Floor heating: how to make your own hands? Step-by-step instructions and tips

Warm floor can not be called an achievement of modern technologies, such systems were built in ancient Roman times. This has been repeatedly confirmed by excavations. Russia is a country where the climate is quite severe, which is why heating the dwelling plays a rather important role. In recent years, warm floors have become popular, especially in the field of individual housing construction. Their use gives the rooms a unique comfort and coziness. If you also decided to use this method to create a warmer climate inside your house or apartment, you can choose water or electric floors.

Modern solution

More widely distributed today, warm floors, fueled by heating, this is because they are environmentally friendly, have a low cost and are distinguished by their durability. Such a system can be present not only in the apartment, but also in the office, as well as the warehouse or production room. The technology allows to heat sufficiently large areas, due to this, optimal circulation of heated air is guaranteed, the temperature in different points of the room remains the same.

Pros of using

The floor heating allows to exclude drafts, and if it is arranged in a room, the height of ceilings varies from 3.5 to 5 meters, then such a system will not have an alternative, it is especially important for warehouses where it is required to maintain the set temperature. It is noteworthy that to all the advantages of such a floor it is possible to add the possibility of arrangement under any kinds of finish coating.

The device of the warm floor working from heating

Floor heating, built in this way, is a system created from plastic pipes. They should have a small diameter, as material can be used metal plastic or cross-linked polyethylene. These materials have a high thermal conductivity, low resistance and impressive flexibility. The length of the pipeline can vary from 40 to 500 meters. Such pipelines are made as a whole, that is why the possibility of leakage in the junctions is completely excluded.

The floor heating created by this scheme must maintain a certain temperature, for this purpose, a mixing unit of the heat transfer medium is introduced into the system, it can have a thermostatic mixer, pump, collector, and a temperature sensor control.

main sources

The above described system can operate from two sources, namely individual gas equipment or a central heating system. It is important to remember that the connection to the central system in a multi-storey building is prohibited, because then there will be a high load, a hydrostatic shock can occur. You can do this after agreeing with the specialists of your field, this is only relevant for houses of new series, where there is a separate riser for pumping out the coolant in the breakthrough in the heating system. In this case, heat meters are installed. Preferred alternative methods are when the water parameters are set individually, in which case they will not depend on the central heating.

Principle of operation

The floor heating works according to a certain principle, it is rather simple and consists in that, through the collector, the coolant is injected under insignificant pressure along the length of the laid pipeline. The finish coating, which has a high thermal conductivity, heats up and transfers heat to the interior space of the room. The air temperature at the surface of the floor will be greater than at the height of human growth. Through the return chilled water enters the riser of the central heating system, it can be gas equipment for heating.

Installation diagrams

Heating systems of floors are usually installed according to one of the existing schemes, these can be thin, light or concrete floors. In the latter case, we are talking about the main system, which is covered with reinforced concrete floors, whereas in the role of a warm distribution layer, a screed based on concrete is used. It will provide the maximum possible heat dissipation. This system is also called jellied or wet, it is most effective and reliable. This method provides maximum heat transfer, which covers the heat loss of the room. Such a floor has high strength, cheaply stands, comfortable to use, environmentally friendly and hygienic.

Heating systems of floors can be laid in those rooms where there are no reliable reinforced concrete floors. In this case, it is better to use a dry screed, this can be a polystyrene or wooden floor. As a basis, particleboard or polystyrene plates are used, they are laid with plates and have special grooves for the pipeline. The next layer is a gypsum fiber sheet, the main advantages in this case are a high speed of work, a small thickness and in the absence of costs, which are usually associated with concreting.

If you use a dry technique, you do not have to wait about a month until the screed hardens, in addition, its thickness will be equal to the limit of 35 to 60 mm. The disadvantage of this scheme of floor arrangement is its low heat output, maximum it can be 60 W / m ² , we can not fail to mention the high cost, which depends on the installation price. These systems are usually used in the reconstruction, the need to perform work in a short time, with a low height of the room, as well as in buildings with wooden ceilings.

Alternative solution

The fine scheme is applied at arrangement of a floor in the small premises which area does not exceed 7 m ² , here it is possible to carry kitchens, toilets and bathrooms. In this case, the woven base is laid, on which a pipe of insignificant diameter is mounted, up to 8 millimeters. As a top coating, a copper wire is usually used.

Restriction of the use of this scheme is due to high hydraulic resistance, because the pipes will have a small diameter, which means that the heating system will have a high load.

Surface Preparation Tips

You can independently realize the heating of a private house, warm floors sometimes become the only true solution. However, before installing them, you must dismantle the old screed, reaching the base. The waterproofing is laid on the cleaned surface, the damper band is laid not only along the perimeter, but also between the contours, if there are several. The method of insulation should be chosen depending on the target orientation of the system. If it is an addition to the basic one, then enough polyethylene foam, one side of which is covered with foil. If we are talking about an apartment with heated rooms underneath, then there will be enough sheets of expanded polystyrene or extruded polystyrene foam, their thickness can vary from 20 to 50 mm.

Floor for a room with a cold overlap

To make heating in the floor of a private house, when the basement or the ground is below, it is possible with the use of a heater in the form of a claydite or polystyrene embankment, the thickness of the latter can reach 100 mm, while the minimum value is 50 mm. On top of the heater it is necessary to place the reinforcing mesh, it will not be fixed in the layer of the screed, among other things on the grid it will be possible to fix the pipe of the warm floor. Sometimes special clips or fastening strips are used.

Selecting materials and devices

Heating of the floors of a private house can be realized from a heating system. However, in addition, you may need:

• Water heating boiler;
• Ball Valves;
• A collector with a tuning system;
• Various fittings;
• Pipes;
• Discharge pump.

The latter can be present in the boiler, but as for the collector, it must be equipped with a system for adjusting the warm floors. For laying the main route will need fittings, they will allow to equip the system from the collector to the boiler. It is important to take seriously the choice of material for pipes. If you decide to prefer polypropylene products, it is best to choose fiber-reinforced, since polypropylene has a high linear expansion when heated. Polyethylene does not expand so much, so it has recently become widespread.

In addition to the pipes

You can be yourself implemented such heating. The warm water floor is best assembled using pipes whose diameter varies from 16 to 20 mm. The pipe must withstand a temperature of up to 95 degrees Celsius, while the maximum possible pressure should be 10 bar. It is not necessary to purchase expensive variants with additional layers and oxygen protectors. This applies to those people whose main task is to reduce the cost of installing warm floors.

Technology of work

If you decide to arrange heating in the floor in a private house, then you must adhere to a certain methodology, it provides for the implementation of preparatory work, the installation of damper tape, insulation layer and pipeline. Preparation involves cleaning the surfaces of dirt and debris, cracks and crevices should be sealed with concrete. It is important to make sure that the irregularities do not exceed 5 mm, otherwise, during the operation of the system, air-blasting will occur, and heat loss will decrease.

If the rough floors are not equal, they must be filled with a rough screed. The next step is laying the damper tape, it will compensate for the temperature expansion of the screed. In order that the heat does not go to the neighbors, it is necessary to lay a layer of insulation. These can be mats of penopolix or polystyrene, on the surface of which there must be fixatives for pipes. The thickness of the material will depend on the heat load: the more impressive it is, the thicker the insulation layer should be. The minimum value is 30 mm. Next, the heating pipes are laid in the floor. They should be fixed in the grooves of the heater, using one of the three installation schemes. It can be stacking:

• Snake;
• Double helix;
• I do the usual washing.

The latter option is the simplest and most reliable. The system should be pressurized or subjected to hydraulic tests, this will make sure of strength and tightness, and these operations are necessary after installing the distribution manifold and connecting the heating circuit. Water must be supplied under excessive pressure.

The warm floor from heating should be filled with a concrete screed, for this purpose it is necessary to prepare cement, the mark of which is M-300 or higher. It is important to add plasticizer, per square meter there will be a sufficient volume of 0.6-1 liters. The concrete screed should close the pipeline, the thickness should not exceed 15 cm. It is important to fill the solution with warm pipes so that afterwards they do not tear the concrete during expansion. After 28 days the system can be started, the water temperature should rise gradually, the maximum level can be reached only on the third day of heating. After the completion of all the above-mentioned work should begin to install a decorative floor covering, it can be a laminate, linoleum, ceramic tile, as well as carpet.

Conclusion

Heating in the floor in the house is inert, but this characteristic can do a good job. If for some reason the boiler equipment is unable to heat water for some time, the system will give heat to the rooms. But you need to be prepared for the fact that after the first switch-on the heating may take several days. That's why those people who have been using such heating systems for several years are advised to include warm floors at the first frosts, this will allow them to prepare for the cold.