Water heated floors - features of the device, advantages and disadvantages
This type of construction is a circulating coolant pipelines laid between the floor base and its finished surface. The heat medium is a heated liquid - an ethylene glycol solution or water. The principle of operation of such a system is simple: heat from the coolant is first given to the surrounding pipe material, and already from it - a clean coating. After this, respectively, the ambient air and objects in the room are heated. Today, water-heated floors can be laid on:
- concrete screed;
- polystyrene plates;
- rough wood flooring.
The design of such a system is suitable only for country houses, but not for apartments. First, in the appropriate authorities you simply will not be given permission to install it. Secondly, even with such a permit, the process of connecting the pipeline to the central heating system would become extremely problematic.
The merits of this system can rightly be attributed the uniformity of heat distribution in the room and the absence of unheated or overheated zones;energy saving;creation of a comfortable microclimate for a person;long service life. However, it is also necessary to remember the shortcomings, which in some cases are of decisive importance. They include the complexity and complexity of installation;inability to install in an apartment;a low degree of reliability in comparison with other systems( infrared and electric).In addition, not every finishing coat is suitable for masking this kind of warm floor. Experts advise to abandon the parquet and laminate, as with the slightest leakage of pipes with a coolant they can irreparably suffer.
The device of a warm water floor on a concrete screed
In country houses the concrete system of a water warm floor is widely applied, providing that fact, that the concrete coupler completely closes pipes with the heat-carrier. In this case, you do not need additional heat distribution materials, for example, aluminum plates. Heat from the pipes is transferred directly to the concrete, and then to the finish coating and the environment. For convenience of work and maximum understanding of the process of the device of such a floor, it is common to distinguish the basic stages of work:
- Separation of its base into sections( marking) for further pouring with concrete.
- Stacking of thermal insulation material on a rough base.
- Laying reinforcing mesh and installing pipes.
- Carrying out the necessary pressure testing.
- Concrete screed device.
- Finishing.
It should be noted that the thermal insulation material is only laid on a thoroughly cleaned floor base. The thickness of insulation can vary between 30-150 mm and depends on the density of the selected material, heat loss in the room, etc. As for reinforcing mesh, the optimal size of its cells is 150x150 mm. If necessary, the reinforcing layer can be double. In this case, one more grid is laid on the already installed pipeline.
Crimping is an integral part of the work, as it allows to detect the presence of mechanical damage to the system. Please note: when installing a concrete screed, the system should be placed under approximate pressure of 3-4 bar! Traditionally, for the screed device, the thickness of which varies between 50-70 mm, concrete M300 is used. To laying a finishing coat can only proceed after the complete drying of the concrete.
Warm floor water - choose polystyrene boards
This system of warm floors is one of the simplest. Its base is polystyrene slabs with grooves lined with heat-distributing plates made of aluminum. It is in these plates that the pipes for the warm water floor are then laid( snapped).It can be mounted both on a concrete and on a rough plank base. After checking the operability of the system, proceed to the finishing device. If your choice fell on laminate or parquet, then you can put them directly on polystyrene slabs. When installing a warm water floor under the tile and linoleum, a screed of particleboard( chipboard) or GVL( gypsum fiber sheets) is required.
This system is ideally suited for premises that are of a small height, as its "pie" has a rather modest thickness. It is also relevant in cases where, for the sake of safety and integrity of the floors, it is not recommended to build a heavy concrete screed in the house. The process of mounting polystyrene sheets is as follows: on the base of the floor is laid insulation material, which then, starting from the far corner of the room, polystyrene is laid. It is necessary to calculate in advance the number of sheets required for your premises.
Construction of water-heated floors on a wooden base
If you are a fan of eco-style and the owner of a beautiful wooden house, then be sure to pay attention to the modular and rack flooring for the water-heated floor. Modular flooring is a strictly installed size of chipboard, in which there are already ready channels for mounting aluminum heat spreading plates and fixing the pipes of the system. Such slabs are most often laid on the rough floor and are designed to provide proper rigidity of the base for the best possible installation of the system. The thickness of the chipboard boards, as a rule, is 22 mm. They are laid with an interval of 20 mm, and their width can be 130, 180 or 280 mm and depends on the pitch of the pipes.
Please note: the thermal insulation layer of the modular deck is thicker than that of the rack-type flooring. This makes modular flooring the most optimal option for the installation of a warm floor on the first floor of the house. Reechny flooring is more suitable for interfloor overlapping.
Rack-and-pinion flooring is a strip of chipboard that is attached directly to wooden logs. Pre-between the lags stacked insulation material, in the role of which usually serves mineral wool or polystyrene. This type of flooring assumes that the heat distribution plates and the water-floor pipes themselves will be stacked between the chipboard elements. In this case, the thickness of the chipboard is at least 28 mm, and the width of the bands varies within the range of 150-300 mm.
Thus, a water-heated floor, the device of which can be carried on a different base, will be a good option if you want to create in your home the most comfortable and comfortable atmosphere, regardless of the weather outside the window. Its device is a rather laborious process, requiring the involvement of qualified specialists, which can not be ignored when choosing this particular system. However, all costs will pay off in a short time, and the finished result will bring to your life many pleasant minutes.