this reason, it is very difficult to obtain permission from the management company to install a warm floor (installation without permission is an administrative offense).

The good news is that two systems have begun to be made in new buildings: one for radiator heating, the second for underfloor heating. In such houses, permission is not required: an appropriate system was developed taking into account the higher hydraulic resistance.

Organization principles

To understand what you need in order to make a water heated floor with your own hands, you need to understand what the system consists of and how it works.

Heat carrier temperature control

In order to feel comfortable on the floor, the temperature of the coolant should not exceed 40-45°C. Then the floor warms up to comfortable values ​​- about 28 ° C. Most heating equipment cannot produce such a temperature: at least 60-65 ° C. The exception is condensing gas boilers. They show maximum efficiency at low temperatures. From their outlet, the heated coolant can be supplied directly to the pipes of the warm floor.

When using a boiler of any other type, a mixing unit is required. In it, the cooled coolant from the return pipeline is added to the hot water from the boiler. You can see the composition of this bond on the diagram for connecting a warm floor to a boiler.

The principle of operation is the following. The heated coolant comes from the boiler. It enters the thermostatic valve, which, when the temperature threshold is exceeded, opens the water admixture from the return pipeline. In the photo there is a jumper in front of the circulation pump. A two-way or three-way valve is installed in it. Open it and mix in the cooled coolant.

The mixed flow through the circulation pump enters the thermostat, which controls the operation of the thermostatic valve. When the set temperature is reached, the flow from the return is stopped, when it is exceeded, it opens again. This is how the temperature of the coolant of the water heated floor is adjusted.

Contour distribution

Next, the coolant enters the distribution comb. If a water-heated floor is made in one small room (a bathroom, for example), in which only one pipe loop is laid, this node may not exist. If there are several loops, then it is necessary to somehow distribute the coolant between them, and then somehow collect it and send it to the return pipeline. This task is performed by a distribution comb or, as they are also called, a floor heating collector. In fact, these are two pipes - on the supply and return lines, to which the inputs and outputs of all underfloor heating circuits are connected. This is the easiest option.

If a warm floor is made in several rooms, then it is better to install a collector with the ability to adjust the temperature. Firstly, different rooms require different temperatures: someone prefers +18°C in the bedroom, someone needs +25°C. Secondly, most often, the contours have different lengths, and different amounts of heat can be transferred. Thirdly, there are "internal" rooms - which have one wall facing the street, and there are corner ones - with two or even three outer walls. Naturally, the amount of heat in them should be different. This is provided by combs with thermostats. The equipment is not cheap, the circuit is more complicated, but such an installation allows you to maintain the desired temperature in the room.

There are different thermostats. Some control the temperature of the air in the room, the second - the temperature of the floor. You choose the type. Regardless of this, they control the servomotors mounted on the feed comb. Servo motors, depending on the command, increase or decrease the flow area, adjusting the intensity of the coolant flow.

Theoretically (and practically it happens), situations may arise when the supply to all circuits is blocked. In this case, the circulation will stop, the boiler may boil and fail. To prevent this from happening, be sure to make a bypass through which part of the coolant passes. With this construction of the system, the boiler is safe.

You can see one of the system options in the video.

Laying a warm water floor

One of the key components of the system is pipes and their fixation system. There are two technologies:

Both systems are not ideal, but laying pipes in a screed is cheaper. Although it has a lot of disadvantages, it is because of its lower cost that it is more popular.

Which system to choose

In terms of cost, dry systems are more expensive: their components (if you take ready-made, factory ones) cost more. But they weigh much less and are put into operation faster. There are several reasons why you should use them.

First: the heavy weight of the screed. Not all foundations and ceilings of houses are able to withstand the load created by a water-heated floor in a concrete screed. Above the surface of the pipes there must be a concrete layer of at least 3 cm. If we take into account that the outer diameter of the pipe is also about 3 cm, then the total thickness of the screed is 6 cm. The weight is more than significant. And on top there is often a tile on a layer of glue. Well, if the foundation is designed with a margin, it will withstand, and if not, problems will begin. If there is a suspicion that the ceiling or foundation will not withstand the load, it is better to make a wooden or polystyrene system.

Second: low maintainability of the system in the screed. Although it is recommended to lay only solid coils of pipes without joints when laying underfloor heating contours, periodically the pipes are damaged. Either during the repair they hit with a drill, or burst due to marriage. The place of damage can be determined by a wet spot, but it is difficult to repair: you have to break the screed. In this case, adjacent loops can be damaged, due to which the damage zone becomes larger. Even if you managed to do it carefully, you have to make two seams, and they are the potential sites for the next damage.

Third: the commissioning of a warm floor in a screed is possible only after the concrete has gained 100% strength. This takes at least 28 days. Before this period, it is impossible to turn on the warm floor.

Fourth: you have a wooden floor. By itself, a tie on a wooden floor is not the best idea, but also a screed with an elevated temperature. The wood will quickly collapse, the whole system will collapse.

The reasons are serious. Therefore, in some cases, it is more expedient to use dry technologies. Moreover, a do-it-yourself wooden water-heated floor is not so expensive. The most expensive component is metal plates, but they can also be made from thin sheet metal and, better, aluminum. It is important to be able to bend, forming grooves for pipes.

A variant of a polystyrene underfloor heating system without a screed is shown in the video.

Materials for a warm water floor

Most often they make a water-heated floor in a screed. Its structure and necessary materials will be discussed. The scheme of a warm water floor is presented in the photo below.

All work begins with leveling the base: without insulation, heating costs will be too high, and insulation can only be laid on a flat surface. Therefore, the first step is to prepare the base - make a rough screed. Next, we describe step by step the procedure for work and the materials used in the process:

• A damper tape is also rolled around the perimeter of the room. This is a strip of heat-insulating material, no more than 1 cm thick. It prevents heat loss for wall heating. Its second task is to compensate for the thermal expansion that occurs when materials are heated. The tape can be special, and you can also lay thin foam cut into strips (no more than 1 cm thick) or other insulation of the same thickness.
• A layer of heat-insulating materials is laid on the rough screed. For underfloor heating, the best choice is polystyrene foam. The best is extruded. Its density must be at least 35kg/m 2 . It is dense enough to support the weight of the screed and operating loads, has excellent performance and a long service life. Its disadvantage is that it is expensive. Other, cheaper materials (polystyrene, mineral wool, expanded clay) have a lot of disadvantages. If possible, use polystyrene foam. The thickness of the thermal insulation depends on many parameters - on the region, the characteristics of the foundation material and insulation, the method of organizing the subfloor. Therefore, it must be calculated for each case.

• Further, a reinforcing mesh is often laid in increments of 5 cm. Pipes are also tied to it - with wire or plastic clamps. If expanded polystyrene was used, reinforcement can be dispensed with - you can fasten it with special plastic brackets that are driven into the material. For other heaters, a reinforcing mesh is required.
• Beacons are installed on top, after which the screed is poured. Its thickness is less than 3 cm above the level of the pipes.
• Next, a clean floor covering is laid. Any suitable for use in an underfloor heating system.

These are all the main layers that need to be laid when you make a do-it-yourself water-heated floor.

Underfloor heating pipes and laying schemes

The main element of the system is pipes. Most often, polymeric ones are used - made of cross-linked polyethylene or metal-plastic. They bend well and have a long service life. Their only obvious drawback is not too high thermal conductivity. This minus is not present in the recently appeared corrugated stainless steel pipes. They bend better, cost no more, but due to their low popularity, they are not often used yet.

The diameter of pipes for underfloor heating depends on the material, but usually it is 16-20 mm. They fit in several schemes. The most common are spiral and snake, there are several modifications that take into account some features of the premises.

Laying with a snake is the simplest, but passing through the pipes the coolant gradually cools down and by the end of the circuit it is already much colder than it was at the beginning. Therefore, the zone where the coolant enters will be the warmest. This feature is used - laying starts from the coldest zone - along the outer walls or under the window.

This drawback is almost devoid of a double snake and a spiral, but they are more difficult to lay - you need to draw a diagram on paper so as not to get confused when laying.

Screed

You can use a conventional cement-sand mortar based on Portland cement to fill a water-heated floor. The brand of Portland cement should be high - M-400, and preferably M-500. - not lower than M-350.

But ordinary “wet” screeds gain their design strength for a very long time: at least 28 days. All this time it is impossible to turn on the warm floor: cracks will appear that can even break the pipes. Therefore, so-called semi-dry screeds are increasingly being used - with additives that increase the plasticity of the solution, significantly reducing the amount of water and the time for "aging". You can add them yourself or look for dry mixes with the appropriate properties. They cost more, but there is less trouble with them: according to the instructions, add the required amount of water and mix.

It is realistic to make a water heated floor with your own hands, but it will take a decent amount of time and a lot of money.