The bathroom floor is cold even when the whole room is filled with steam: warm air always rises, and the floor covering is most often ceramic, which conducts heat well. How to do in the bathroom?
Improper installation of the water floor () will lead to irrational heat loss in the entire heating system.
You can stop at this option if water heating in the house is not provided at all (for example, the main source of heat is a Russian stove).
How to make a warm floor in the bathroom from heating in an urban environment? Impossible. The administration will not give permission to tie into the heating riser, as this will lead to a violation of the functionality of the entire system of an apartment building. You can’t do a sidebar without permission, it’s a matter of jurisdiction.
But citizens also have the option of installing a water floor for the bathroom, which is not prohibited by law: a direct connection to a hot riser.
How to make a warm floor in the bathroom from hot water, consider below. This option has disadvantages: the floor will heat up only when hot water flows. And the water in the tap will be colder: it will have time to partially cool down, passing along the contour.
The electric floor remains the best option for the city. The heating area is usually small. It is not necessary to keep the system on all the time. With the right calculation, energy consumption will be quite economical.
A cheap option is a heating cable. Its disadvantages are electromagnetic radiation, the complexity of laying, the need to install a screed (existing ones).
The film floor will cost more, but it has no other disadvantages. Laying cable mats in the bathroom is problematic: the room is small, the geometry is complex. It is difficult to select the required number of mats, and it is impossible to cut them.
How to make a warm floor in the bathroom from electricity is described below. General requirement for film and cable: in accordance with electrical safety standards, the floor should be connected to a separate machine with an RCD of 25 amperes. And for the rest, you also need to follow the PUE.
Regardless of the type of floor, the first step is to draw up a diagram. The diagram reflects the location of the pipes / cable / film sections, the location of the thermostat, the water collector. Based on the finished drawing, you can calculate the required length of the cable or pipe, the required number of film sections.
How to make a water heated floor in the bathroom - an option for a private house: integrating the floor into a common heating circuit.
- Install a collector cabinet (at a low height) or make a niche in which the collector comb will be installed. Underfloor heating requires its own collector, independent of radiators.
- Install the comb, connect the supply and return pipes from the boiler to it. Install shut-off valves at the connections.
- Remove the floor covering, dismantle the old screed.
- Level the base with cement mortar, repair cracks and depressions.
- Cover the floor with a waterproofing film over the walls.
- Glue damper tape at the joints of the floor with the walls. Its edge should be slightly higher than the future screed (on which it depends).
- Fill in the black screed. About seven centimeters should remain from it to the future finish coating.
- Dry the screed for three days, regularly wetting with water.
- Lay a heat insulator: foil foam, PPS, polyurethane foam.
- If the insulation is not foil, cover it with foil. Glue the joints of the strips with metallic tape.
- Lay the reinforcing mesh.
- Lay the pipes according to the diagram. Fasten to the grid with plastic clamps. The step between the turns is 15-25 centimeters.
- Connect the supply pipe and return pipe to the collector nozzles through the shut-off valves.
- Turn on the water, test the system for leaks.
- Cool the floor, pour the finishing screed. The total height with pipes is up to 7 cm.
- Dry the screed (about a day), lay the tile ().
- The system can be turned on when the screed is completely set (about a month later).
How to make a warm floor in the bathroom from hot water? Floor cake - as described above. A feature of this connection method is the connection of the supply and return pipes directly to the hot riser.
This makes some adjustments to the standard installation:
- The metal riser of hot water must be replaced with a plastic one.
- It is recommended to lay the floor with a pipe of increased diameter (metal-plastic 2 cm) instead of the most commonly used section 1.6. Otherwise, with a small pressure, the system will work slowly and inefficiently.
- It is better to use a short pipe, up to 20 m. The laying step is 15 cm.
- The thickness of the finishing screed is recommended to be reduced to a maximum of 5 cm.
- It is desirable to make a layer of thermal insulation thick: if PPS, then not less than one and a half centimeters at a density of 35 kilograms per cubic meter.
- Pipes are connected to the riser through ball valves, adjusting and balancing ().
Electric floors
How to make an electric underfloor heating in a bathroom from a cable? In general, the process is similar to the installation of water pipes: waterproofing - rough screed - insulation - foil - mesh - cable - testing the system for performance - finishing screed - coating.
The thermostat is mounted on the wall in an overhead way or placed in a strobe no higher than a meter from the floor. With open wiring, the power cable from the switchboard to the thermostat is brought in a corrugated pipe; with a closed installation, they are laid in a strobe.
The temperature sensor with a wire extending from it is removed into a piece of corrugated pipe. The sensor is placed between the turns of the cable, the conductor in the corrugation is connected to the thermostat.
How to make a warm floor in the bathroom, if you settled on the film version:
- The floor cake is formed as described above.
- Film sections are spread parallel to each other in accordance with the scheme.
- They are also connected in parallel.
- You can not put a screed on top. In the absence of a screed, an additional layer of waterproofing is laid on top of the film.
- Lay down a sheet of plywood.
- Lay porcelain stoneware or ceramic tiles on glue ().
Conclusion
We outlined the basic rules for how to make a warm floor in the bathroom with your own hands.
In suburban conditions, water floors are preferred, in the city electric. Especially if the apartment is not located on the first floor.
Pipe leaks happen even with proper installation. And if you flood your neighbors, the repair costs may be comparable to the funds that you saved ().
Video: how to make a warm floor in the bathroom with your own hands.
Heating private houses and apartments with water heated floors is a fairly popular option, since the system is efficient and economical. Warm air rises evenly from the bottom to the top, creating optimal comfort in the room. Warm floors can be implemented in different ways, it can be a warm floor from central heating in an apartment or an electric one that requires laying a heating cable. Considering the cost of electricity, many residents find the idea of installing a warm floor from a battery in an apartment more attractive. The costs will mainly be for equipment, and heating costs are not so high.
It is widely believed that it is strictly forbidden to connect a warm floor from hot water in an apartment. This is not entirely true. Permission from the management company can be obtained if the apartment is located at the end of the heating circuit - on the first or last floor, depending on the heat supply scheme. Thus, the thermal energy received in the apartment will not infringe on other residents in the apartment building. As a rule, you need to install a heat energy meter, and you can safely connect a warm floor from a battery.
The supply of heat energy is carried out through a heat exchanger for underfloor heating in the apartment, which makes it possible to make the underfloor heating circuit "autonomous", not affecting other heat consumers.
How will the height of the room change from the installation of a warm floor?
When planning to install a warm floor from heating in an apartment, you need to consider not only the cost of materials, obtaining permission. An important nuance is to consider how the floor height will rise. It is necessary to install good thermal insulation on the subfloor so that the heat does not go into the floor slabs. For apartments on the second and higher floors, it is enough to lay 3 cm of insulation (polystyrene, etc.).
If in the bathroom from the heated towel rail it is connected on the first floor, below which there is a basement or soil, the insulation layer should be within 5-10 cm. Next, the size of the pipes, the topcoat layer are taken into account. The result is the final figure by which the height of the room will decrease. If the living space allows, you can buy equipment.
Pipes for underfloor heating
Considering that water floor heating is filled with a screed, it is clear that you need to choose durable pipes. The choice of a specific material will directly affect the price of 1 square meter of warm water floors.
But the price is not the main thing, it is important to comply with the conditions:
What do you need to install underfloor heating?
You can’t just take and cut the contours of the warm floor into the heating risers. The water won't circulate on its own, so you'll need a pump. You also need a system that removes the accumulated air in the system. The coolant in central heating is not clean, so to protect your own underfloor heating system, you need to install filters that trap dirt particles.
It is important to consider that the coolant in central heating can be heated up to 80 degrees, and you cannot run such water into your system - this will ruin both the screed and the finish, and it will be excessively hot in the room.
The optimum temperature of the coolant in the underfloor heating system is up to 45 degrees.
Therefore, it is necessary to install a unit that mixes water from the supply and return, as well as devices that control parameters. Therefore, the cost of a warm floor will include the price, and the thermal head, and the servo drive, etc.
Underfloor heating connection diagram
In order to properly connect the selected system, you need to prepare the equipment: a circulation pump, a servo drive for a warm water floor collector, a temperature control sensor, a distribution unit, a collector. Connection and trial run of the system is carried out before pouring the screed.
The main thing in the system is the distribution unit, it regulates the temperature of the coolant.
Thanks to a three-way valve and a sensor (thermo head for underfloor heating), the owner of the apartment regulates the temperature, achieving optimal comfort and savings on bills. The essence of the operation of the valve with the sensor is to timely shut off the hot flow when the set temperature is exceeded.
needed for uniform distribution in the coolant system. The pump is installed after the distribution unit, but after the collector group. From the three-way valve, the cooled water enters the pump, then into the collector and along the contours of the heated floor. An air outlet and a drain cock are installed in the upper and lower parts of the collector, respectively.
The diagram shows how to connect - underfloor heating to heating in apartments that close the heating circuit. If the insert is carried out in the apartments in the middle, then the three-way valve is replaced with a two-way valve.
Alternative underfloor heating Xl Pipe
Those who do not have the opportunity to legally connect floor heating from a battery should familiarize themselves with the modern Xl Pipe system. Reading reviews on xl Pipe underfloor heating, they note that this is a kind of hybrid of electric and water heating that does not have their shortcomings. The heating element here is a polyethylene tube 2 cm in diameter filled with antifreeze. Inside the tube there is a chrome-nickel heating cable in a Teflon sheath.
The design is sealed and safe. The system does not use a pump, collector, boiler. The coolant does not move here. Installation of a liquid electric underfloor heating Xl Pipe is carried out in a screed. Furniture and appliances can be moved without restrictions, the system will not be damaged. As the reviews on underfloor heating as the main heating say, this option copes with the task quite well, the temperature can be adjusted at your discretion.
The essence of Xl Pipe is simple and clear. When turned on, the cable begins to heat the coolant, quickly reaching the set temperature. Fluid pressure in the system ensures even heat distribution. According to the manufacturer, such a warm floor consumes a third less electricity than other electric heating systems. When compared with water heated floors, the costs for the purchase of a boiler, collector and other equipment are excluded.
Floor heating infrared film Heat Life
Those who have no idea how to properly make a warm floor from heating, or do not have the opportunity to carry out major repairs in the room for this, should take a closer look at the Heat Life IR heating film. It is used as the main or additional heating system in offices, residential buildings, industrial and other facilities. Those who choose Heath Life underfloor heating note the minimum installation and maintenance costs, low heating bills.
As a rule, the installation of the film does not require a screed. It can be used to heat tiles, linoleum, laminate, porcelain stoneware, and other flooring options. Energy is used to heat the floor, not the air. In addition, infrared film can heat any surface - vertical, inclined, embossed. Even if a section of the film is mechanically damaged, the overall system will continue to work. Corrosion film Heat Life is not terrible.
Advantages and disadvantages of underfloor heating
Among the advantages of using water, electric underfloor heating systems, savings on heating bills are noted. If the feet are warm, even the minimum temperature can be perceived as comfortable. Installation is not complicated, the appearance does not attract attention, like standard ones. There will be no drafts in a house where there is a warm floor. Children won't get cold playing on the floor.
As for the shortcomings, they also exist. Firstly, it is the cost of equipment, installation. Secondly, water heated floors require a loss of several centimeters from the height of the room. Thirdly, the floors should be free from carpets - otherwise, why heat them. When a breakdown occurs, it is difficult to determine which area is damaged. Furniture should not cover the floor, so as not to interfere with the circulation of heat.
Having familiarized yourself with all the listed nuances, you can make a conscious conclusion about underfloor heating, the expediency of their use in an apartment as the main or additional source of heat. In general, electric floor heating systems are installed in small rooms - in the bathroom, kitchen, bathroom. If you plan to heat a spacious room, it is better to give preference to a water-based system. In any case, it is important to consult with professionals, and then entrust them with the installation of the system, start-up and maintenance. So you can get guarantees for the safety and durability of the system.
Most often, the installation of underfloor heating is not carried out independently, but certain specialists are invited for this. In order to control the quality of performance, it is necessary to have minimally critical knowledge in this area.
What do you need to know?
First of all, decide on the type of underfloor heating. They can be of two types:
Where to use which and why?
Warm floors as the main and additional type of heating are most often used:
- in a country cottage or cottage
- in an apartment building
In a private house, you are your own boss and are free to choose any type, option and any heating scheme. There are no restrictions here. But in the apartment there are already nuances and restrictions.
The choice of underfloor heating in an apartment building
In the apartment it can be taken from two sources:
The radiator heating system is inconvenient for two factors:
Accordingly, your heated floors will be idle for most of the year.
First, it's not cheap. And secondly, it takes up significant space in the room.
Theoretically, you can connect, but you need to provide a sufficiently low temperature for underfloor heating. A direct connection will be accompanied by a temperature of 70 degrees and above, and this will simply overheat the flooring.
The second DHW option is even worse. Since unauthorized heat extraction from hot water systems is prohibited.
You will not be able to legally formalize your connection in any instances. And if such a fact is revealed during the check, you can easily run into a fine. Plus, they will force you to dismantle everything at your own expense. 
Therefore, most competent specialists do not recommend installing water-heated floors in an apartment building:
- from heating systems inconvenient
- from DHW is not possible
Of course, you can also come up with an autonomous container with water, but do not forget that the rules prohibit placing “wet zones” above the living quarters of neighbors. And a water-heated floor will just be considered such a zone. Unless you live on the first floor. 
The only option left is electric underfloor heating.
But if you have a private house, then there is already a richer choice. It is possible to stop both on electric heating, and on water. But what is the best choice?
2 factors for choosing underfloor heating
Many still in such a situation make their choice in favor of water heated floors. This is explained by the fact that people are afraid of the influence of electromagnetic radiation on the body, which supposedly have electric heated floors. 
Meanwhile, all manufacturers have long been required to have certificates and papers confirming the safety of their products. All heating cables are shielded.
If we take into account how many WiFi, GSM and other networks are around us, then electric floors are not the biggest evil. However, most of this does not convince them that they are right. 
In their opinion, for the bathroom it might also work, but if this is the main heating in all rooms, then any headaches or illnesses will automatically be recorded about electric underfloor heating.
Water heated floors are absolutely harmless.
Well, the second important point is the absolute maintainability of water floors anywhere. Moreover, you can make such repairs yourself, at home. 
In case of damage to the heating cable of the electric mat, you will either have to rip off the entire tile and change it entirely, or call specialists with equipment for burning, and finding the place of the short circuit with a thermal imager, with the subsequent installation of couplings. 
Moreover, the search for some accidents, even for them, can cause certain insoluble difficulties.
Therefore, safety and maintainability are the two factors that incline for many the choice in favor of water-heated floors as the main source of heating. The electric option, however, remains only as an additional source of heat.
But the factors that can scare away from water heated floors:
You need a boiler, a mixing unit, a collector and much more, without which electric heating can easily be dispensed with.
- constant revision work
Water replacement, scale on heating elements, pump breakdowns, leaks from low-quality pipes. In short, many water floor installers earn many times more, and not only with their laying, but also with further maintenance.
Naturally, it is beneficial for them to convince their customers about the dangers of electricity and warm floors based on them.
Personally, your choice should depend on two variables:
- budget for installation and necessary aftercare
If there are no problems with this, then go ahead to the store for water floors.
- lack of prejudice and faith in modern technology
If this is about you, then an electric underfloor heating is exactly what you need.
Electric underfloor heating
The two most popular varieties are:
Infrared film
What should I pay attention to when choosing an infrared film?
It is a sheet with soldered copper conductors. Between them with a very small gap, current coal paths are laid, which are the heating element. 
First of all, look at the contacts. They must be soldered. 
If they are made with pistons, such a connection is extremely unreliable. Excessive heating will occur here, creating a potential fire site. 
The film acts as a separator between the underfloor heating base and the decorative coating. Therefore, it cannot be laid where the screed will be poured. 
It won't fit under tiles. But it's perfect for:
- under the carpet
- linoleum
If a heating cable is laid under the same materials, then due to the distance between the turns (laying pitch), you will clearly feel the boundary between heat and cold - a thermal zebra. 
The film heats the entire surface evenly. True, some are afraid that with such heating of the laminate, harmful substances will be released from it. And so you need to buy a special product labeled "for a warm floor." 
This is not true. The sun heats up the laminate much more when it shines directly through the window. And nothing harmful comes out of it.
There are also concerns about the dryness of the air and the dust that warm floors inevitably raise up. Here everything depends not on the heating mode, the presence or absence of radiators in the rooms, but on ventilation. 
Provide a regular supply of fresh air and there will be no problems. And if you clog all the windows, then you will suffocate even with central heating batteries.
Approximate calculation of electricity consumption when heating a house with underfloor heating film: 
Heating cable and mat
Where is the best place to use heating cable? Where you will have a minimum screed, or tiles with glue - i.e. kitchen and bathroom. 
As a rule, after the builders complete the work, there can no longer be any full-fledged screed. The maximum you have is 5-6cm. 
If even less, then the choice is unequivocal - only a heating mat. It can be laid directly into the tile adhesive layer. 
The disadvantage of an electric underfloor heating is that in addition to your room, you will also warm up the ceiling from below. At your own expense, you will also heat your neighbors.
You have a warm floor, they have a warm ceiling.
Table comparing the efficiency of heating cable and film infrared floors: 
You can compare prices for the current day of underfloor heating with heating cable or mats and infrared film, as well as their components.
Water floors
A cake with water floors should ideally look like this: 
- pipes with heat carrier are mounted on this surface
- then in the cake there is an adhesive layer and a tile or other coating
The approximate thickness of the entire plate is 130-140mm. Under this condition, all the heat will be spent on your room, and not go down.
Mistakes and rules when installing a warm floor
1 Do not use foil thin materials (3-4 mm), such as penofol, as a heater.
They are enough for a maximum of 1 season, or even less. Here is a visual video experiment of what happens with similar foil isols.
Don't waste your money. In addition, without reinforcement of a thin screed, as a result of the destruction of the foil insulation, subsidence and cracking of the floor covering may occur. 
The best solution is to use extruded polystyrene foam with a density of 35 kg / m3 or multifoil as insulation. 
The basis of the multifoil is air pockets in the form of tablets or pimples. They are very strong and you won't be able to crush them just like that. 
You can easily walk on them for as long as you like. Moreover, the aluminum coating is applied on the reverse side, i. it is not possible to damage and corrode it with a screed.
2 Be sure to use edge insulation.
This is a kind of damper, which is laid along the perimeter of the slab with a warm floor. It is necessary to compensate for the expansion of the screed, which inevitably occurs when it is heated.
If this is not done, the concrete screed will rest against the walls and it will have two options, either to break these walls themselves, or to break itself. When pouring, the edge of the damper film should be above the screed, then the excess is cut off.
3 If you have a large pouring area (more than 20m2), it must be separated with a compensation tape.
Since all expansions during heating of such a concrete layer, only flanging cannot compensate.
5 Never use compression fittings, i.e. those connections where there are nuts and threads. 
None of this should get into your screed.
6 If the customer and the performer are poorly versed in the preparation of solutions, then the recommended height of a full-fledged screed should be 85mm or 7cm from the top wall of the heating element.This thickness of concrete will help save you from cracking, even with not very high-quality cement. 
In addition, 85mm helps with striping (thermal zebra). And finally, this is the inertia of such a screed.
If you have electricity as an energy source, at night at a cheaper rate you can “disperse” the warm floor and not turn on the boiler all day. The stored heat should be enough until the evening. 
This mode of heating is approximately 3 times cheaper than usual.
7 Do not save and add a special plasticizer for underfloor heating to the screed.
Ultimately, you need to get concrete that will easily withstand temperature deformation.
8 Reinforcement is done as a last resort.First of all, when you are forced to pour only 50-60mm of screed instead of 85mm. But if possible this should be avoided.
9 It is not necessary to cut any holes in the substrate to the concrete base, ostensibly for a quality hitch.
Even if this coupling occurs, everything will come off when the plate is first heated. The underfloor heating slab, figuratively speaking, should "float" without connection with the base and with the walls.
10 Do not pour mortar with empty floor pipes.The system must be filled and the pressure must be 3 bar. This is primarily due to the need to preserve the geometry and shape of the pipe. Without pressure inside, it is easy to crush.
Today we will consider the question of how to make a warm floor from hot water in an apartment, in particular, in the bathroom.
To ensure that the floor in the bathroom is always pleasant for the feet, they make a warm floor. The warm floor can be electric, or it can be liquid, powered by a heating system. Usually, for this, a branch is made from the heating riser or from the heated towel rail, if it is powered from the heating system.
However, in the summer, or rather, from May to October, heating in city high-rise buildings is turned off. And the warm floor, powered by the heating system, is also inactive until the heating is turned on in the fall throughout the house.
In order not to be left without a warm floor at the end of spring and early autumn, the pipes are powered from the hot water supply system. Of course, hot water is also turned off in the summer. But the term for turning off hot water is not long, and it is also not planned. So even in summer, a warm floor from hot water in the apartment will work properly and warm your feet.
How can a warm water floor in a bathroom be connected to a hot water supply system and how to do it right.
Firstly, you can contact a specialized company that constantly works with heating and water supply. The specialists of the firms will do everything without any hassle for you, from installing floor pipes and filling it with a screed, to connecting the floor to hot water and adjusting its temperature.
Secondly, you can do this whole process yourself, but for this you will need to study thoroughly all the information on this issue.
You must know where to buy all the accessories, how to prepare the concrete floor in the bathroom for the installation of a tubular floor, how to make a screed. And then, put a coating on top - usually ceramic tiles are used for this.
We buy components
To purchase all the components for the manufacture of underfloor heating, you first need to find out what the length of the underfloor heating circuit will be in your bathroom. To do this, measure the length and width of the free floor in your bathroom.
Why only free? Because you won't be placing water floor tubes where you don't walk. And this is the area on which there is a bath or shower, a cabinet under the washbasin, the area occupied by the bases of the cabinets.
In a standard bathroom, you get a rectangle with sides of 2 meters by 0.5 meters. In a combined bathroom, you will actually get a square with sides of 1.5 meters. In non-standard bathrooms, you yourself can measure the sides for free floor space.
Next, you can go to a plumbing store or a company that sells accessories for installing underfloor heating. Also, in any shopping center that specializes in goods for repairs, you will find a department where you can buy everything you need - pipes, fittings, valves. Do not forget to purchase floor mounts for underfloor heating pipes.
If you are going to power your underfloor heating from hot water, antifreeze will not run through the pipes, there will be clean hot water. This means that you can use less expensive water floor pipes, as antifreeze pipes cost a little more.
Preparing the base for underfloor heating
In order to begin the entire underfloor heating installation procedure, you will first need to dismantle the finished flooring in your bathroom. Those who had linoleum there receive a “bonus” in the form of its easy dismantling. Those who have tiles on the bathroom floor will be forced to dismantle them.
Next, the concrete base is cleaned and leveled. If you do not clean up the remnants of tile adhesive and similar sagging and bumps, your new screed will not hold firmly to the concrete base and, as a result, will crack and collapse.
We install a warm floor
Underfloor heating pipes are laid on a clean and even concrete base, which are mounted on concrete using floor mounts. The fasteners are screwed to the concrete with dowels, and the tubes are snapped into the fasteners.
Be sure to leave an excess length for the inlet and outlet pipes - this will help you at the stage of connecting the underfloor heating to hot water.
We connect and regulate a warm floor
Connection of a heat-insulated floor has to be made in 2 stages. The first step is to connect. When the floor heating pipes are just laid, fasteners, fittings and valves are installed.
This test connection should show you that the whole system is assembled correctly, there are no currents, everything is working. At this point, it will be possible to correct everything that is done incorrectly or needs to be improved.
At this stage, you will be able to assess how much the warm floor heats up, how well it works.
Attention! The screed must be poured when there is hot water under pressure inside the underfloor heating pipes.
The final temperature adjustment of the warm floor is made after the installation of the finishing coating in the bathroom.
Fill the screed
After the warm floor is installed, you can start pouring a new screed, which will hide the water floor pipes and protect them from mechanical damage. It is best to use a ready-made screed for this purpose. It has much better plasticity than an ordinary solution.
If you installed a warm floor according to the level, now you can use its top points for fixing beacons, which will show you when pouring the screed that you are pouring it strictly parallel to the ground.
Of course, it is possible to pour such a small space without beacons, but in case of an error, you will have problems with further tiling. And also with the fact that water will accumulate in the corners and recesses of an uneven floor.
After the final flooring is installed, your new underfloor heating in the bathroom is ready. It remains only to finally adjust its temperature. This is done using the most common ball valve, which regulates the flow of hot water into the floor tubes.
You can also use a mechanical thermostat that will automatically maintain the set temperature.
Underfloor heating systems are used today both as the main and as an additional heating of housing. Recently, their popularity has increased significantly, as these devices can significantly reduce the cost of heating a room.
The traditional and most familiar to the consumer is a water heated floor. In the apartment it can be installed with the help of specialists or on your own. But about what difficulties may arise during its installation and how to properly perform such work, we will tell in this article.
Is it allowed to install water floor systems in the apartment
Before deciding on the arrangement of such heating, you should find out if a warm water floor is allowed in the apartment. Since the device is connected to the general heating system, such work must be authorized by the housing and communal company and the heating network, and, as practice shows, this is almost impossible to do.
Everything is explained by the fact that the water floor leads to a significant increase in energy costs and creates an additional load on the heating system, which was not taken into account during the design. To exclude such a phenomenon, it is necessary to install devices that provide forced circulation of water (a pump and a mixing unit), and this is very difficult to do on the basis of central heating.
The only exceptions are rooms in which there is autonomous heating. In this case, by installing a water heated floor in the apartment, the owners just need to register the changes made in the BTI.
What threatens homeowners for the illegal installation of a water circuit in the floors
Nevertheless, despite all the prohibitions, many owners decide to independently connect a warm floor from the central heating (in the apartment), after which they face various troubles and sanctions. Namely:
1. If there is a need to sell an apartment, it will be impossible to do it legally.
2. In the event that a circuit break occurs and the apartment is flooded from below, all the costs of its repair will be borne in full by the owner of the warm floors.
3. If the illegal redevelopment of the system is revealed by representatives of the heating network or the housing office, the owner of the apartment cannot avoid litigation, sanctions and fines.
That is why, having decided to connect a warm floor from central heating in an apartment, it is necessary to weigh the pros and cons well. To do this, consider what other advantages and disadvantages this heating system has.
Advantages of underfloor heating
Homeowners who have installed a water heater note the following positive aspects of such a redevelopment of heating:
The room becomes much more comfortable than when heated by stationary radiators;
All rooms in the apartment are heated evenly;
The level of humidity in the room practically does not change, the air does not dry;
Heating costs are reduced by up to 40%;
The system does not affect the appearance of the room (unlike bulky radiators and pipes).
If we compare the water circuit and film heating, then the first option has an undeniable advantage due to the absence of electromagnetic radiation. The cost of energy resources during the operation of water heating is also less than when using electrical analogues.
Negative sides of the system
If we talk about the shortcomings that a water heated floor (in an apartment) has, then the following facts can be attributed to them:
Due to a sufficiently large layer of screed (about 10 cm), the height of the room is noticeably reduced;
If low-quality materials were used during installation or mistakes were made, there is a high probability of a breakthrough, which entails a lot of problems;
Since a water-heated floor is laid in a screed, its installation can only be carried out at the stage of building construction or during a major overhaul;
The work on arranging the system is very time-consuming, so not all owners are able to independently install it.
Water floor device
As it has already become clear, a warm floor is mounted in a screed. The device is presented in the form of tubes, which are located under the floor covering and filled with cement mortar. The design is connected to a heating system, from which hot water or a special liquid enters the pipes.
Circulating through the pipes, the coolant heats the floor covering, due to which the room is heated.
If we consider the underfloor heating system in layers, we can see that the elements are arranged in the following order:
1. Concrete slab (floor base).
2. Waterproofing material.
3. Insulation.
4. Heat reflector (foil sheets).
5. Reinforcing mesh.
7. Screed.
8. Finishing material.
Laminate and linoleum are used as flooring in living rooms, as these materials are less susceptible to deformation and perfectly transmit heat. In the bathroom and kitchen, a warm floor is laid under the tiles (water). With your own hands, such a finish is quite simple to perform, in addition, ceramics have increased wear resistance and good heat dissipation.
What pipes and insulation can be used
We have already considered the advantages, disadvantages and elements with a liquid coolant, it remains to understand what materials are used in the process of its installation and how to independently perform the necessary work.
First of all, you need to choose high-quality pipes. Many prefer foam products, as they are the cheapest. This saving is not justified, since plastic pipes are characterized by lower heat transfer.
In the case of water floors, it is preferable to use metal-plastic options with a diameter of 20 and 25 mm. They have perfect value for money. If your budget allows, you can install more expensive options such as corrugated stainless steel and copper.
Next, you need to decide on the choice of insulation, on top of which an autonomous warm floor (water) will be mounted. In an apartment, polyethylene foam (with a reflective coating) and thin polystyrene foam are most often used. If the apartment is located above an unheated room, expanded clay can be used as thermal insulation.
Required Devices
The main components of the underfloor heating system are:
Boiler for liquid heating (in the case of autonomous heating);
A pump that provides pressure in the system;
Pipes for wiring installation;
Ball valves;
A pair of collectors with a control and adjustment system;
Fitting;
Water circuit (pipes).
Pipe laying methods
Before proceeding with the arrangement of the system, it is necessary to determine the method of laying pipes. the house can be presented in two versions. In the first, pipes are laid with a snake, and in the second - with a snail.
The “snake” laying method is considered the simplest, however, when using it, the surface temperature in different parts of the room may differ.
The volute arrangement eliminates the occurrence of overheating, however, the installation of pipes and the design of the system is much more complicated.
You can install the water circuit yourself, for this you just need to take into account a few recommendations and follow the instructions clearly.
1. First of all, it is necessary to remove the old finish (if any) and clean the floor to the concrete screed. The new coating will be 6-7 cm higher, which should be taken into account by the owners of rooms with low ceilings.
2. If you equip heating in the bathroom, then in order to lay a warm floor under the tile (water) with your own hands, you need to completely dismantle the screed.
3. If metal pipes are installed in the room, they must be replaced with plastic ones so that rust does not appear at the joints. If the circuit is mounted in a stationary system is not necessary.
4. To protect the floor from leakage, a reliable waterproofing should be placed on it. For these purposes, a special mastic is used, which, after hardening, does not allow moisture to seep to the neighbors.
5. Next, the insulation is mounted. The material is located with a reflective coating outward, and the seams between the sheets are glued with adhesive tape. An additional layer of waterproofing can be laid on top of the insulation. This will reduce the risk of water leakage.
6. Glue around the entire perimeter of the room (along the edges of the insulation material). After that, mats for installing underfloor heating are laid.
7. Pipes are mounted on top of the mats (in the chosen way). The distance between the turns of the pipe should be at least 30 cm. At the base, the pipe is fixed with special clamps or staples (made of strong wire) that are stuck into the insulation. If you purchased special mats with grooves for pipes, this procedure is not necessary.
8. Both ends of the pipe are brought to the place where the floor collector will be located. With its help, the system is connected to the main heating or access to the boiler.
9. After assembling the system, water is pumped into it and checked by creating maximum pressure. This is done to detect leaks and eliminate defects.
To reduce the cost of arranging a water circuit, pipes can not be laid in places where furniture will be located.
Important nuances
If the underfloor heating is laid under ceramic tiles, the thickness of the screed should not exceed 5 cm. Also, the pipes must be placed at a distance of 15 cm from each other so that they warm up the space to the required degree, and cold areas do not form between them.
Under linoleum and laminated panels, the screed is made even thinner, and for strength, a reinforcing mesh is laid on top of the heating system.
The first heating of the floor may take several days, but in the future the system will maintain the desired temperature. Some areas of the apartment can be heated all year round (where the floors are tiled). In this case, full warm-up in the cold season will take less time.
In conclusion, the topic will touch on the cost of warm water floors. In an apartment, taking into account the material and installation, experts will make floors for 1300-2600 rubles per m². The price depends on the quality of the purchased equipment and the complexity of the project. If you calculate, then the total amount is quite high, but after 5 years of operation the system fully pays off. And if we take into account its long service life (about 50 years) and the rising prices for heating, then, perhaps, all the trouble to install a water circuit is fully justified.