Make a warm floor with your own hands

The underfloor heating system will be an excellent addition to the main heating system. Also, the warm floor can safely perform the functions of basic heating without the need for additional devices.

Often, the owners decide to perform the installation of the warm floor on their own. And if to connect the electrical system you need to have the skills to perform electrical work, then the individual arrangement of a water-heated floor is within everyone's power. Read the instructions and get to work.

Preparatory work

First step

Remove the old screed to the very bottom. Check that the surface drops do not exceed 1 cm.

Second step

Place a layer of waterproofing material on a thoroughly cleaned surface.

Third step

Attach the damper tape around the perimeter of the room. If your system will consist of several circuits, the tape should also be laid along the line between these contours.

Fourth step

Insulate the base. Thermal insulation material, as well as the order of insulation, is selected individually according to the conditions of the specific situation.

So, if the system is used as a supplement to the main heating, it will be enough to lay the foil polyethylene.

In most situations, polystyrene or other suitable material is used as insulation material.

Also available on sale are heaters, designed specifically for installation in a complex with pipes of the warm floor. In their structure there are already channels for laying pipes.

Fifth step

Place a reinforcing mesh on top of the thermal insulation. It will help increase the strength of the screed, which you fill the pipes.

over the thermal insulation. In this case, the pipes of the system can be attached directly to the mesh, eliminating the need for special clips and strips. In this case, you can use ordinary plastic ties for fixing.

Recommendations for selection and installation of pipes

You need to perform an individual calculation and determine the optimal parameters for laying pipes for each individual room.

The calculation is easiest to accomplish with the help of a specialized program - this will give you the opportunity to save time and effort.

To calculate the required power for each individual circuit solely by the formulas is quite difficult. Such a calculation requires consideration of many parameters. At the same time, the slightest mistake can lead to extremely unfavorable consequences.

To perform a system calculation, you need to know the following parameters:

• dimensions of the heated room;
• material for the manufacture of floors, partitions and load-bearing walls;
• features a heater under the underfloor heating system;
• type of floor covering;
• diameter of the pipes used for the arrangement of the heated flooring system, as well as the material of their manufacture;
• power of the heating boiler.
  

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  Underfloor heating installation for

The parameters listed above will allow you to calculate the optimal length of stacked pipes and the appropriate placement step to ensure the required level of heat transfer.

You also need to choose the appropriate pipe laying route. Remember: when passing through the pipes, water gradually loses heat. Therefore the distribution of the system elements must be carried out taking into account a number of important nuances , namely:

• pipes are recommended to start stacking from the less warm( external) walls of the room;
• if the pipe is introduced into the room not from the side of the outer wall, then the part of the pipe from the place of entry to the wall must be insulated;
• in order to gradually reduce the intensity of heating from the outer walls of the room to the interior, the option of laying "snake" is applied;
• in order to ensure a uniform warm-up space in rooms that do not have external walls( wardrobes, bathrooms, etc.) should use the method of mounting in a spiral. In this case, the spiral should develop from the edge of the room to its center.

The most frequently used step of laying pipes of a warm floor is 300 mm. In places with increased heat loss, the pitch of the pipes can be reduced to 150 mm.

In addition, you need to calculate such an indicator as the hydraulic resistance of pipes. This value increases in parallel with the increase in the length of the contour and each bend.

It is desirable that the resistance of the pipes in the circuits connected to the common manifold is the same. For this, it is necessary to divide especially large contours into several smaller circuits. Particularly large in this case are contours with pipe lengths exceeding 100 m.

Also experts strongly do not recommend heating several rooms with one circuit. Mansard floors, glazed verandas, balconies, etc. The rooms should be heated by a separate circuit of the system. Otherwise, the heating efficiency will be significantly reduced.

Installation Instructions for Heated Floor Systems

Start the installation of the system. The work is carried out in several stages.

First stage - collector

The collector is installed in a specially designed collector box. Usually the thickness of such a box is 120 mm. Dimensions should be selected in accordance with the dimensions of the collector coarse and taking into account the dimensions of various types of additions such as drainage sensors, pressure, etc.

Arrange the collector group so that there is a gap below it sufficient to bend the pipes.

Install the collector cabinet. Do this so that the pipe lengths from each heated room and the system outline are approximately the same.

The most common collector cabinets are simply mounted in the walls - 120 mm thickness allows this. The collector box must be installed above the level of the floor heating system.

It is important to remember: it is absolutely not recommended to create different kinds of niches in load-bearing walls, and in most situations it is even strictly forbidden.

Assembly of the manifold is carried out in accordance with the attached instructions, so you will not have any problems and difficulties at this stage.

The second stage is a heating boiler

First of all, select a boiler of suitable capacity. The equipment must normally carry incoming loads and have a certain power margin. The calculation is extremely simple: you summarize the power of all underfloor heating systems and add a 15 percent margin.

The circulation of the heating medium in the system under consideration is provided by the pump. The design of modern boilers includes a suitable pump in its composition initially. Usually its capacity is sufficient to ensure the normal functioning of the system in rooms up to 120-150 m2.

If the dimensions of the room exceed these values, you will have to install an additional pump. In such situations, pumps are installed in remote manifold cabinets.

It is necessary to mount shut-off valves directly at the points of input and output of the coolant from the boiler. With the help of these devices you can switch off the heating equipment if necessary, for example, for repair or preventive maintenance.

Most often, home masters prefer electrical heating boilers - they are the easiest to install and very well show themselves when working in conjunction with a warm floor system. To install and connect equipment simply follow the instructions of the manufacturer.

Third stage -

pipes Pipe laying is performed in accordance with a pre-prepared scheme. For fastening elements, profiles with holes for placing screws are usually used.

You can also attach pipes to the grid using plastic ties - this has already been mentioned earlier.

When fastening pipes, be careful not to overtighten them - it is better when the loop is loose.

Bends try to make the most accurate, while observing, at the same time, recommendations on the minimum permissible radius. In the case of polyethylene pipes, this radius is usually 5 pipe diameters.

If you over-tighten a polyethylene pipe too much, a whitish strip forms on its bend. This indicates the occurrence of a crease. Use similar pipes is forbidden - in the place of the crease there will be a breakthrough very quickly.

Connect the pipes of the system to the collector using a fitting or eurocone system.

After completing the installation, be sure to check the floor heating. To check, fill with water, apply pressure of about 5 bar and leave the warm floor in such condition for a day. If after 24 hours there are no noticeable extensions and leaks, you can proceed with the arrangement of the screed.

Fourth stage - screed

When pouring concrete screed to the pipes should be given working pressure. After pouring the screed should be left to dry for a month. Only after the full strength of the screed you can go to the laying of the finish coat.

When forming a concrete screed, it is necessary to take into account a number of important features related to the nature of the distribution of thermal energy in the thickness of the pouring and the applied finishing coat.

In case tiles are laid, the thickness of the screed should be about 30-50 mm. Alternatively, you can reduce the distance between the pipes to 100-150 mm. Otherwise, the heat will be distributed absolutely unevenly.

In the case of laying linoleum, laminate panels, etc., the thickness of the screed should be even smaller. To harden the fill in a similar situation, you need to use an additional reinforcing mesh stacked on top of the pipes.

Thus, the laying of the underfloor heating system without special problems is done on its own. It is only necessary to follow the above provisions of the instruction and responsibly approach the implementation of all activities.

Good work!

Video - Make a warm floor with your own hands