The type of heating in which heat is generated by using electric energy is notable for its simple design, and its installation takes a minimum of time. It is not necessary to be a professional in order to arrange an electric heated floor with your own hands, you just need to follow all the points of the instruction exactly.
In the article we presented, all types of electric floor heating systems are described in detail, their characteristics and pluses with minuses are given. For independent home masters, we have provided step-by-step installation guides. Based on our tips, you can build and connect your own electric floor.
Electric floors and their varieties
Depending on the heater used, electrically heated floors are divided into 2 categories: with a heating element in the form of a cable and with infrared.
According to the method of production, they are divided into 4 types:
- Heating cable. It can be one-2-core including self-regulating.
- Heating mats. It is a cable on a mounting grid.
- Film. Flexible polymer sheets with integrated infrared heating element.
- Rod. Consists of carbon fiber rods connected in series.
A warm electric floor is calculated based on the dimensions of the part of the room that is free from the situation. Under the furniture, laying heating elements is not recommended due to excess load on the system in these areas. The floor power is selected from considerations of 0, 1 kW / m² on average. For different rooms, this indicator is different.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Electric floors can not be called economical in operation. You will have to pay for the energy consumption, but in the device they are much simpler than water
For the installation of electric floors, there is a wide range of systems on sale that you just need to lay down and connect to power and control devices
Unlike water heated floors, the construction of which is allowed only in private houses, electric floors can be arranged in apartments of high-rise buildings, in offices and other public places
The screed over electric underfloor heating is much less than over a water floor. Room heating is faster
The infrared floor device does not require a screed at all. Laminate, for example, can be installed immediately after the floor system is installed.
The simplest option for an electric floor is a cable system, which is fixed on the base and poured with cement mortar
Cable laying is performed much faster and more conveniently if it is built into a reinforcing polymer substrate, with which it forms the so-called mat
An infrared floor device is simply and extremely quickly produced, the construction of which can be done by an artist without experience
Electric underfloor heating system
System prepared at installation
Electric flooring in apartments and offices
The device of the electrical system under the tile
Laying laminate over infrared floor
Cable heating facility
Electric mats for floor heating
Film infrared heating
It is important before starting work to calculate the step with which the cable will then be laid out. To do this, find the quotient of the area planned for laying the heating system in m², multiplied by 100 and divided by the length of the section in m, taken from the passport.
If, in addition to the heated floor, the house does not have an alternative source of heat, the area occupied by the system should be at least 70% of the total area of the room
The following article, which we recommend that you familiarize yourself, will familiarize yourself with the arguments and criteria for choosing the best option for you to install a warm floor.
Cable heating system
The heat transfer of a cable underfloor heating is very high, in fact, all electrical energy is converted into heat. It includes a heater cable, coupler, adjustment and control devices. The cable is laid both in the screed and under the floor covering.
Electric underfloor heating can be heated to 60-70 degrees. Each of its types works on a special technology, which has its own structural differences.
Features of work and device
There is no heating boiler in the system; the electric cable itself gives off heat. Most often it is used as an auxiliary type of heating, but if the house is well insulated, then the floor, heated with a cable, can also serve as the main source of heat. They lay the cable in 3 ways: under the screed, inside and above it.
It is necessary to arrange it evenly, maintaining a distance from one to the other heating line of at least 80 mm and avoiding intersections, kinks and tension on bends. During installation, the cable is easy to damage, so experienced craftsmen recommend wearing soft shoes or covering already mounted areas with sheets of plywood.
Installation of an electric floor in a coupler
The installation process in the screed of electric floor heating is labor intensive. The advantage of this method is that the heating element, being in the center of the screed, heats the surface more quickly and evenly. The technological process consists of several stages.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Stage 1: Cleaning the base before installing the system
Stage 2: Leveling the base under the underfloor heating
Stage 3: Laying the thermal insulation substrate
Stage 4: Reinforcing Mesh Construction
Step 5: Attaching the electrical cable to the reinforcement mesh
Step 6: Install the control unit on the wall
Stage 7: Pouring the screed over the electrical system
Stage 8: laying the floor
First, fill in the first layer - this will be the basis. Pre-clean the plates. Expand cracks with a width of more than a millimeter using a puncher and fill them, as well as chips and holes, with a solution.
The plate is aligned horizontally, if necessary, use the composition of "bulk floors". After drying, the foundation is applied liquid waterproofing, and leave for 2 hours to dry.
A heat-insulating substrate with a foil-coated heat-reflecting layer is spread on the surface. If there is an unheated room below, then choose insulation with a height of 5 to 10 cm. Otherwise, a layer of 2-3 cm is enough. Seams and joints are sealed with foil tape.
Assemble the heating circuit. In the perpendicular direction with respect to the wall selected for installation of the control unit, strips with latches are mounted to fix the cable. The edges of the polymer strips should end at a distance of 50-100 mm from the walls.
If mounting rails are taken instead of strips, then they are removed from the walls by 200 mm. Before laying a warm floor, check the cable resistance with a tester. Indications are verified with a passport, the allowable difference is 10% maximum.
The “warm” floor cable system is suitable for all types of rooms. It is easy to install and economical in energy consumption.
The starting point in the cable connection scheme for the electric underfloor heating according to the classic version is the control unit. Make out the calculation in the form of a "snake" and placed parallel to the wall.
All transitions to the next turn should be outside the border rails. An insulated end should be at the end of the opposite wall. The option when installation starts from the end is also possible.
After the line is completely laid, a temperature sensor is mounted between the turns in a metal corrugated pipe. The wires are led towards the baseboard, and then to the control unit. It is not necessary to brick up the sensors in concrete - it becomes very difficult to remove them if necessary.
After checking the reliability of fixing the stacked elements, they are poured with a concrete screed, the power of which depends on the technical data of the object and the type of electric heating system. The solution must be well sealed. If voids remain, the thermal conductivity of the top layer will decrease.
In the role of a control unit for a warm floor, a thermostat acts. He is responsible for processing the information received from the temperature sensor and disabling or enabling the system in accordance with the settings. The temperature controller can be either programmable or without software. Connect it to a 220 V outlet. Choose a place for installation on a site with free access.
The connection begins with the connection of the temperature sensor after this - the heating cable to the individual connectors. Further to the control unit, a line is drawn from the shield
Experts do not recommend connecting the control unit to a conventional outlet. This may create additional strain on the wiring. You must create a separate branch to connect the system.
In some cases, the cable is laid in strobes made in a concrete screed. The cable in the strobes is filled with tile glue. The advantage of this method is that the level of topcoat remains the same. After the installation of the cable is completed, the floor is turned on only after 2 weeks.
Thermomat-based electric floor
For the production of thermomats, a cable no thicker than 45 mm is used. It is fixed on a 0.5 m wide fiberglass mesh. The cable has a shielded core protected by an external sheath. For living quarters, double-core heating mats are used because of their significantly lower level of electromagnetic radiation.
If a tile is chosen as a finishing coating, instead of concrete mortar, glue for this type of material, specially designed for a warm floor, is poured over the cable
Principle of action and construction
The heating mat includes 2 elements: the actual thermomat with cable and corrugation. A sensor is inserted inside it, and it protects it from moisture and aggressive influences. If the glue layer is so thin that it cannot completely close the corrugation, you need to use a moisture-proof sensor.
The temperature regulator complete with an external temperature sensor, mounting boxes, wires are purchased separately. When choosing the first element, the maximum energy consumption is taken into account. The cross section of the wires is selected, focusing on the power of the system and the material of manufacture.
If the cable needs to be wrapped then cut the grid. The cable itself cannot be cut and shortened. During installation, it should be at the top, the grid is attached to the floor using tape or staples
The installation process is extremely simple, because Thermomat - a product completely ready for installation. There is no need to fix the heating cable, and the evenness of laying is ensured by the design itself. Its cost is higher than that of the cable floor, but it has a lot of advantages, which include faster heating of the surface.
Installation of thermal mats
Before unfolding the heat mat, the floor is covered with a primer layer. This will increase the adhesion of the adhesive to the concrete surface. Usually, the glue is applied immediately to the mat, but if it is a damp room, then after applying and drying a thin layer of glue it is waterproofed and then again with glue.
In order not to violate the integrity of the cable and evenly apply a binder, it is necessary to distribute the adhesive with a plastic comb. Tile is laid on the glue and level it.
Tile plus glue should total 20 mm, although some manufacturers recommend a minimum of 50 mm. This is explained by the fact that with such a thickness of the layer heat is distributed more evenly.
The photo shows the sequence of laying a warm floor of thermal mats under a tile, starting from the choice of a place (1) to laying a tile (7). Installation is simplified if the room is rectangular
In accordance with the EMP, a protective shutdown must be installed, which guarantees safety and a circuit breaker. If the system is mounted in the bathroom, the thermostat should be moved to an adjacent dry room.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Step 1: Base Screed Device
Step 2: Laying Hardened Screed Mats
Step 3: Fill the screed on the electric mats
Step 4: flooring device
Film floor specifics
There are no special difficulties in constructing a warm film electric floor system. Many lay it on their own. It is suitable for any floor coverings. The system, whose operation is based on infrared radiation, is safe even for laminate and other wooden coatings.
There are 2 types of such floor film:
- Solid. Available in the form of a thin two-layer polyurethane film with continuous carbon spraying inside.
- Striped Including the same 2 layers of film from lavsan, polyester or polyurethane with carbon or ultrathin aluminum strips located between them.
Thermal elements in these systems have parallel and serial connections. Along the edges they have bimetallic current-carrying tires made of silver and copper strips stacked on top of each other. IR film floor is not made either with screed filling or with a layer of glue. Only “dry” styling is suitable.
Warm infrared floor has several advantages.
These include:
- simple and quick installation;
- small film thickness (0.3 cm) which does not significantly reduce the height of the room;
- the possibility of eliminating such a working moment as filling the screed;
- lack of influence on humidity in the room;
- anti-allergic effect;
- relatively low energy consumption - 20% less than other types of electric thermal systems;
- air ionization;
- easy dismantling if necessary;
- high reliability.
The standard set of materials includes thermal film rolled into a roll, contact clamps, insulation and electrical wiring. To this kit it is necessary to add a temperature controller equipped with a temperature sensor, as well as a plastic film, adhesive tape, foil material. Before you get all this, you need to calculate the required footage of the film.
Under household appliances and furniture, the floor should not be insulated - these are unjustified costs and excessive load on the system. They spread the film completely over the entire plane only if the owners are used to changing the situation often
The easiest way is to sketch the room on graph paper. Further, it should be noted the places where the sensors and connection points will be placed. Select the part of the room on which the laying of the warm infrared floor is planned, then calculate how many heating elements are required.
Compare the specifics of the device of film and cable floors will help the information described in the article we recommend.
The installation process of the infrared system
If the previous coating is in normal condition, then the technology of laying the electric infrared warm floor is allowed not to dismantle it. Simply clean and eliminate the swings. A roll of film floor is cut using conventional scissors.
It should be borne in mind that when forming the surface of the strip, they should not intersect or come into contact with current-carrying tires. Typically, manufacturers indicate the cutting location. This does not mean that the film cannot be cut in other convenient places.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Infrared film can be easily cut with ordinary scissors. But it is important to remember that you can cut only in a transparent strip, without crossing carbon-coated elements
To protect a free cut of the current-carrying bus located on the non-connected side, it is sealed with bitumen tape
A “non-working" cut of the infrared panel, to which the wiring will not be connected, after attaching the insulation to the tires, we glue it with ordinary tape
Under the connecting terminals choose the recesses. Ideally, this is best done in a heat-insulating substrate, but in the example they were formed in a leveling screed
Before laying infrared strips, the base is covered with waterproofing. If the insulating material has a foil layer, then it will also work as a reflector
Under the installed waterproofing, the floor heater is assembled. The connection terminals are located in the previously selected recesses
The assembled floor is connected to a thermostat located on the wall. The temperature sensors are brought to it and the system is checked for operability.
After verifying the normal operation of the film floor and eliminating the defects, if any, they cover it with waterproofing and lay the finish coating
Stage 1: Cutting carbon strips for styling
Stage 2: Busbar Isolation
Stage 4: Adhesive tape to the edge of the infrared strip
Step 4: Forming Recesses for Terminals
Stage 5: Laying foil waterproofing
Stage 6: Assembling the electric film floor
Step 7: Checking the IR Film Floor for Functionality
Step 8: Laying Flooring Over the System
The main thing is that the cut should go through the gap between the heating elements. If the cut fell on the indicated line, only collector bimetallic plates are isolated. In other cases, tape ends are taped.
First, a waterproofing layer is laid to protect the floor from moisture from the concrete floor. Next comes thermal insulation, preventing heat loss from radiation leaving the base. Any material can be used, the main thing is that the metallized side is directed outward.
Mark out the places where the wiring will take place. After they take the place for mounting the temperature sensor. The channel under the temperature sensor is about 20 mm wide. The wiring for the sensor is placed in a corrugated tube, then placed in a prepared channel.
Then lay prepared strips according to the sketch. In order to reduce the length of the wire when laying the strip, turn the end faces to the wall, where the thermostat will subsequently be located and stop, not reaching centimeters 15.
If the room has a fireplace, at least 1 m away from it. The film is laid with that side up, which is indicated by the system manufacturer in the product briefing. Connect the clamps to the edge of the bimetallic strip, then connect the wires - to the left clamps fasten the left ones, and to the right ones - the right ones.
The wiring for the temperature sensor should be hidden under the thermal film. For this purpose, narrow grooves 1 cm wide are cut out in thermal insulation, and adhesive tape is glued along the power cable laid in them and covered with thermal film. The wires must not be allowed to rise above the thermal insulation.
The insulation on the edge of the wire is removed, rolled up, the wire itself is pushed through the clamp, fixed with pliers, then the connection point is isolated with bitumen tape. By connecting the entire circuit, measure the resistance of the resulting structure.
It is possible to use both reflective thermal insulation, and non-reflective in the form of cork cloth. Only the layer thickness is regulated - from 3 to 5 mm. Fasten the strip of thermal insulation material with mounting tape
The final stage is the installation of the finish coating. The principle of connecting the thermostat is the same for all types of warm electric floors.
Some useful tips
Before completing the job by laying the topcoat, the system is tested. If the thermal film meets all the requirements, sparking and overheating of the areas will not be observed anywhere. If any defects are discovered, the floor is covered with another layer of polyethylene film with a minimum thickness of 80 microns. It is lapped with an approach of about 20 cm.
There are a number of additional recommendations from professionals regarding installation:
- The warm film system must be installed at moderate humidity (maximum 60%) and plus temperature.
- You can’t connect a film in a minimized form to the network.
- Before connecting the film floor, it is necessary to check the insulation of the contacts in the places where the canvas was cut.
- In case of damage to the thermal film in the place where the graphite spraying is located, double-sided insulation is applied.
- If flooding of the floor has occurred, it is immediately disconnected from the mains and left to dry in natural conditions.
- You can’t walk on the finished floor in shoes.
Do not block the temperature sensor. It is necessary to leave the opportunity for its control and replacement. Also, carpets and other dense natural coatings should not be placed on the warm floor. To ensure ventilation and eliminate the possibility of deformation of the finish coating due to temperature changes, it is recommended to leave a slight gap between the wall and the coating.
Rod type underfloor heating
A carbon core rod is a rod structure that heats a room with far-infrared rays. There is no electromagnetic radiation in this range. Its peculiarity is that it is not the atmosphere that heats up, but the objects present in the room.
The carbon composite material is based on a carbon nanostructure in combination with binding components. Carbon and carbon flooring - one concept
Subtleties of work and organization
It contains carbon rods connected in parallel into elastic mats with a width of 0.8 m and a length of 25 m using a power wire. Inside the "carpet" placed heating elements. The inside of the rods consists of carbon, silver, copper, and the first one emits heat.
In addition to the rods, such a floor has a temperature sensor and a temperature regulator. This gender has the property of self-regulation. This means that the amount of heat is directly proportional to the temperature. The disadvantage is that its installation is possible only with the use of a screed, therefore, there can be no question of its dismantling.
The rod infrared floor consists of carbon rods connected on both sides to a live cable
If you put any object on the floor plane, the heat transfer in the place occupied by it is reduced, and the rods begin to produce less heat, thereby lowering the temperature. Consequently, the temperature controller here is needed only for power control, the core floor itself performs the function of preventing overheating.
Nuances of installation and connection
Although the core floor is considered an intelligent system, you can lay it yourself. The technology is simple, but it will work on the condition that all the requirements are met.
Image Gallery
Photo from
Laying a rod carbon floor is essentially similar to a floor heating device made of cable mats. First, a heat-insulating substrate is laid on the prepared base, then, according to a previously developed scheme, heating strips are laid
During laying, the strips of the carbon floor are fastened with adhesive tape to the substrate so that they do not move during operation
All electrical connections of the heating carbon system are duplicated by a protective heat-shrink tube, which is available in the core floor configuration
The sensor wire, fixing the temperature of the floor heating, lead into a corrugated tube
In order to prevent the temperature sensor from creating an unnecessary relief over the surface of the system, a longitudinal hole is cut out in the thermal insulation substrate
The temperature sensor that responds to a decrease / increase in the temperature of the system is located between the rods and secured with tape
Upon completion of the assembly of the core system, a check is made for the operability and quality of the joints. If defects are detected, they are eliminated at this stage.
After checking for operability, the screed is filled, which is the basis for the flooring device
Stage 1: laying the core floor on the substrate
Stage 2: Fixing the carbon system with tape
Stage 3: Formation of floor connections with wiring
Stage 4: Preparing the core floor temperature sensor
Stage 5: Cutting holes in the thermal insulation substrate
Step 6: Securing the Sensor
Step 7: Verify the health of the assembled system
Stage 8: Pouring the screed over the carbon core floor
The process consists of 8 consecutive steps:
- foundation preparation;
- laying heat reflector;
- mounting rods;
- interconnecting bands;
- power cable connections;
- connecting the structure to the thermostat;
- temperature sensor connections;
- screed pouring or installation of a tiled-type finish.
Before performing these works, they plan in which direction the heating mat will be laid and calculate the amount of material. The carbon floor comes on sale as a kit, but sometimes you have to buy some of the supplies.
Two factors influence the choice of power: area and type of heating. According to their power rod warm floors are divided into 2 types: up to 160 W / m² and up to 220 W / m².
The most rational option for the location of the heating mat is along a long wall with an orientation to the heat regulator, because in this case, when connected to a temperature controller, you can take shorter wires and reduce the number of cuts
The most rational option for the location of the heating mat is along a long wall with an orientation to the heat regulator, because In this case, when connected to a temperature controller, you can take shorter wires and reduce the number of cuts.
Mostly manufacturers produce a complete set for installation. At a minimum, it includes a core mat, a connecting kit and an end, wires, installation instructions. Everything else: thermal insulation, adhesive tape, corrugated pipe with a plug, thermostat, sensor, bitumen insulation - are purchased additionally.
About which option of a warm floor: electric or water is better to arrange for the subsequent laying of the laminate, is described in detail in an article devoted to this issue.
Video # 1. You will learn all about laying a core floor from this video instruction:
Video # 2. Choosing the type of electric floor will become easier if you familiarize yourself with this video:
Heating a house with the use of electric underfloor heating will help maintain a comfortable temperature. The temperature difference between the top of the room and the floor will be minimal. If you choose the right system, calculate everything accurately and do the installation work with your own hands, then you can win in terms of finances.
And what type of floor heating did you prefer for arranging your own summer house / apartment? Possible, do you have a desire to share the intricacies of installation, known only to you? Please write comments in the block below, ask questions, post a photo on the topic of the article.