Why the heated floor does not heat or does not heat well or does not heat well - eliminating the reasons with your own hands. Typical mistakes when installing a water-heated floor. The heated floor is installed incorrectly, what to do?

The price is also affordable for any income level.

Comfort

Heated floors, both water and infrared, allow you to create the most correct distribution of heat throughout the room. The heated air rises from top to bottom, so your legs will not experience discomfort all the time. Stepping on such a floor is pleasant and completely safe.

Hygiene

If we consider the process of heat movement in space from heat sources such as radiators or convectors, we can see that dust deposited on the surface rises along with the air. In the case of heated floors, this process is excluded. This is very convenient, especially if there are children or people with asthma in the family.

Economical

The minimum temperature is formed only under the ceiling. But why does a person need this space? Thus, the entire area of ​​the room in which one is usually located is heated evenly, which creates the effect of significant energy savings.

Durability

Of course, the service life will mainly depend on the materials and operating conditions. But for water systems it is still much higher than an electric floor.

Self-regulation

One of the important characteristics of a heated floor is that it maintains a given mode without outside intervention. This occurs due to internal processes where the floor heats the air until the temperatures are equal.

Simplicity

A water heated floor, like a film floor, is very easy to install, and this can be done without acquiring special skills. Probably the most difficult stage is design. Schematic layout and thinking through the optimal location requires a careful approach. But installing pipes and connecting them is not at all difficult.

Step 2. Constraints

Warm water floors can be installed in rooms that were originally designed for this purpose. That is, if the design of the cottage includes the possibility of running pipes along the floor, then this can be done at any time. In apartments multi-storey buildings, Unfortunately this is not possible. This is explained by the fact that water flows into the radiators at a certain pressure, which is designed for all apartments, and if you create a branch, it will change, and the neighbors will suffer.

If you decide to install a water floor, then you immediately need to consider the option of flooring. Tile or laminate is best suited for it. Linoleum is not highly recommended by experts, since not all of it is made from high-quality materials. When heated, some components can emit a terrible odor or harmful toxic substances.

Parquet or carpet are also not suitable due to their high heat transfer. That is, they will not conduct heat outside, but will give it back inside, which, of course, is undesirable.

Step 3. Select Components

Distribution unit. It consists of three parts: a manifold group, a pump and a mixer. The pump is responsible for circulating water, and the mixer provides the required temperature. If the floor is installed in a small area, then it can be adjusted manually, but if the kitchen is very large, then there are specially adapted pumping and mixing devices for this.

Underfloor heating circuit. This is actually a system of running pipes. The best option for use is a material based on PEX or high temperature resistant PERT. This raw material is light, strong and flexible. It combines such qualities as low price, good technical characteristics and long service life. The water temperature is evenly distributed over the entire surface. If an error occurs and you connect the joints incorrectly, then, unlike metal-plastic or metal, the pipes will not lose their properties, and you can easily redo the mistake.

Step 4. Design

At this stage, you should determine whether the underfloor heating system will be the only heating method or just an addition to the main one. In the first case, the temperature distributed over the entire surface will be much lower than in radiators. It is approximately 30-40°C, and in the second case – 60-90°C. Accordingly, you need to take this into account when setting up your heating boiler.

To calculate the number of pipes, the formula is when per 1 sq. a meter of area is taken as 5 meters of pipe. That is, in a kitchen with an area of ​​6 square meters. m., 30 meters of pipes are needed. The most favorable temperature for perception is 24-26°C, which means that at the entrance it should be 2-3 degrees higher.

All of the above concerned the heating system only in the floor covering. If the structure will be placed in addition to an existing radiator, then it is necessary to create a displacement unit that will switch from high temperatures in the radiators to lower temperatures supplied to the floor. The operating principle is similar to that of an ordinary faucet; it can be controlled either manually or automatically.

To do this, you need to choose a step, taking into account the following points:

  1. Identify areas of active heat loss. They are located near windows, doors, balconies. Here the step should be 10-15 cm.
  2. The circuit pipe must touch these areas or pass directly under them.
  3. For the central area of ​​the kitchen, it is advisable to use a step of 20-30 cm.
  4. Pipe laying can be done in two ways: snake or spiral. For a small kitchen, it would be best to choose the second option. There will be fewer bend points, which means there is less chance of pipe deformation.
  5. The distance from the wall to the contour should be at least 15 cm.

Step 5. Installation

The first step is to prepare the surface. To install pipes, it is necessary to eliminate even slight differences in heights, and to do this, a screed should be laid over the entire surface.

  1. Layer to prevent moisture ingress. Provided with mastic and ordinary film.
  2. A layer to prevent heat loss using a material that includes foamed polyethylene and expanded polystyrene.

After the layers are installed, it is necessary to make markings on the floor according to the drawn pipe layout. This can be done with an ordinary marker. Attaching pipes to the surface can be done in several ways. The first is the use reinforcing mesh, to which sections are screwed with clamps or ordinary wire. And the second is polystyrene plates. This is a special marking for laying pipes. It has small humps arranged in a certain order. The pipe is installed between them.

After all the parts are laid out, connected and connected to the distribution nodes, it is necessary to test the system. This is done to make sure that the joints are well sealed, nothing is leaking anywhere, and the pipes can withstand the resulting pressure.

If everything went well, a concrete screed is made, on which the floor covering will subsequently be installed.

The nuances of forming a water-heated floor screed

There are certain features in the formation of screeds for water heated floors. This is due to the principle of heat distribution in its thickness and the floor covering used.

1. When laying a heated water floor under the tiles, it is necessary to make the screed about 3-5 cm thick or calculate the pipes so that the gap is 10-15 cm. If you do not do this, the heat from the pipes will not warm up the space between them.

2.If laid on surfaces such as laminate, linoleum, etc. the screed becomes thinner. In this case, for strength, you can use another reinforcing mesh on top of the heated floor. This will reduce the thermal path from the pipes to the surface flooring. A layer of thermal insulation is not placed under the laminate, because it will only worsen the efficiency of the heated floor.

Expert advice

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To prevent oil paint from drying out during storage and to prevent a film from forming on it, place a circle of thick paper on the surface of the paint and fill it with a thin layer of drying oil.

"The polyethylene film covering the balcony or greenhouse is protected from being torn off by the wind by a string stretched on both sides at intervals of 10-15 cm."

"To make it easier to work with the concrete mixture, clay is usually added to it, but clay reduces the strength of the mixture. Add a spoonful of washing powder to it per bucket of water."

"To prevent the screw, the head of which is hidden behind the obstacle, from rotating along with the tightened nut, you need to throw several turns of thread or thin wire over it and lightly tighten the ends. Due to friction, the screw is held well in place. The ends of the thread can be cut off after tightening."

"You can cut out a birdhouse entrance without a brace. It is enough to split the front side of the board in the center and cut out half-holes of the required size with a chisel or a hatchet, and then connect the halves again."

Wooden screw plugs crumble and fall out of the wall. Take your time to cut out a new plug. Fill the hole in the wall tightly with nylon from an old stocking. Heated red hot nail dem suitable diameter melt a hole for the screw. The fused nylon will turn into a strong cork.

"It is not difficult to turn a carpenter's level into a theodolite by equipping it with an aiming device from a slot and a front sight."

"In order for two strips of linoleum to lie end to end, it is convenient to use a self-adhesive decorative film, placing it under the base of the noleum."

"To ensure that the nail goes in the right direction and does not bend when driven into a deep hole or groove, it should be placed inside the tube, secured with crumpled paper or plasticine."

Before punching a hole in a concrete wall, secure a piece of paper just below. Dust and concrete fragments will not fly around the room.

"To cut a pipe exactly at a right angle, we recommend doing this. Take an even strip of paper and screw it onto the pipe along the sawing line. The plane passing through the edge of the paper will be strictly perpendicular to the axis of the pipe."

"A simple device will help you move logs or wooden beams - a piece of motorcycle or bicycle chain, equipped with a hook on one side and attached to a crowbar on the other side."

"In order for one person to work with a two-handed saw, we recommend using a simple technique: rearrange the saw handle from top position to the bottom. "

Cut a piece of slate required size You can use a saw, but it’s better and easier to punch holes along the line of the intended cut with a nail at a frequency of 2-3 cm, and then break off the slate on the support.

"The best way to stick tiles to the wall: take bitumen, melt it and drop just four drops on the corners of the tile. It sticks dead in place."

When making shaped window casings, it is most convenient to cut shaped holes with a hacksaw with a sharpened blade.

"Making stained glass is a long and difficult task. You can make a quick imitation of stained glass. To do this, take thin slats or rods of vines, glue them to a sheet of glass, and then paint the glass and cover it with varnish."

“If you don’t have a dowel at hand, you can make it from a piece of plastic tube. The body of a ballpoint pen can also be suitable for this. Having sawed off a piece of the required length, make a longitudinal cut, about halfway, and the dowel is ready.”

"It is known how difficult it is to hang a door when working alone. But just shorten the bottom pin by 2-3 mm and the work will become much easier."

"A very durable, non-shrinking and fairly waterproof putty is made from bustylate mixed with any powder - chalk, gypsum, cement!, sawdust, etc."

"If you need to screw a screw into the end of a particle board, drill a hole slightly smaller than the diameter of the screw, fill the hole with Moment glue (not epoxy!), screw the screw in a day later. The board does not delaminate. However, the resulting connection can only be placed under load through day. "

"It is more convenient to secure portraits, photographs, paintings in wooden frames with glass not with nails, but with the help of pushpins bent at right angles. The pins are gently pressed with a screwdriver. Compared with nails, the danger of splitting thin frames is reduced to a minimum."

"It is not so easy to screw a screw into hard wood. If you poke a hole for the screw with an awl, and rub the screw itself generously with soap, then after such an operation the work will go like clockwork."

To save time, the edge of the wallpaper can be trimmed with a sharp knife without unrolling the roll. To do this, you must first align the end of the roll and draw the edge border on the outside with a simple pencil. Working with a knife, the roll must be gradually turned in the direction of rolling.

To carry large sheets of plywood, glass or thin iron at home, it is convenient to use a wire holder with three hooks at the bottom and a handle at the top.

IF you need to saw a round stick into the distance, this work is most conveniently done using a template. It is made of a metal tube with a groove in the middle. The diameter is chosen so that the template slides freely along the stick.

It will be better and easier to work with a hacksaw if in the middle part you increase the height of the teeth by 1/3.

How to choose a laying step and pipe laying method

The most remarkable property of water heated floor, in comparison with other heating systems, is the comfort created in the room due to the formation of an optimal temperature field for a person. Unfortunately, the vast majority of companies involved in the installation of underfloor heating cannot carry out a high-quality calculation of the system, and therefore offer additional heating means in the form of radiators or convectors, even in modern energy-efficient houses. The most important characteristics affecting the efficiency of the system are laying step And installation method heated floor pipes. The correct choice of these parameters when carrying out design work allows you to significantly increase the efficiency of the heating system and eliminate the need for additional heating means, thereby preserving the main advantages of a water heated floor. In this case, it is necessary to comply with the condition of not exceeding the maximum permissible temperature of the floor surface. Of course, a high-quality heating system design requires the use of high-quality equipment.

Therefore, if they tell you that your house cannot be heated only with a warm floor, without additional use radiators, convectors or fan coils, you should think about it. If the house is old and does not have insulation (heat loss is more than 100 W/m2), then this may be so. But, if the house is built using modern technologies or has at least minor thermal insulation of the walls and roof and double-glazed windows are installed in it, you have reason to doubt the competence of the designer. Most likely this person does not own necessary knowledge for high-quality calculation of water heated floors.

Our experience shows that for any relatively insulated house (with heat loss less than 70-80 W/m2), it is possible to organize heating using any water heated floor system. If heat losses are in the range from 80 W/m2 to 100 W/m2, underfloor heating is only possible using a concrete system using certain technical solutions.

With proper design of a heating system based on a water-heated floor, a fairly large number of problems related to thermal and hydraulic calculations, as well as the choice of technical solutions and engineering approaches, are solved.

One of the main tasks is choosing the type of system ( concrete or flooring), and way And laying step pipes of water heated floor circuits. It is these parameters that determine the possibility of using a heated floor as a full-fledged sole heating system in a particular room. The selection of these parameters is carried out taking into account the purpose of the room and the amount of heat loss.

What installation methods are there?

There are two main installation method pipes of water heated floor circuits - “snake” and “snail” (other names are “spiral” or “shell”).

The advantage of the “snake” is the ease of design and installation, so this method has become more widespread in Western countries. The disadvantages of this method are a greater difference in floor temperatures throughout the room, which leads to the effect of a temperature-“striped” floor, when different temperatures are felt in the floor areas corresponding to the input and output of the circuits. Because of this, the degree of comfort decreases, and there is also a possibility (if heat loss is large) that the temperature of certain areas of the floor will exceed the temperature acceptable values according to SNiP 41-01-2003, according to which the average temperature of the floors of premises with permanent occupancy should not exceed 26°C, and the average temperature of the floors of premises with temporary occupancy should not exceed 31°C. To reduce the effect of temperature “banding,” during the design, a limitation is introduced on the maximum temperature difference of the coolant (no more than 5 ° C) at the inlet and outlet of the heating circuits, which also imposes restrictions on the maximum power removed. Therefore, the snake installation method is used mainly in rooms with low heat loss or in industrial enterprises.

The “snail” (“spiral”) laying method is most widespread in Russia and Ukraine. The only drawback of this method is more complex design and more labor-intensive installation. The main advantage is the uniform distribution of temperature over the floor surface, which is achieved by sequentially alternating supply (hotter) and return (colder) pipes. Temperature averaging occurs in heat distributors, which are either concrete screed (subject to minimum thickness ties 50 mm) or aluminum plates(for concrete-free decking systems). This installation method allows you to significantly increase the heating load removed from the heated floor by increasing the permissible temperature difference (pressure/return) to 10°C, and for systems with high power (for example, for snow melting systems) to 25°C.

How to choose the right installation step

The next parameter of the heating system under consideration is laying step pipes of water heated floor circuits (distance between pipes of heated floor circuits). This is one of the most important parameters and the correct operation of the entire system depends on its choice. The laying step determines the thermal load that a water heated floor can provide, as well as the uniformity of temperature distribution over the floor surface. When increasing the laying step, it is also necessary to increase the temperature of the coolant supplied to the system to obtain the required calculated average temperature of the floor surface.

The laying step size is in the range from 50 to 600 mm. The most commonly used pitch values ​​are 150, 200 and 300 mm. The choice of laying step, as a rule, is made depending on the type of room and the magnitude of its calculated thermal load. Laying options with constant and variable pitch are possible. So, with a heating load of less than 50 W/m2, it is permissible to lay a water-heated floor with a constant pitch of 300 mm. At high temperatures (more than 80 W/m2), as well as in bathrooms and rooms where strict requirements are placed on the uniformity of the floor surface temperature, the recommended laying step is 150 mm. In other, intermediate cases, as a rule, a variable laying step is taken - in the edge zones (along the external walls, where the greatest heat loss occurs) a more frequent laying step is used, and in the internal zones of the premises - a rarer one. The number of rows with smaller steps is determined during the system design process. Laying with a pitch of 200 mm is usually used in large industrial premises, as well as in water parks and swimming pools. In this case, as a rule, a pipe with a diameter of 20 mm is used as the contours of a warm floor.

They are drawing up a design for a heated floor qualified specialists who make calculations using special programs and taking into account all customer requirements. However, the cost of such work is quite high. That's why a large number of people independently carry out calculations using various recommendations. One of the necessary parameters in the calculation is the distance between the heated floor pipes. Read on to find out how to determine this parameter.

Main parameters influencing the determination of pipe layout spacing

The distance between the underfloor heating pipes is determined based on the following basic parameters:

  • room area;
  • type and diameter of pipes used in the heating system;

Determining the area of ​​the room

Area = width * length.


Experts recommend reducing the resulting figure by the area occupied by large furniture. Heating the floor under the furniture is not advisable, as it can lead to deformation, and reducing the area will save cash required for flooring.

Taking into account the results obtained, it is possible to determine the most optimal step for laying pipeline turns.

Influence of species

The pitch of the water heated floor pipes is also determined based on the material of the product, or more precisely, its thermal conductivity coefficient, and the pipe.

Copper and corrugated stainless steel pipes have the highest coefficient values. Next, the decrease in the parameter under consideration occurs according to the following scheme:

  • polyethylene;
  • polypropylene.

That is, polypropylene pipes have the lowest heat transfer coefficient, which is recommended to be used for organizing a heating system only in exceptional cases.

The higher the heat transfer coefficient, the greater the distance the pipes can be laid and vice versa. Thus, the smaller the diameter of the pipes used, the smaller the laying step should be.

The relationship between pitch and coolant temperature is presented in the table.


For a certain pipe diameter, the laying pitch should be higher, the higher the average temperature of the coolant in the system.

The most popular are pipes with a diameter of 16 mm. In this case, the laying step is 250 mm - 300 mm in a living room, 100 mm - 150 mm in a bathroom and 300 mm - 350 mm in rooms for other purposes.

Extra options

Among the additional parameters affecting the distance between the pipes of a warm water floor are:

  • customer wishes about the average temperature in the heated room;
  • method of laying the pipeline.

Room temperature


Comfortable temperatures for living in various rooms have been determined by experts.

The data from the table are determined for central Russia, where the temperature in the cold season rarely drops below 30ºС. For the northern regions, it is recommended to increase the presented indicators by 2ºС - 4ºС.

Any customer can increase or decrease the temperature in the heating system at his own request. To do this, when installing the floor, it is enough to reduce or increase the pipe laying pitch accordingly.

Pipe laying methods

Experts distinguish the following pipe laying methods used for flooring:

  • snake or corner snake. The pipe is first led to the coldest areas of the room (to the outer walls, balcony or windows), and then spirals back to the heating equipment. When using a snake, it is impossible to achieve uniform heating of the room. This method is used if it is necessary to cut off cold air from its places of entry and in the presence of additional heating sources. When laying pipes in a snake pattern, the pitch between the pipes should be the minimum acceptable, that is, 100 mm;


  • double snake. The principle of pipe arrangement is similar to the previous diagram. The difference in laying is that the forward and return pipes run almost parallel to each other. This method allows increasing the distance between turns to 150 mm - 250 mm;

  • snail. The pipes are laid along the outer contour and spiral down to the middle of the room. What distance between underfloor heating pipes should be when using spiral installation? This method is considered the most optimal. It allows you to lay pipes with the greatest distance between them, since heat loss is minimal, and the heating of the floor is quite uniform.

Any type of pipe laying can be done either with the same pitch or with different distances between the pipes. This method allows you to optimize the heat distribution indoors.


You can learn more about pipe layout methods, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of all schemes by watching the video.

The chosen step for laying the floor pipeline determines such indicators as the uniformity of heat distribution and the number of pipes required to install the heating system.

When choosing a small layout step, the floor will heat up too much, which will cause discomfort to residents. When using a scheme with a large layout step, the floor will heat up unevenly and a person will be able to feel the temperature difference with their feet. It is recommended to accurately calculate floor parameters with the assistance of specialists or specialized computer program, For example.

Greetings to everyone who is reading this article! It is dedicated to errors in the installation of a very popular low-temperature heating system at the moment - water heated floors (abbreviated as WTP). If someone doesn’t understand, heated floors are called a low-temperature system due to the fact that the coolant in them should have a temperature of no more than 50° Celsius. In this case, the temperature of the floor itself should not exceed 26° in residential areas and 31° Celsius near paths and pool edges. I recommend reading the article about that. Let's get down to business and start looking at installation errors.

Improper preparation of the surface for laying heated floors.

Often, when installing an HTP on their own, people forget that they need to level the base to the floor. Let me explain what this threatens - if different sections of the heated floor contour lie at different vertical levels, then there is a high probability of air locks forming. Due to the air lock, the coolant will stop circulating through the circuit, which means it will not heat. To avoid this, you need to level and thoroughly clean the surface of debris. For clarity, I suggest you watch the following video:

Improper installation of damper tape.

Let me remind you that the damper tape is needed in order to compensate for the thermal expansion of concrete that occurs due to an increase in its temperature. Often people forget to attach it to the walls or choose the wrong tape width. The damper tape should be 2-3 cm higher than the level of the final screed. The tape is attached to the wall using dowel nails if it does not have an adhesive side. The entire length of the tape should be evenly adjacent to the wall. Let's watch the following video:

The video shows the installation of self-adhesive tape, so the installer does not use dowel nails. But in the next video they will be:

Incorrect installation of underfloor heating pipes.

Laying HTP pipes is not an easy task for an inexperienced “do-it-yourselfer” who decided to save on installation and do everything himself. Here it all starts with laying thermal insulation on rough screed. Expanded polystyrene is used as thermal insulation different thicknesses, or foil foamed polyethylene. The latter is used where it is not possible to lay thick insulation. It is worth saying that the alkaline environment of the screed quickly corrodes the foil, so it will not be of much use. Although on this moment There are examples of such insulation, where the foil is covered on top with a layer of polyethylene, which should protect the aluminum from the action of alkali.

Foil insulation

Expanded polystyrene insulation

The insulation must be laid tightly without any gaps.

Now let's move directly to the problems of laying HTP pipes. I will list them in the form of a list:

  • Lack of a preliminary plan - when installing an HTP, having a preliminary plan is very helpful. The plan marks the entry and exit points of the pipes, the laying pitch, the distance from the walls and other things.
  • Failure to comply with the laying step - many people save on the pipe and make the laying step larger than 30 cm. In this case, a “zebra” appears. This means that the floor will be either cold or warm. The laying step is in the range from 10 to 30 cm.
  • The heating contours are too long - for a water heated floor made with a pipe 16 mm in diameter, the length limit will be 100 meters, and for the 20th pipe, the loop length will be 120 meters. If you make the loop longer, then the coolant will most likely not circulate through it.

I suggest you watch this video:

After installation, it is necessary to pressurize the pipes with water. Pressure testing is done with a pressure of at least 3 atmospheres. The screed is also poured onto the pipe under pressure. This is necessary so that the solution does not flatten the pipe with its weight. Since we're talking about screeding, let's look at this process carefully.

Pouring heated floor screed.

There comes a moment when it is no longer possible to retreat further - this is the moment of pouring the screed. By this time, the entire pipe should be laid, secured and under pressure (the water in the pipe should be at room temperature). Speaking of connection! I recommend that you read the article that is dedicated.

The main mistake that can be made when pouring is the incorrect thickness of the screed. It cannot be made thinner than 3 cm and thicker than 10 cm. In addition, there are requirements for the composition of the mixture - it must be no lower than grade 400. Of course, this requirement is not always met, but you need to know about it. There’s not much more to say here, I suggest you see how it’s done:

Conclusion.

A water heated floor is a complex engineering system. You can save money here, but it will almost certainly be at the expense of the quality of either the materials or the work performed. It is worth carefully selecting people for such work, it is advisable that they have some kind of “portfolio” where you can see their success in this matter. If you are interested, read the article about that. You also need to save carefully on materials. What you pour into the concrete should be of good quality so that you don’t have to open it all up later. With this we will say goodbye to you for now, I look forward to your questions in the comments

Mistakes when installing heated floors: what do you need to know?

Installation of underfloor heating screed has a number of features. It is important to take into account that finished design It will be impossible to disassemble it to repair or change anything in it. The only thing you can do is split it and throw it away.

At the very least, this will have to be done with separate pieces of screed, which are limited by thermal seams and have one water circuit. Therefore, it is very important to approach it with maximum responsibility and avoid mistakes.

Reasons why the boiler does not turn off

Sometimes it happens that during the operation of a heated floor, the boiler begins to work much longer, and, as a result, fuel consumption increases. This is due to the fact that the screed heats the foundation, street walls and even the air around the house. What is the reason?

It happens that there are elevations at the edges of the base on which the screed is installed. If you do not put insulation in this place, this will lead to the problem described. Another common reason is saving on extruded polystyrene foam. When this material is put in much less than necessary, the same result is obtained: the screed heats the street.

The heated floor contains a large number of pipeline circuits. Moreover, each of them is located in its own piece of screed, which is limited in the form of thermal seams. For efficient work for warm floors, you should use special metal-plastic pipes that have outside diameter 1.6 cm. The optimal length in the contour is from 50 to 80 meters.

Therefore, it is very important that the length of the contours is approximately equal. If you make one of the circuits too long, you will have to increase the resistance in the other circuits. Because of this, the pump will be overloaded and the heated floor will stop functioning.

Appearance of areas on the floor different temperatures

When laying pipes, it is important not to exceed a distance of 20 cm between them. Otherwise, areas of different temperatures may occur. Optimal step laying is 15 cm, despite the fact that in one square meter of warm floor there are about 6.7 meters of pipes. For external walls, it is recommended to make a laying step of no more than 10 cm, because this area should warm up more strongly.

In order for the screed to perform its function well and not crack or tear the pipes, it is important to take into account several main details.

First of all, this is:

  1. The screed, made of a mixture of sand and cement, must have a thickness of at least 8 cm.
  2. One piece with an outline should not exceed linear size at 4 meters.
  3. It is mandatory to add fiber fiber and plasticizer.
  4. It is necessary to reinforce the screed pieces using a 15x15 cm mesh made of 0.4 cm wire and fixed at a distance of 2 cm from the bottom plane.

What factors lead to pipe rupture and screed cracking:

  1. There are no expansion joints between the wall and nearby pieces of screed.
  2. Lack of thermal insulation on pipes located in the screed.
  3. Lack of thermal insulation on the pipes located in the coupling grooves to the batteries.
  4. Lack of insulation of pipes up to 50 cm located at the inlet or outlet of the screed.

In order for the pump to cope, you cannot connect more than 8 pipes to one collector. When there are more pipes, an additional collector should be installed. If there is no coolant mixing unit and the underfloor heating system is connected incorrectly, overheating will occur. But in the case when the length of the circuits does not exceed 40 meters, you can connect them through RTL boxes.

It must be equipped with air vents. Otherwise, the heated floors will not function.

Also, incorrect, chaotic connection of the circuits to the collector will lead to a complete shutdown of the system. It is important to prevent the appearance of dents, creases and other defects on pipes. To avoid serious financial losses, before installing the screed, it is recommended to carry out a test of the hydraulics of the heated floor.

Why you can't do without radiators

In order to save money, some people decide to use only for heating the room. But this is only possible in places with the warmest climates.

In other cases, a warm floor will not be able to cope with this task without overheating, which is very dangerous for it. And few people will like walking on a very hot floor. So for what reasons exactly should you not independently calculate the heat loss for installing a heated floor?

Under normal conditions, it is impossible to determine what the air exchange in the room is at the moment and how it will change when the temperature drops significantly. In addition, it is important to take into account that from 30 to 40% of the generated energy is lost through ventilation, and when there is a draft in the room, this figure rises to 90%.

It is also impossible to calculate the inflow yourself solar energy, humidity of structures, shading and many other factors. It would be more correct to use common approximate calculations heat loss for the household level, and also take into account experience that has a positive outcome.

During construction work It is necessary to avoid the mistakes described above, then the warm floor will function correctly and provide a comfortable microclimate in the living space.

At first glance, it is very simple to install water-type heated floors. It is very important to do everything correctly and with the greatest efficiency of its work. Often, novice builders are faced with problems when the water-heated floor does not heat. There can be a large number of reasons, and each of them lies in the technology itself and the sequence of execution of each layer. If you give up on one point of the entire process, then in the end you will not be able to achieve anything positive.

The right foundation

Before starting, all measures should be taken to carry out preparatory activities. The base should be cleaned of debris and dust, as all this will negatively affect the operation of the system. If the surface is uneven, then many will think that everything can be smoothed out by subsequent filling. concrete screed along the contour. Such errors in installing a heated water floor are common among those who are starting to lay a circuit for the first time.

For a warm water floor there must be a very flat surface at the base. All irregularities can only damage the pipeline. In addition, in the future the concrete screed will not have an equal thickness over the contour. Therefore, you don’t have to think about uniform heating of the floor in the room.

In addition, the walls in the room must also be brought to normal condition. That is, they are made, if necessary, they are plastered, cut off in certain places. If this is not done, the damper tape will no longer adhere tightly to the walls and sag in some areas. They will no longer be able to demonstrate their main function.

Material calculation

For the full functioning of the heated floor system, it is necessary to correctly calculate the heated floor, or rather the amount of materials for installation. Mats for underfloor heating as insulation, as well as the length of the pipeline are calculated based not on total area premises, but from its useful volume. That is, not the entire base of the floor will be covered with a contour. Areas with furniture, plumbing fixtures, etc. are circled, since they will not allow heat to enter the room; overheating of a separate section of laid pipes may occur.

These errors in installing a heated water floor lead to subsequent work on dismantling the floor covering, concrete screed, and identifying the problem area of ​​the heated floor contour. All this wastes not only time, but also money. The calculation technology includes all the subtleties and allows you to get accurate results.

Heat shrink tape

When, measures are taken to install a high-quality tape on the wall that compensates for the thermal expansion of the concrete screed. As mentioned earlier, before fixing it, you should prepare the walls and level them. In addition to this everything electric wires, communications should be surrounded with damper tape so that it fits tightly to the wall.

If you install the tape just right, you won’t have to rely on high-quality pouring of the concrete screed in the future. The solution will penetrate through it from the wall side, which will not allow the tape to show all its qualities during subsequent operation. Problems will begin with the floor surface and damage to the floor covering.

Thermal insulation device

It is best to press the lower sections of the damper tape with a layer, where polystyrene is most often used. But it is worth remembering that it will not be able to compensate for the unevenness that may occur on the subfloor. Before laying it, all waste removal activities should also be carried out.

If the work is performed by specialists for a fee, then it is best to check this process. After all, they can lay polystyrene very quickly, and you will no longer know what the base was like there. Sometimes, even when passing through this layer, you can feel defects from underneath.


“Pie” of heated floor

When the water heater does not heat, the reasons can be completely different. But to a greater extent they start from the very base, from the insulation layer. Even manufacturers recommend setting the thickness to 100 mm. Especially when it comes to availability basement no heating. If you spend less funds to purchase the material, that is, to save, the layer will be approximately 30-50 mm. But during the period of warming up the room from, part of the heat will be spent on heating the lower area, from the basement. Heating costs will increase and the room will not be warm enough.

Reflective film

To improve the quality of heat transfer into the interior of the house, it would not be superfluous to lay a special reflective tape on polystyrene. It additionally has markings with 50 mm divisions for better fixation of the pipeline in the future. According to the rules, it must be mounted strictly evenly without deviations and at the same time be refueled. This can only be done if the polystyrene is pressed tightly against the walls of the room through a damper tape. These are also common mistakes when installing water-heated floors. Some simply cut the film around the perimeter of the edges of the polystyrene along the walls and glue it with tape to secure it. You cannot use material such as adhesive tape, as it is used exclusively for packaging and is harmful to human health.

When the film is mounted on the base, you can begin laying the reinforcing layer in the form metal mesh. It would not be a mistake to lay a water heated floor with a reinforcement device on top of the pipeline before pouring the screed. It's like two alternatives.

Errors when installing pipes

When the reflective film is laid, you can begin installing the heated floor. In this case, it is important to choose its diameter, dimensions, total length, height and other characteristics for the correct calculation of the heated floor. It is worth remembering that you still need to choose a pipeline laying scheme, and not experiment with your desires.

The standard version of pipes for underfloor heating is 16 mm in diameter. Some people use 20 mm, but in this case the installation process will take longer and become somewhat more complicated. In addition, the consumption of water supplied through the system pipeline will increase. An exception is if you need to warm up a large room. In all other cases, it is better to spend more money on the device to eliminate heat loss.

A very small number of performers carry out the following activities, which are very important to eliminate errors in the installation of water heated floors:


If all this is done and reflected on a schematic plan, you will be able to see areas in the room with problems, as well as possible difficulties in the installation process. must be drawn before actual execution. Some people simply believe that even without it they know everything themselves how best to do things. No one wants to waste time on such seemingly trivial things.

Without arranged scheme laying the pipeline is a complete chaos that will not lead to any positive result. At any stage, installing a warm water floor requires competent calculation and careful approach.

It should also be remembered that some places, based on gender, require more attention from the performers. This applies primarily to external walls on the street side. They require more insulation. Some people make mistakes and only run one pipe directly against the wall. Throughout the rest of the perimeter, everything is located evenly. To achieve uniform heating, the pipeline is laid with a smaller step near such walls.

The indentation at the walls is made for the subsequent installation of the plinth after the floor covering, as well as possible low-current engineering systems. There will definitely not be order here.

Pipe bending

Frequent mistakes are made when bending a pipe to create a certain angle of the system. This skill comes in very handy here. Easier to work with metal-plastic pipes, than from . For such actions, there are available means in the form of springs, but still everything is carried out mainly manually, which is more effective. In addition, when using an external spring and creating an angle of 90 degrees, it simply clamps. You will have to spend a lot of effort to pull it out of the resulting bend and stretch it along the entire pipeline to the next section. Not only your back will begin to suffer, but also your knees.

On the Internet you can find a large number of videos that allow you to bend yourself and without extra effort. You don’t have to buy various pipe benders and advertised products or spend money on them.

If you do not comply with the basic requirements, everything will turn out crooked and askew. This can be said not so much as errors in the installation of a water heated floor, but rather shortcomings that lead to disastrous consequences and weak heating of the base of the floor along the entire perimeter of the room.


Pipe bending rules

Selecting the laying step

When markings are made on the base for laying a pipeline, even specialists cannot always place everything correctly. The step must be maintained throughout the entire contour. And the result is a spread of up to 100 mm. The exception here is reducing the step in certain areas, such as near external walls.

The choice of step will depend on the power of the circuit. The higher it is, the smaller the step should be taken. In addition, the distance from the wall to the pipeline must be maintained, which is usually 30 cm. Maximum length one circuit is 90 m. This is done in order not to lose heat along the entire length of the pipeline.

Some may say that under the floor screed, no defects in the location of the pipeline or compliance with the installation step will be visible. But only people who do not understand how the system works can say this. As a result, the base of the floor will receive heat unevenly over the entire plane, there will be areas with a cold surface, and there will be no efficiency from the operation of the heated floor.

Furniture arrangement

It should not be located in areas where massive furniture will subsequently stand. There is no point in warming up under it. However, in the future, difficulties may arise if you want to make a rearrangement. After all, there may be places where the floor will not receive heat.

To avoid mistakes when laying water pipes, you should pay special attention to built-in furniture, monolithic shelving, kitchens, wardrobes, etc. They definitely won’t all demand quality heating. You can forget about laying the pipeline under them.

When a heated floor is installed under household appliances such as a refrigerator or washing machine, the circuit may fail and individual areas will overheat.

Danger in violations

Not everyone knows about what problems can be encountered if mistakes are made in installing a warm water floor. When heating is poor, it’s worth thinking about possible shortcomings in the installation process.

When installing uneven layers of the entire “pie” of a warm floor, the bending angle of the pipeline will be different. Consequently, uniform heating of the subfloor cannot be achieved. Large costs await those who do not want to carry out preliminary calculations of the underfloor heating system. To do this, it is enough to schematically display the entire contour on a piece of paper to scale.

The process of laying heated floors, especially for a non-professional, has many nuances that are best known. Below we will look at the main mistakes when installing heated electric floors.

  • Incorrect calculation of materials. When calculating the size of the mats, you need to use only the free area of ​​the room, which will not be filled with furniture, appliances and other objects. If you install a heated floor under large objects, the system will overheat in these places, causing it to fail.

  • Incorrect calculation of the power of the heated floor. The desire to save money by deliberately choosing less power than necessary leads to insufficient heating. Such a floor will heat up extremely slowly and will bring you disappointment. It is necessary to correctly calculate the power for heating the room, taking into account heat loss.
  • Buying a shorter cable and laying it out with a large step. Leads to the same consequences as the previous point.
  • Incorrectly designed heating cable layout system without observing the distances between adjacent lines (10-12 cm) it will create a “zebra effect”. When the TP is heated, noticeable zones of more heated and less heated floors are formed.
  • Shortening the heating cable. Some craftsmen believe that if the cable was chosen to be too long, the cable can be shortened without any problems. However, heating cables must not be cut! leads to an increase in resistance, an increase in its power, overheating and failure! If you still have a cable, you need to reduce the laying step (minimum laying step is 6 cm) or increase the heated area.
  • Crossing and excessive convergence of heating cable threads. Resistive heating cable should not have points of contact, intersection or close proximity of lines. The minimum distance is usually 6-7 cm, depending on the power of the heating cable. Violation of this requirement leads to overheating and failure of the heating cable.
  • Failure to comply with the bending radius of the heating cable. The minimum bend radius is usually 5 to 10 cable diameters.
  • Connecting sections of heated floors to the thermostat, whose total power will exceed the power of the thermostat. It is possible only throughcontactor.

  • Close (less than 10 cm) location to heating systems.
  • Before pouring the floor with concrete, it is recommended to place wooden blocks between the cable loops, on which boards are then laid. These walkways will help avoid damaging the cable when pouring concrete.
  • Tack the cable with gypsum plaster.
  • Using shallow socket boxes for installation.
  • Use of metal spatulas. When laying tiles on the surface of the mats, make sure that the craftsmen use only rubber spatulas. Very often, tile laying experts ignore this issue.
  • Storing tools and materials on a cable not covered with screed, installing a stepladder.
  • Uneven screed thickness and exceeding the recommended screed thickness. Thickness cement - sand screed(DSP) must be at least 30 millimeters. Thermal insulation must be installed, for example, on balconies. Moreover, in this case it is necessary to lay not 3-5 mm, but not less than 50 mm heat-insulating material and on top 40 mm DSP.
  • Lack of thermal insulation. If you will use or when laying the heating cable in cold rooms, it is necessary to install thermal insulation

  • Lack of installation plan for heated floors. Don't forget to draw a diagram for laying the heated floor! In this case, indicate the distance to walls and other objects, the location of the end and connecting couplings, and the location of the sensor. The diagram will always come in handy when you later need to drill the floor to install doors with thresholds, plumbing fixtures and door bumpers.


  • Turning on the heated floor ahead of time. Do not turn on the heated floor so that the screed dries faster! You may need to wait several weeks depending on the thickness and type of mortar used. SNiPs standardize the period to 28 days. If the floor is turned on ahead of schedule, it may fail.
  • Walking on a heating cable in hard shoes. This may damage the conductors and insulation. Try to avoid the coils of the heating element. If you cannot do without walking on it, do it with caution, in shoes with soft soles. Prevent the presence of unauthorized workers and other people in the room where the heated floor is installed.
  • Errors when installing a floor temperature sensor. A corrugated tube with a cable laid in it at the end must be laid in a groove below the cable laying level and the sensor must be placed exactly in the middle between adjacent turns of the cable. Or if the sensor is installed at floor level, the tube with the sensor runs parallel to adjacent cable lines and is removed from the wall at a distance of up to 50 cm. If the sensor is inserted into the outermost loop of a heated floor or too close to the wall, it is in a cold zone and does not display the temperature correctly the entire floor, which leads to excessive energy consumption.

  • The heated floor sensor is installed in the screed without a corrugated tube, which makes it impossible to simply replace the temperature sensor if it fails.
  • The end of the corrugation must be sealed so that the solution does not get on the sensor.
  • Sharp bend or turn of corrugated tube for floor temperature sensor. If the half-wall transition is not made smoothly, then it will also be impossible to change the temperature sensor in the future
  • Using regular tile adhesive or cement-sand screed without adding plasticizers. The use of mixtures not intended to work together with heated floors leads to the destruction of the screed or tiles. You can read more about choosing tile adhesive.
  • Air voids around the heating cable. This is especially true when laying the so-called. “thin” heating cable or mats in tile adhesive. Failure to comply with this requirement in order to save solution or simply out of ignorance will lead to overheating and failure of the cables. It is necessary to completely cover the heating cable with a layer of tile adhesive or cement-sand screed
  • Use one heating cable/mat for heating different rooms . Since the built-in or remote sensor monitors the temperature in the specific room where it is installed, and turns the cable/mat heating on and off when it reaches the specified comfortable temperature. The same heating time for another room will lead to overheating or underheating of rooms of different volumes.
  • Neglecting floor heating resistance measurements and insulation resistance before and after installation. Check the results obtained with the numbers indicated in the product passport (taking into account the indicated error), their coincidence means that the cable is intact. Write down the measurements in the passport indicating the date of installation.

  • Do not plug in the cable to check functionality until the moment when it is laid (especially in a bay) and the solution is completely dry! Connecting the cable under such conditions may damage it.
  • Do not lay the heating cable on a dirty or dusty surface.. During installation, make sure that the heated floor does not lie on construction debris, otherwise, after pouring the screed, it will quickly fail under mechanical loads. To clean the floor, use industrial vacuum cleaner and treat the surface with primer

The bathroom in an apartment is a small room with high humidity, as a rule, without heating (not counting the heated towel rail). Therefore, a tiled floor is most often laid here, which is best heated using.

A heated floor in a bathroom or shower stall should be safe, reliable and durable. By creating such heating system, it is important to avoid mistakes during installation.

Basic rules for installing heated floors in the bathroom

1. You cannot combine one heated floor for two rooms.

You should not combine a heated floor system, for example, a bathroom and a corridor. For effective and economical heating, each room must have its own, connected to an individual thermostat. If, say, you extend the cable from the hallway to the bathroom and use only one thermostat, then you will not be able to achieve accurate temperature control and your heated floor will disappoint you.

2. Do not neglect the installation scheme.

Before you begin installing a heated floor in the bathroom under the tiles, you need to draw a diagram. And keep it even after the work is completed.

This way you will always know where the heat sensor is and heating elements. And if you replace the sensor, you won’t have to chip off the entire tile. And during the installation of plumbing, you will not damage the cable.

3. Not cable mode.

The heating cable is sold in ready-made sections and cannot be added or cut. If this is ignored, the operation of the system will be unsafe, or even inoperable.

When laying cable flooring in the bathroom, be sure to choose a kit that matches your specific area.

4. Construction debris can be harmful.

To avoid damaging the cable while still laying out, start by cleaning it up. It is recommended that the subfloor be thoroughly cleaned of debris, vacuumed and primed.

And yet, you should not walk on a heater that is not hidden in the screed, this can damage it and then you will have to buy a new one.

5. Incorrect thermal insulation.

Another point that cannot be neglected. To prevent heat from escaping to your neighbors, retain it by first placing extruded polystyrene foam or another type of rigid structure insulation on the subfloor.

And, since this is a bathroom, remember - the insulation must be moisture resistant. Cork material will not work.

6. Failure to comply with floor laying rules.

  • The cable or film should not overlap. If they intersect, they will damage the system.
  • We do not lay a heated floor in the bathroom under the bathtub, toilet, washing machine, shower stall with tray. If the cable gets under stationary furniture, heat is trapped, which reduces the operating life of the system.
  • Be sure to make a retreat from the wall of 5 - 10 cm.

7. We ring the cable before pouring the screed.

To avoid any unpleasant surprises after pouring the screed and laying the tiles, check the functionality of the system at different stages of work.

After the heater has been deployed, check the system resistance (call) and compare it with the figures specified by the manufacturer. But under no circumstances turn on the heated cable floor without a screed!

Also check the resistance after completing installation work.


8. Temperature sensor – not hidden in concrete.

We must place the temperature sensor in a corrugated tube with a plug; this makes it easier to replace if it fails over time.

9. Air voids should not be allowed in the screed.

Under no circumstances should a working cable come into contact with air. This will incapacitate him. Therefore, when making a screed, control the distribution of the solution so that it envelops the cable on all sides. Contact of the heater with air can lead to a 100% replacement of the heated floor in the bathroom or shower stall.

10. Wait for the screed to dry completely.

If you want your heated floor under the tiles in the bathroom to work long years, do not turn on the system until the screed or tile adhesive is completely dry. Be patient and wait 28-30 days until everything dries on its own.

By speeding up the drying process, you risk getting a low-quality screed with cracks and air voids, which will lead to damage to the heated floor.