Warm water floors are among the most inexpensive to operate, efficient and comfortable. However, this is compensated by the complexity of their installation and the inability to use in any apartment or room. Water floors can not be connected to a centralized heating system and used in multi-storey residential buildings above the ground floor, thus, it is the choice of owners of their own houses and apartments on the ground floor, equipped with a boiler.
Article content:
- List of equipment and materials.
- Preparatory work.
- Necessary calculations and design.
- Installation of pipes and connection of the floor.
The water-heated floor can be
- with a concrete screed on top,
- without screed, with aluminum plates and polyethylene gaskets,
- with wooden ceilings.
The most durable and safe floor is on a concrete screed, but it is also the most difficult to install.
Required equipment
Basic elements of the warm water floor:
- thermal insulation,
- waterproofing materials,
- reinforcing mesh,
- polypropylene or polyethylene pipes, fittings and fasteners, polypropylene must be fiberglass reinforced, as it greatly expands when heated,polyethylene pipes with a lower coefficient of expansion,
- boiler for water heating with ball valves at the inlet,
- circulating pump,
- collector - device for connectionsThe pipes of the warm floor to the main pipe supplying heated water from the boiler are a wide metal pipe with several outlets, it also includes valves, air outlets, emergency drainage and other systems for setting the warm floor.
Collectors should be at least two - for hot and cold water intake. It is better to think about the location of the collector in advance and provide a special box for it in the wall, which can then be hidden behind the panel. Its thickness is usually 12 cm, and the size depends on the selected collector. The box should be placed some distance from the floor, since there is a need for bending of the pipes when connecting them to the collector.
Also the location of the collector above the level of the warmest floor is important for its proper operation and the ability to draw air from the system. The location of the box is chosen so that the distance from it to all contours is approximately the same, and the number of holes in the main walls for the passage of pipes is minimal. If there are more than one collector boxes in the system, then on the main trunk pipe a splitter is installed with subsequent narrowing adapters.
The main characteristic of the boiler is its power, which can be calculated using the formulas described here. It should be selected with some margin( about 15%) to ensure sufficient heating of the floor at critical temperatures. At the inlet and outlet of the boiler must be installed shut-off valves, with which you can turn off the boiler without draining it of water. The pump ensures continuous water circulation in the system. Many boilers are already equipped with a built-in pump, which is sufficient to provide operation of 120-150 square meters.m of the warm floor. For a larger area, an additional pump is required, which is installed in the collector boxes farthest from the boiler.
Preparatory work for
A warm water floor can only be laid on an ideally leveled surface, this is a necessary condition for a good water flow. At the first stage, the old floor covering is dismantled, the old screed, the remains of bitumen and other waterproofing are removed. A new layer of screed is poured so that the differences in floor height after it dries out do not exceed one centimeter.
Then follows a layer of waterproofing, for example, a special polyethylene film. A damper tape is mounted around the perimeter of the room. This tape compensates for small expansions that are unavoidable when the material is heated. Next, the heater is laid to prevent heat leakage through the floor. Its type and thickness depend on several parameters: the thickness of the floors, the location of the insulated room, the type of flooring.
- For a warm floor, which is used only as an auxiliary heating means. A layer of foam foam - foamed polyethylene with a foil substrate for reflecting heat is sufficient.
- If there are other heated rooms under the room where the heated floor is installed, then a foam polystyrene foam of 2-5 mm thickness or a similar heater can be used.
- For rooms located on the ground floor or above unheated rooms, more essential insulation in the form of a layer of expanded clay( about screed with expanded clay was written) and foam plastic with a thickness of 5-10 cm.
Calculations and project
Before laying pipes it is necessary to draw a diagram of their location, for each room - its own. To do this, it is necessary to clarify the area of the room, its configuration, material of ceilings and walls, the type of their insulation, as well as the capacity of the boiler and pump and the diameter of the pipes. All these parameters affect the length of the pipe to be used to comfortably heat the room, and what the distance between turns is.
Too short length of pipes will cause some floor areas to remain cold, but too large, to the fact that water will hardly circulate in the system. The floor should also not be excessively hot, the most optimal temperature on its surface is 30 degrees. When designing the laying of pipes, it is necessary to take into account the arrangement of furniture in the future, since the areas under large objects - a bed or a wardrobe - can not be heated.
There are two ways of laying the pipes of the warm floor in the room - a snake and a spiral. When the pipes are arranged in a spiral, they are stacked with a double distance between the turns to the center of the room, and then roll in the opposite direction, settling in the remaining gaps. The first method allows you to better heat the rooms with cold outside walls, the second is more suitable for rooms without external walls, for example, a bathroom, or in the event that the external walls are warmly insulated.
Spiral laying is more economical in terms of hydraulics. Flowing through the pipes, the water gradually gives up its heat and cools, so it is advisable to locate the first coils of the pipe with the hotter water closer to the outer walls. To conserve heat, it is necessary to additionally insulate the pipe section passing from the collector to the external wall. Throughout, the pipe laid in the screed must be integral, without joints, so the exact calculation of the route is so important.
It is optimal to lay pipes with the distance between them about 30 cm, reducing it to 15 cm near the outer walls or in places of large heat loss. Pipes should not be close to the walls, a gap of 8-10 cm should always be preserved. The longer the length of the pipes, the greater the hydraulic resistance occurs in them. It increases with increasing length and a large number of turns. If the length of the pipe is more than 100 meters, it is necessary to divide it into several contours.
The hydraulic resistance in each of the circuits connected to one manifold must be the same. For different rooms need independent contours, loggia, balcony or veranda should be heated separately, as their heating will take away most of the heat, and the room itself will not be heated enough.
When the exact number of circuits is known, you can buy a manifold with the required number of bends. It is better to stay on the version with control valves, with which you can regulate the supply of water to each circuit, and, therefore, to change the floor temperature to a more comfortable level. The collector must necessarily be equipped with a drain tap and an air vent valve.
Installation of pipes and connection
Preliminary it is possible to draw a construction marker by which way pipes will be laid, so it is easier to maintain the required distance. Pipes are laid on the prepared base according to the plan, then fixed to the floor with special clamps using screws. It is possible to fix the pipe and to the reinforcing mesh with plastic ties. Do not over tighten the screed, it is better to leave it loose.
Pipes do not need to be untwisted from the cove in advance. Unwind them is gradually as you stack, to avoid kinks and deformations. Bend the pipe carefully, so that there are no cracks and microcracks, since it is no longer possible to lay a damaged pipe into a warm floor. The optimum bending radius is 5 diameters.
The ends of pipes, which are supplied to the collector, are thermally insulated with foamed polyethylene. Connect them to the collector using the Eurocone system or a compression fitting.
After the pipes are laid and connected, the collector is configured, it is necessary to test the system. Water is supplied to the pipes at a pressure of 5-6 bar per day. It is noted whether any leaks have occurred, whether the pipes have widened more than permissible values. If everything is in order, without draining the water, pour concrete screed. Under the tile is necessary a screed thickness of 3-5 cm, because this thickness is warmed up better.
For laminate and linoleum, a more thin screed is enough, it can be reinforced with another grid placed on top of the warm floor. Under the laminate when installing a warm water floor is not put a layer of insulation. It should dry for 4-5 weeks, depending on the humidity level in the room. Only after this can be flooring.
The warm water floor is warmed up for a long time, but it also cools down slowly, so it is worth including it in advance, before the onset of cold weather.
