Choosing the right underfloor heater
With electric underfloor heating becoming all the rage this winter, here are some tips on selecting the right system for your home.
Decide on your floor finish
Different floor types demand different heaters. If you are going for ceramic or natural stone tiles, choose a system designed for undertile heating. If it’s parquet you prefer, then opt for one that is meant for wooden or laminated floors. If in doubt about compatibility, always enquire.
Measure it right!
This may sound obvious but you’ll be amazed at how often people are faced with the wrong sized heaters (usually too much wire) simply because they had not done a proper calculation. The trick is to take the net area intended for heating, rather than the entire room size. For example, fixtures such as the bathtub and WC should be excluded from the final figure of a bathroom’s total area. With a regular shaped room, measuring is more straightforward, although for laminate floorings, surface areas covered completely by large heavy objects are best left unheated as the trapped heat might create hot-spots.
Get into shape
Think about the contours of the room you are planning to install in. A bathroom tends to be rather awkward in layout, so loose cable heaters allow more flexibility for winding around the numerous units. A conservatory on the other hand, being typically larger and more regular in shape, would be most easily fitted with a mat system where the wires are already pre-laid on a mesh for convenience, so that you need only to roll it out.
Subfloor
Consider the base you intend to lay the heaters and floor on. While it is possible to lay electric underfloor heaters directly onto existing floors, it is generally more advisable to put down a layer of insulation, as this improves efficiency by preventing unnecessary heat loss. You’ll want to make certain that you have a firm platform over joists to reduce chances of floor movements and eventual popping of floor tiles. Insulated tile-backer boards should sort both worries at a go. These are usually available in several thicknesses to meet different needs, but if you still have a height concern, then ring up the supplier to be sure.
Control comfort
Depending on your lifestyle and preferences, there are various types of thermostats out in the market to meet your needs. Increasingly more popular than the conventional manual stats are the digital ones, which you can program accordingly.
To market, to market
When hunting for electric underfloor heaters, worthwhile bearing in mind are the warranty and after sales service that come with the product. Ready support at hand is always handy to have!
