Warm floor in the bath — an important device. Imagine: after a hot steam room, you go out to sit on a sofa in a rest room or plunge into a healing font … And such a chill blows around the legs. Most likely many have experienced a similar «invigorating» procedure. Even in slippers, sensations can be quite unpleasant. Therefore, if you are interested in creating complete comfort, it makes sense to equip floors with heating.
Warm floor in the bath — types, principles of action, advantages and disadvantages
Water warm floors in the bath
At the moment, there are several warm sex systems. Let’s get acquainted with their features, and also reveal the pros and cons of.
Water floors
With this technology of water floors, the water heated to the desired temperature circulates through pipes that can be made of polypropylene, plastic or metal. The optimal diameter is approximately 16-18 mm. Since in the event of an accident you have to open absolutely the entire area of the floor, the most stringent requirements are imposed on the materials.
Firstly, the pipes should be intended specifically for heating. Their absolute tightness is a matter of principle. For flooring, non -metallic pipes must be used such lengths that is enough for the entire length of the floor unnecessarily. Therefore, when buying, you should not save — you need to choose a manufacturer that gives a maximum guarantee for your products and compensates for the damage in the event of an accident during the warranty period.
Advantages:
The heating system does not spoil the interior.
Small material heating costs.
Flaws:
High cost of materials and installation.
The need to install the pump.
The possibility of leaks and the complexity of their localization.
The largest thickness of the screed among all warm floors.
Require service.
There are nuances in temperature adjustment.
The possibility of freezing.
Uneven heating is possible.
Electric floors
Such floors, in turn, are divided into film (infrared), floors on mats and cable. The latter are used most often, and indeed, the electric system today is the most common.
The film system is a roll material equipped with 50-70 W/m2 emitters with a capacity of 50-70 W/m2.
Advantages:
For arrangement, you do not need to make a screed.
You can cut the canvas into fragments.
The speed of installation.
The most economical view among electric sexes.
Ionizes the air, eliminates unpleasant odors.
Subject to the connection instructions — reliability 100 %.
Flaws:
It is impossible to place furniture under items (fraught with strong heating of these areas).
Requires a perfectly flat surface.
Do not close the temperature sensor.
For use in the bath will require grounding.
Heating mats
Heating mats is a rolled material from a mesh to which a thin heating cable with a capacity of 100-150 W/m2 is attached.
Advantages:
The speed of installation.
Infrared radiation is considered useful for humans.
Fits on glue glue without creating a full screed.
No need to equip thermal insulation.
Significant rise in the level of the floor.
Uniform heating.
Flaws:
The integrity of the cable cannot be violated.
There are nuances of laying in rooms with a complex configuration.
It is laid only under the tile or stone.
Cable floors
And the last, most common look is cable floors. Power consumption — 120-180 W/m2. The most convenient in installation two -core systems.
Advantages:
Relative cheapness of materials.
The possibility of uniform heating of the room of any configuration.
Durability and reliability.
Simplicity in management.
The ability to adjust power.
Flaws:
You can not cut the cable.
Large load on the network.
The most uneconomical among all types of electric floors.
The floor level will rise by at least 5 cm.
The cited power power consumption may differ depending on the declared characteristics of the manufacturer.
As you can see, there is no much sense to equip a water warm floor in the bathhouse. The same applies to electrical novelties. The best option is a cable system with which nothing can be compared by reliability and efficiency. It will be discussed in the future.
Electric warm floor in the bath — we make installation on our own
Installation of the draft floor
Linoleum and even more so laminate as a floor covering for steam room today is generally practically not used. Ceramic tiles, wood and stone have much better hygiene, durability and beauty. But, being mounted on a regular concrete screed, a tile with excellent thermal conductivity will be approximately the same temperature as the cement. And the cold floor in the bath is not only discomfort. With the heat of the heat, you can easily catch a cold. So, before finishing work we will do the most important thing — warm floor!
What is included in the kit:
Heating cable.
Mounting tape.
Corrugated tube.
Temperature sensor.
Regulator.
What will be needed:
Perforator or drill.
Material for thermal insulation (cork, foil insulator or solid polystyrene foam).
Concrete solution.
1.First you should outline the location of the elements: the actual cable, sensor and thermostat. Since the bathhouse is high humidity, it is recommended to take the regulator outside the room. In the place where the thermostat will be located, you need to last a groove in the wall to supply the sensor (on the floor and wall of the strobe should be designed for corrugation). On a clean and even cement screed we lay thermal insulation. In principle, it can not be used, but in this case, heat losses, and, accordingly, the expanding of energy, can be about 30 %.
If we lay a technical plug, then on top of it it is necessary to put foil, which will prevent a random fire of the material.
2.Make markings on the floor so as not to get confused with the location of the cable. Although the floor itself will be strong, it is still better to determine in advance where the furniture will stand and go around these places. The mounting tape must be attached to the floor surface or thermal insulation using self -tapping screws with a step of 0.5 m.
3.Next, you need to check the cable resistance. This is done very simple: using a multimeter. We measure the resistance between the cable veins and check it with the passport value. If the difference in the readings is no more than 15 %, then everything is fine.
4.We fix the corrugation with a plug in the stroke and place the sensor in it. The corrugated pipe will allow you to replace the failed equipment without opening the floor. Place the cable with a snake, avoiding cross -country laying, sharp bending and stretching. The wire should not reach the walls by 20-30 cm. The couplings of the connecting and heating cables must be placed in direct areas. We fix the position with the help of «tongues» that are on the mounting tape.
5.After checking the performance and installation of the system, the floor is evenly poured with concrete solution, the thickness of which can be from 3 to 7 cm. Avoid the formation of voids and remember that the cable along with the couplings must be completely recessed in the screed.
You can turn on the heating of the floor only after the solution is completely hardened (after about 25-30 days).
Well, then do what you want: decorate the surface with ceramic tiles, stone, or sew it with wood.
How to insulate the floor in the bath you now know. The last paragraph of the article is devoted to typical errors in the arrangement of electric heating:
When buying a cable, subtract the area from the total area of the premises on which heavy objects and furniture will be located. This will not only help to save money, but also prevent the wire out of order.
The cable cannot be cut and connected — this will also inevitably lead to a breakdown of the system. Therefore, before acquisition, it is important to make the most accurate calculation.
In no case do not turn on the heating not closed by the screed of the system. You can check performance by a much more gentle method — using a multimeter. The cable also cannot be advanced in shoes.
There should be no garbage on the draft surface, even dust. If the cable is laid on concrete, it is highly recommended to pre -primer the surface.
If you do not place the sensor in a corrugated pipe and waln down, then in case of breakdown you will have to open both decorative coating and concrete. And by the way, you painted a detailed plan for laying a cable indicating all distances? If so, be sure to save it. Suddenly you have to install something on the floor that requires drilling holes (for example, plumbing).
Do not save the solution and thoroughly recover the heating system into it. Air pockets will sooner or later provoke cable overheating.
Literally in a month you can appreciate all the advantages of warm floors in the bathhouse. Pleasant rest!