Okay, I’m sure you’ve all heard of underfloor heating. The wonderful feeling of warmth under your feet on a cold winter’s day, no unsightly radiators, no need to add extra humidifiers because of the dry forced air heating… nope, none of that!
Underfloor heating is a fantastic thing and something I personally recommend to any and all homeowners who are in the position to install such a system. The comfortable and even heat provided by underfloor heating is unlike any other form of heating for your home. The beautiful part about this is the constant mild temperatures of your floors providing you with the quietest, most aesthetically pleasing form of heating your money can buy.
Care should be taken when installing such a system or when choosing a professional that will be doing the installation of your underfloor heating system for you. The systems aren’t particularly complicated, well they don’t have to be anyway, but if you’re not careful the installation can become a major headache and the finished product will be more of a problem than a solution.
I will not go through a detailed explanation of how one is to choose or install an underfloor heating in this article, rather I will provide you with a basic overview and a few things to consider about your own installation. More details and a step-by-step type of guide will be made available in a separate article on this site.
The basic idea with underfloor heating is to the first laid down a layer of insulation (usually Styrofoam) on the raw flooring surface onto which a network of heating pipes (in the case of a hot water system) or heating elements (in the case of an electric system) is to be laid. This is then encased in concrete or a mortar bed that will accept the final flooring surface.
The initial base insulation is a very very important step that many people choose to skip for one reason or another (usually because of costs or lack of knowledge). When this insulating layer is overlooked there is no way to concentrate the heat from the underfloor heating elements and most of the heat will escape into the slab.
Controlling heating zones throughout your home is usually done with a system of hot water pumps and manifolds to control which mini systems within your main system are getting a fresh supply of hot water and which ones are simply maintaining their temperature.
In a short time I will be writing the full article on underfloor heating systems. So if you’re looking for a much more detailed explanation of what goes on in this type of installation, keep your eyes on this website!