Homemade heated floors. How to make a water heated floor

I “smoke” the theme of heated floors.

Today this is one of the most effective heating solutions: 100% efficiency, the ability to regulate temperature depending on seasonality, fire safety, energy efficiency.

No hemorrhoids with firewood, fuel, coal, with the arrangement of a boiler room, etc. special premises, with gas connection, etc.

Plus, you can heat only those rooms that are in use, without spending money on heating the entire house if some rooms are not in use.

Possibility of remote start-up and shutdown, for example, if it is a summer cottage and you want to come there for a weekend in a warm house.

In case of a power outage, we start the diesel generator. In the future, you can slowly build a module to be powered by solar panels.

One minus is the price...

From 1-1.5-2tr per square meter....

Let's try to smoke this topic!

Here, for example, is the experience of REAL use of heated floors based on field cables.

Warm floor made from field cable

Major X

Super ICS guides

1,578 messages

Gender:Male

City:Bashkortostan

Many people know what an electric heated floor is, which is heated by a heating cable. The cost of such cables starts from 2000 rubles for just 10 meters. To ensure floor heating in a room of 18 m2 you need 40-50 meters. Total about 10,000 rubles.

I propose another solution: few people know what the P-274M cable is - this is a field communication cable. Its insulation is not afraid of any weather, can withstand high and low temperatures, and solar radiation.

But for us, the main thing is different - this cable is an excellent option for heated floors!

Its cost is only 4.8 rubles per meter (in Ufa, at least)!

I would like to add that in order to completely eliminate the use of a step-down transformer and direct connection to a regular electrical network, you need a section of 185-200 m of cable (double), which is enough for a room of 50-70 m2 (depending on the frequency of its installation and the desired heating power), costing less than 1000 rubles! Connect the ends on one side to each other, securely insulate them, lay them on the floor, fill in the screed, mount the plug on the other two ends and connect them to the network. Provides 1.8-1.9 kW of power, 60-65 degrees. cable heating.

I made myself a warm floor on the first floor in the same way.

Here are the characteristics of the P-274 vole:

Mechanical

Construction length - 500 +/- 10 m

Number of cores - 2, number of wires in cores: steel 3x0.3 mm, copper - 4x0.3 mm

Polyethylene insulation, thickness 0.5 mm

Core diameter - 2.3 mm

Ambient temperature - +50C-60C (in my kitchen it’s at least +20, what about you?)

Weight 1 km - 15 kg

Tensile strength - 392N (40kGs)

Technical

Resistance at T=20C

a) cores (direct current) - more than 65 Ohm/km

b) total insulation breakdown (after 3 hours exposure in water) - not less than 1000 MOhm

The field cable can even be used to heat pipes both inside and outside.

Protection of pipes from freezing. Homemade heating cable.

Feb 4, 2010

A frozen water supply in a private home or country house brings a lot of trouble and loss. One way to combat freezing is to heat the pipes with a special electric heating cable. But such a cable is not very cheap, and its real impact is only in severe, prolonged frosts, which in the middle zone do not happen every year now.

Is it possible to find some replacement for the expensive branded cable? Having asked this question, I conducted experiments with the P-274M (vole) telephone field communication wire. The wire is relatively thin, rigid, durable, in good durable insulation, and can be used in water.

I made a “model of a piece of water pipe” from a half-inch squeegee, and a sealed cable entry into the pipeline. I filled the mockup with water, inserted the cable inside, tightened the union nut, connected the power supply from the transformer, and placed the mockup in the freezer. household refrigerator(temperature = -18 degrees).

To simulate thermal insulation, I wrapped the pipe in newspaper (16 layers of paper), applied a current of 9 A. After 7 hours I checked: the water did not freeze, water temperature = +14 degrees.

I removed some of the “thermal insulation” and left 8 layers of paper. I reduced the current to 7 A. After 13 hours I checked: it was not frozen, water temperature = +4 degrees.

I reduced the current to 3.5 A. I checked it after 10 hours: the water had frozen.

I increased the current to 9 A. I checked it after 4 hours: it had completely melted, water temperature = +4.7 degrees.

Water supply in a country house is often organized using a watering hose. Conducted experiments with him too. I didn’t do any thermal insulation; just a bare plastic hose.

I applied a current of 9 A. After 20 hours I checked: the water did not freeze, the water temperature in the upper open end of the hose = +2, in the middle part of the hose +4, in the “lower” plugged end 0 degrees (the cable does not reach there). The word “bottom” is in quotation marks because the hose lies horizontally, and only the open end is raised slightly so that water does not leak out. It should be noted that the thermometer lying 2 centimeters from the hose showed not -18, but -16 degrees, apparently due to heating by the hose.

I turned off the power to let the water freeze. An hour later I checked - it was frozen, I waited another 3 hours to be sure. I turned on the 9 A current and checked after 4 hours: not all the water had melted, but only a little around the cable; ice along the walls of the hose. (If you pump water from a well, it will melt the remaining ice; the main thing is to get the opportunity for pumping.)

The transition of water from one state of aggregation to another is accompanied by additional energy consumption (ice thawing), or, accordingly, energy release (ice freezing). Therefore, it is better not to let the water freeze.

Conclusion: it is possible to use a conventional heating cable, in particular, a “vole” instead of a branded heating cable. Of course, with the loss of some useful qualities (self-regulation, special “food” isolation). If the cable is placed not inside, but outside the pipe, then “food grade” insulation is not needed.

Now some technical details.

In order not to expose the cable cores, it is better to unravel the wire into two single wires, measure with excess, bend the wire in half, re-twist it, and bring the ends outside the sealed input.

A sealed inlet can be made from a flexible connection flange. The union nut allows you to tighten the connection without twisting the cable.

You can free the fitting by sawing through the rolling with a turbine or file.

Roughen the inside of the fitting with transverse grooves using a needle file. Flatten the end of the fitting so that the epoxy filler does not squeeze out with water. A simple device that simulates wires passing through a fitting will not hurt here. Bend a U-shaped “tuning fork” from steel wire with a diameter of 2-2.5 mm and a length of 20 centimeters and put a fitting on it. Heat the fitting on a gas burner and quickly flatten it with pliers or a vice. The wire device will not allow excess flattening.

Roughen the wires with transverse grooves or notches, apply two-component epoxy glue from the “cold welding” category to them, insert them into the fitting, fill the fitting with glue (I think it is unnecessary to remind you about degreasing the surfaces to be glued).

You can push the cable into the water supply through a tee or a disassembled filter.

You can push a cable into a long hose like this: hang the hose into the staircase opening (even a fire hose should fit into the correct opening), pre-warm the hose so that it is even, lower a weight into the hose on a thick nylon thread, and then, tying it by the thread, drag it from above down cable.

If possible, it is better to place the cable not inside, but outside the pipe. In this case, there is no need to unravel the double wire, but after laying it, connect the wires at the far end.

Tape the cable to the pipe and protect it from the cold with thermal insulation. This way you can ensure heating of not only water pipes, but also, for example, sewer pipes.

For a vole, the permissible current is no more than 9A. Let me explain why.

The manufacturer indicates the operating temperature in long-term mode from -50 to +65 degrees. There may be no water in the hose or pipe for some reason. Tests have shown that in a hose without water when room temperature the surface of the wire heats up to 62 degrees at a current of 9A, and remains so long time. In the cold, it most likely will not heat up, but it is better to reduce the risk of overheating.

At a current of 9A, the power released by the double wire is about 10 watts per meter.

The supply voltage to the cable should be selected at the rate of about 1.2 V per meter of double wire.

For example, to provide a current of 9A in a double wire 2 meters long (to heat 2 meters of pipe from the inside), it is necessary to supply 2.4 V from the transformer.

For 5 meters 6V. For 10 meters 12 V.

But I made a warm floor from PSV

Alexey

01.10.2008, 17:02

More precisely, from the flat one, which is on Sh.

Thirty linear meters in a zigzag with a step of 10 cm on 4 squares, cross-section 0.75 mm. I supply 24 volts, the current will be about 10A.

The specific heat load will be about 10 watts per linear meter.

I chose a cross-section of 0.75 mm of copper on the basis that it would not exceed 24 volts. If you take a field wire, you will need to apply quite a lot of voltage to the iron - I didn’t want to. The floor is a steam room and a sink in the bathhouse. The goal is to raise its temperature to an acceptable one in winter. Temperature sensors with a power supply of 75 watts per square are insanity.

The people are very strange - they are not afraid of 220 volts in which one phase is grounded and blaspheme 24 volts through a transformer. And for some reason, no one cares about installing heated floors at 220 in the bathroom, and I think half of all heated floors are installed in the bathroom.

The transition from 0.75 square to a larger section will be at the level of the baseboard. Before launching, I will conduct an experiment - I will test this section in the sand and, using an infrared thermometer, I will make a graph of the dependence of the shell temperature on the current.

Everyone fell victim to brainwashing by managers.

Any conductor through which current passes will get hot.

Great tension means great danger.

For reasons of economy, the managers took 220 and tried to make super-insulation.

I just took a wire / I wanted to use some steel, but it was hard to lay it out / and fed it through a TRANSFORMER /24 volts/, which is worth NOTHING to a person who has spent half his life with a soldering iron.

Motives - I feel sorry for several thousand for a special wire, despite the fact that the tile itself cost a couple of thousand, the second motive is it’s unpleasant to realize that there are 220 under your feet - at least put three RCDs.

Above, someone mentioned something about special super-foam insulation.

Conventional insulation on a regular APPV or the same PSV in terms of waterproofing is nowhere better. Do you know why the wiring in the wall is covered? During installation, it is captured in a bracket made of the same wire and that bracket is nailed with a dowel. From time to time the installer misses and hits the wire insulation, breaking it. And the wire would stand for a hundred years, but if the neighbor above leaks, electrolysis begins and the wire corrodes. This is typical for brick buildings and is not typical for panel ones. In a brick dormitory, I was a part-time electrician for several years, so I have statistics.

I also cooked at currents in the primary of under 80 for 2.5 square meters of aluminum. Nothing supernatural except for the melted tips on the pressure testing at the joints / basement /

Maybe in between reading books you should try it with your hands??

Insulation temperature - I have an INFRARED thermometer, with which, due to natural curiosity, I poke it wherever I miss. In particular, the power supply on my landline phone is 33.7 when the room temperature is 25. What do you have in your apartment in grams? Do you rely on certificates?

If you tinker with your pens for several decades in between reading books, then 80A on the primary and 80 on the secondary will be clear - the transformer is overheated, in Russian there are few turns on the primary.

The transformer will hum in the attic. I have enough copper. Despite the fact that at the current historical stage it is already possible to look towards ready-made RF converters.

If a person has a slightly higher outlook, he should know that our 220 is a tribute to the economical economy. Fat bourgeois prefer 110.

Well, I don’t like 220 under my feet.

If my opponents were good with arithmetic, they would correct me - I turned on my two-wire cable 0.75 square 25 to 24 volts m, a dot too small It looks like you need about 30-35v.

There were no clamps or voltmeter.

The temperature of the wire in air is +9 40 degrees, the wire passing through the sand (I put a jar of sand for the experiment) has a temperature 7-10 degrees lower.

That is, the transition to the power cable must be done in a tie.

In three hours, I raised the floor temperature by THREE degrees.

I grabbed the instruments, tried them on - the network is 180 volts, damn it, the garden society has no meters, but electricity is available all year round.

Accordingly, the output transformer is 18 volts. I calculated 1.38 ohms and it comes out but at 27 meters, the plant saved money.

What we have is 13 amperes at 18 volts. That is approximately 230 watts per 3.5 square meters of floor. That is approximately 70 watts per square. These 70 watts raise the floor temperature by 5 degrees in 5 hours; I assume during this time the process will stabilize. The temperature of the wires in the air exceeds the ambient temperature by 30 degrees.

70 degrees for the wire is when using it according to purpose, and purpose he has to hang out behind an electrical device - the conditions are harsh. In statics, I believe 90 degrees is not critical. Despite the fact that I’m not going to load more than 100 watts per square.

In accordance with the laws of physics, heat rises upward - why do I need thermal insulation from below? Between the screed and the ground there is a layer of air - the most effective insulator.

I have paving slabs with glued porcelain stoneware tiles, in the seam The steel is sealed. I planned to conduct an experiment on the resistance of the glue to heating-cooling cycles. I haven’t gotten around to it, but I promise to take a measurement of the dependence of the surface temperature on the presence of insulation underneath.

Expanded clay concrete screed about 10 cm thick, lies on 25-30 mm boards, the boards rest on corners fixed along the perimeter of the foundation. There is a gap of about 10 cm between the ground and the floor. There is some breathing room, but it is calm. Offhand, I would give no more than ten to twenty percent for the convention down.

The discord between my measurements and the heated floor in the apartment - at the moment, the tiles in my bathroom have a temperature of +26, in winter, when the temperature of the heated towel rail is much higher, the floor has a temperature of about 30 degrees. I believe the rest of the people have approximately the same situation. Putting it accordingly, solid floor, and raising the temperature by another seven degrees, and this is no more than a hundred watts even on mine, which is not insulated, it gets +37 from which people trudge,

Let us extrapolate: a 500-watt Sovdep oil heater, estimated to have an area of ​​0.5 square, heats up to about 80 degrees at a room temperature of +20

That is, a kilowatt heats a square by 60 degrees. And 100 watts will heat the same square by 10-15 degrees / here the relationship is not linear /.

That is, in winter in an unheated room there is a hole from a duplicate, and not a warm floor.

While working on the casing of the steam room, I slightly flooded the stove and the floor temperature suddenly jumped by five degrees, despite the fact that I flooded it a little. It is possible that heating with electricity is needed like a hare has a bond. In any case, in the process, it is not absolutely necessary. That is, by turning it on via the steam room temperature sensor/set point to thirty degrees/we provide protection both from the fool and from all the horrors that scare us.

You can put not 0.75, but 1.5 square copper. Then for a beam of 30 meters at 10 watts per meter you will need 12 volts. You can, of course, get tired of picking your nose and looking for DANGER, but, putting your hands in one place between us boys, what are the numerous damage to the insulation? and if they are made specially, what kind of stepper will it be at 12 volts, despite the fact that under the wire in the screed lies reinforcing mesh, and what would it be like without her??? In the event of an emergency, the grid will equalize the potential.

Turned his gaze to electronic converters for halogen lamps 220 to 12. Available for sale with a power of 150 watts for 150 rubles. with short-circuit protection. It is not clear whether there is voltage stabilization. If two are connected in series, then everything can be chocolate.

I'm talking about closed-mindedness.

A colleague / beggar / invested in an electric boiler worth more than 11 thousand, despite the fact that normal people screw a couple of heating elements into a welded tank for 200 rubles. and warm up.

They switched to personalities... Moscow, concentrating 80% of finances, has changed the minds of some. In Russia, a qualified worker lives on a salary of 10-15 thousand. If you subtract from this money the obligatory expenses for an apartment, food, clothing, gasoline and other similar things, then a person will have 1-2 thousand free. That is, for such a feature as a warm floor - not even the floor itself, but a set in a box, he has to save /work/ for six months or a year. So with, ready-made solutions, go through the forest.

Or do only dons and lords have the right to build and renovate here??

A heating element for half a kilowatt with a thermostat costs about 200 rubles. A tank, three heating elements, three toggle switches and the heating system is ready. The problem with the wrap is the Calgon bag, the system is closed. The whole country is heated approximately according to this scheme.

From Safety to safe technology- this is the motto.

The man did it SAFELY - he switched from 220 to 24 and received an overwhelming majority of opponents. But what can you expect from ordinary people whose whole life is in the hands of marketers - they need to drink one thing, chew another, plug a third into a socket.

The transformer is humming - the whole country sat in front of color TVs with 300-watt transformers and did not notice the buzzing,

I haven’t seen heating elements with thermostats, but a regular 1.5-2 kW heating element costs only 80 rubles.

In our depot in the mechanical workshop, this is how the heating is arranged. Homemade three-phase electric boiler - 6 kW, 3 heating elements connected by a star + thermostat from an old iron.

From it there is wiring for 6 standard cast iron radiators.

+ there are 2 more goats, one three-phase -3.5 kW, the other single-phase -2.5 kW connected to a regular Soviet socket - with the inscription 6 amperes.

This is all clear.

I'm interested in something else.

I heard that they made heaters from bed springs (connected 6-8 pieces in series) and stretched them on insulators.

What power?

Was it turned on at 220 or at reduced voltage?

I've never heard of bed springs.

In the late 90s, when the national economy was in the midst of chaos, and thermal power plants were barely glowing, people established continuous production of electrolysis heaters. The design consisted of two vertical pipes 40-50 centimeters long with a diameter of 100 mm and between them several jumpers 60 centimeters long from pipes with a smaller diameter .Salted water was poured in. Zero on the body, phase on the electrode plug into the socket. They were sold as seeds on market day; they could even be found in kindergartens. No one was killed. After that, the electrics section just makes me sick - Uzo, difavtomats, 1 ouzo or ouzo for each machine, whatever... Nosov has something about an island where bad people took children and made donkeys out of them. real life something similar happens.

Low-voltage heating has a significant drawback - the power is limited by the power of the transformer.

That is, if you have a 300-watt transformer (this is a very bulky transformer), let’s remember tube TVs.

6.3 volts, just about 300 watts of power (several incandescent windings), then you dissipate no more than 300 watts in the heater, which is clearly not enough for general heating.

How to be?

Transformer - three times HA. I remember in the late eighties we had an epic of homemade welders. Everyone wound, even grandfathers of retirement age - a donut was formed from transformer iron, the donut was wrapped in kiperka, the primary was made of copper / turns 200 / , kiperka, secondary. Lazy ones wound with luminem, persistent ones with copper, 50 turns. The characteristic turned out to be harsh, so a certain amount of ballast was required nichrome, sausages, nichrome diameter is about 5 mm.

as an option there was iron from an electric motor - there is an electric one. engines with a large hole and low iron height.

Everyone still has those transformers, alive. Only heavy ones. Last years I bought a Chinese -13 kilo for small work, it cooks in threes without any problems, it’s a pleasure to carry it.

Thor is good in many respects. Firstly, it has 30% higher efficiency in terms of hardware. Secondly, there is no hassle with the primary - we wound a certain approximate number of turns and, without breaking the wires, apply voltage through the shuttle in order to check the current xx, if it’s too much, we wind it further. For the welder, I made the current xx about 0.5-1 ampere.

Heated floors in the kitchen - well, if only the first floor, I don’t have first, on the floor linoleum, walking barefoot is comfortable.

So the floor is 8 square meters, if, according to an adult, it will be 10 tons. Lay out tiles on these 8 squares, too, 10 tons/or 20?/. Despite the fact that the average hard worker receives around 15.12 salaries a year. Is the arithmetic clear? That’s why the vast majority suck their paws rather than bask on warm floors because there are more pressing tasks.

Result.

For two weeks one of the beams is in operation / the second one does not have enough allocated capacity /

It's -30 degrees outside with wind, 16 degrees inside square meters temperature -5. The oil heater is turned on at 400 watts and works on three squares, heated floor, Temperature, heated floor, +5. That is, it provides a difference to the air temperature of 10 degrees.

The wire was 30 meters with a short on one side, it turned out to be 27 meters, three meters remained - I didn’t calculate the route. At the block from which the wire goes to the floor, the voltage is 18 volts, 14 amperes, that is, approximately 250 watts or 80 watts per square meter. The temperature of the wire in air is approximately 35 degrees higher than the temperature air, in the screed heat removal is greater, as was established by experience with sand.

It would be advisable, of course, to run the heating cable into one wire in order to supply voltage to the opposite ends. But it would be very cumbersome to install, but for that you could heat it up to at least one hundred degrees. It is advisable to make the transformer on a torus - the torus works without vibration. Amen.

Alexey

21.05.2009, 05:34

Completed the season .Nothing extraordinary - the electrons ran around the wire and heated it as it should be in accordance with the laws of physics. The whole season the heating of the beam in the steam room was turned on (27 meters and 250 watts). I didn’t get around to supplying power to the beam in the sink.

250 watts raised the temperature in the room by 8 degrees relative to the ambient temperature, outside, / bathhouse 16 square meters, timber by 15 / . The section of the floor that was turned on was 10-13 degrees warmer than the air in the room /I measured it a long time ago, I forgot/.

There are no penofols or other tricks below - the heat goes UP.

I laid the tiles/porcelain tiles on a simple mortar of cement and sand, plus a mug of PVA on a bucket of mortar - HOLD DEAD. I was a fool - I should have bought it special mixture for 400 rubles 20 kg bag and then ask why the tiles are lagging....

Alexey

28.10.2009, 15:36

Turned it on. The second season has started .

By the way, how many kilowatts of trans and how many volts (secondary) is needed for an area of ​​approximately 12 sq.m? per wire 1.5-2.5 mm2

Above I gave the proportions - 30 meters of wire, copper 0.75.18 volts on the wire. Transformer 250 watts, laid on 3.5 squares / like this or something like this /. For 12 squares you need to focus on a 1.2 kilowatt transformer.

2.5 IMHO a lot of copper consumption.

1.5 is more acceptable, accordingly, we focus on a current of 30 A

What about bullshit then..? No one is pulling hard

section where people, intimidated by horror stories, are making God knows what / this is me regarding grounding, RCD and crazy sections /. But by and large, even such great people as Mao said diametrically opposite things.

AlexsandrS

29.10.2009, 22:27

Well, let's start with the fact that multi-storey buildings They don’t install electric boilers --- this is a solution purely for a private home.

They put it all out. Installation of such a boiler with connection and documents costs about 2 thousand euros for a 3-room apartment.

Warm floor from heating elements on the balcony (operating experience 10 years)

I did a warm floor on the balcony a long time ago (10 years ago) - it cost me “mere pennies” ~ 200 rubles.

consumption ~ 400 watts.

when the heat was terrible, I opened the balcony to warm up smile

Of course, the balcony itself was insulated with foam plastic ~ 7 cm thick (walls, floor and ceiling), plus double-glazed windows.

on topic - bought at a flea market Nth quantity used air heating elements, their diameter easily fit into the holes of bricks (such bricks with round holes over the entire area).

I placed the bricks on edge and evenly distributed them over the floor of the balcony.

I connected the heating elements in series and parallel - I experimentally selected the surface temperature of the heating elements.

I put a galvanized sheet on top of the bricks - I immediately solved two problems: fire safety and an electromagnetic shield.

on top is a sheet of 20 mm plywood + linoleum.

An additional plus is that the floor on the balcony was level with the threshold, which turned out to be convenient.

You can add a thermostat if desired.

p.s. for a regular heated floor, IMHO, you can use a wire to heat the concrete - it is iron in polyethylene insulation, but it can be powered from welding transformer, and it is specifically made for working in concrete (the cable for underfloor heating is filled with concrete screed).

the question of the health impact of such a “warm floor” remains open - there is a special screen in the branded wires.

You can try making it out of wire" twisted pair" to compensate for electric magnetic fields.

As for me personally, I wouldn’t experiment in living quarters; family health is more important.

In any case, instrumental measurements of electric magnetic fields at floor level are needed.

P.S. I would never use a “film heated floor” - there is no screen there.

Ingener | Post: 437911 - Date: 17.01 (20:34)

Store-bought cables and mats are expensive. The idea is to use an ordinary available electric wire to heat the floor, even better aluminum or iron (we’ve seen these before), and power it from a step-down transformer or, as a simpler option, simply through a separating capacitor, used as ballast to obtain the required power.

By the way, even a small-section copper cable (0.75 kW) can be used as a heater with a power of about 2 kW)

Of course, it is necessary to maintain the cable temperature no more than 50-70 degrees so as not to damage the insulation, but this is a matter of developing the technology

So far, the following comments have been made on the fundamental disadvantages of warm electric floors:

1. Possible negative impact electromagnetic field to biological objects

2. Dust rising from the floor with currents of warm air

3. Destruction of engineering structures due to floor heating

4. In the case of using a quasi-resonant mode - powered through a capacitor -

influence on the electricity meter

5. Negative effect of heated floors on the feet (must be colder than the air)

______

1/ - as an option, use direct current (a regular diode bridge like those in single-phase welding inverters+ smoothing capacity and the issue is resolved)

according to 2/ - it is unlikely that the flow of rising air will be so strong that it will raise dust. We are not talking about a hot floor, but only about bringing its temperature to room temperature.

according to 3/- similar to point 2 - in structures such as country houses, such collisions are unlikely to be possible

according to 4/ - use the solution according to paragraph 1

5/- again, the floor is only heated to 18-20 degrees so that you can walk comfortably in slippers. No matter how you heat your country house with a stove or radiators, the floor will still remain noticeably colder - all the heat rises to the ceiling.

The simplest DIY heating cable

I read somewhere a long time ago on this forum that you can make a heating cable from a computer power supply and copper wire.

It came to building a house, but I couldn’t find a description of the device, so I conducted my own experiment, taking what was available at home: a two-core 1.5 mm copper wire in a double braid and a 300W computer power supply. The parameters were measured using a tester with a temperature sensor.

So, the initial data is about 30 meters of cable in a bay, the power supply has outputs of 12V/18A and 5V/20A - respectively - 216 watts and 100 watts.

I shorted the cable at one end, got 60 meters of 1.5 mm, shorted it to the 12-volt output of the power supply and... nothing happened - the power supply simply turned off. I restarted the power supply, closed the wire to the 5-volt output - the power supply did not turn off. I measured the output voltage - 2.7 volts, cable temperature - room temperature 26 degrees. I waited 5 minutes - the temperature did not change.

I decided to continue the experiment, but with a cable of the length I needed - 10 meters. I cut it, connected it, connected it to the 5-volt output and everything worked perfectly: in 2 minutes the temperature of the cable increased by 4 degrees, in 10 minutes - by 22 degrees - to 48 degrees. After 20 minutes, the experiment was stopped because the cable temperature did not increase, stopping at 53 degrees. During the entire operation, the power supply unit did not heat up and showed no signs of ill health. The voltage at the power supply output was 4.2 V.

I see the following advantages:

1. Cheap - power supply 500 rubles, wire 200.

2. Maintainability - the cable will never burn out, overheat, or melt at a 100-watt short circuit; changing the power supply is as easy as shelling pears by purchasing a new one

Minuses:

1. It is difficult to automate the process if you only install a mechanical one 24 hours. timer with customized on/off intervals for power supply.

2. The need for periodic visual monitoring of the serviceability of the power supply.

I don’t intend to use it in water - I think you need to wrap all 10 meters of wire around the HDPE pipe at the entrance to the house, wrap the whole thing with thermal insulation, then place it in a 100mm sewer pipe. The heating cable in this case and when permanent residence should act as a safety net, with minimal probability of being turned on.

The VVG lay in the ground for 20 years - it was intended as a temporary lighting site for the site. The corrugation rotted a long time ago, but the lighting works, the RCD does not work.

In general, of course yes - I will use a cable in the thickest PVC braid and seal the connection securely with heat shrink.

Oldvist

Address: Orel

I used field cable P-274M. It costs a penny and heats up normally. Connected to OSM-0.25 36 Volt. 50 meters of cable. The temperature of the cable in the air rose to 60 degrees in 5 minutes and stopped.

Yes, it’s a good option, probably even one of the most optimal. I simply made it from what was already lying around the house and did not require special trips to the store for the specified components.

I’ll see how the storm drain behaves this year, and if necessary, I’ll heat the pipes and gutters as described in your description.

The 12-volt output of the power supply is cut off, even if you connect 80 meters of short-circuited cable - I tried it.

Thus, it turns out that theory diverges from practice due to the peculiarities of the computer power supply protection circuit

Oldvist

Address: Orel

Well, everything is fine here too. The contact resistance was not taken into account, and when heated, the resistance of the wire increases. For example, the filament resistance of a 100-watt incandescent lamp is about 50 ohms. When heated, the resistance increases by an order of magnitude (about 500 Ohms).

Well, the temperature of the lamp also increases by an order of magnitude, and that of the wire by a measly 20-30 degrees.

In general, to be honest, I don’t care anymore - it works and is good. I left the power supply on for a day and a half and everything was OK - it worked with a sufficient degree of reliability. Now I’m “smoking” forums about automatic transfer switches for a generator, emergency power supply to a boiler, etc.

Do-it-yourself installation of external water supply and frost protection

I wanted to put a heating cable in the ground. I looked through many pages on the Internet about these cables, about heated floors, about heating pipes, etc.

I found a site that talks about what materials are included in these cables. The supply wires are made of copper, steel, nichrome and other materials. On top of the supply core there is a sheath made of plastic, polyethylene, PVC, etc. On top of the sheath is a screen. On top of the screen is again a protective shell made of rubber, polyethylene, etc.

So the thought came to me: these are ordinary wires only with different cross-sections. So why are they so expensive?

And I decided to do an experiment: I took a cable such as a telephone, two-core, only each core with a cross-section of 1 mm consists of 7 separate steel wires. Each core is in its own separate shell, then they are covered on top with a film similar to polyethylene, on top with thin aluminum foil, and on top with the main shell. I took this wire 10 meters long, and at one end I soldered two conductors together, put the soldered end into a cap from a medical syringe needle and filled it with silicone. To opposite separated ends supplied 12 volts from the transformer for halogen bulbs . And what do you think? The cable heated up by about 60 - 70 degrees, so enough for ground heating. In the air you can even hold it in your hand. For the experiment, I did not turn it off during the day while in the air, and it did not heat up above this temperature. After that, I placed it in water and saw emanating heating flows from the cable. Here's your heating cable.

The only warning! If the cable is made shorter, I think it will heat up more, which is bad for plants.

I’m bringing this up for discussion, maybe someone in this test will give some comments. The cost of the heated cable was 66 rubles.

The last remark is probably connected with this phrase: “... 2.5 A (12 V / 4.8 Ohm) will flow through our heater, and the minimum permissible diameter of a copper wire for such a current, according to electrical tables, should be 0.5 mm, otherwise it will burn."

However, this is relevant if heat removal from the conductor will be carried out in air.

The cable, among other things, must be well insulated. Or isolate yourself. Which automatically provides thermal insulation.

I agree about isolation.

But in this case (regarding the link) there is water inside this insulation. (It would have been better, of course, something dielectric, but it didn’t work out with glycerin. And I didn’t really want to use oil liquids, as they do when cooling transformers).

It turns out that the current actually flows through a thin copper wire, which has a fairly stable varnish coating, and water serves as a heat sink, i.e. the cross section of the heat sink will already be equal internal diameter tubes. And this is no longer 0.2-0.3 mm, but 4-5 mm.

If this method is not used, then thin copper wire upon contact with a PVC tube, it will definitely melt through it, especially if the heating pad is turned on in air. And with liquid it is quite safe. I specifically ran this heating pad for a month in the air before putting it in the aquarium when restarting.

40 watts per 10 meters of wire is not that much, but we'll see...

In a salt heating pad, the appearance of bubbles could be associated with the release of gas during electrolysis - at an alternating current of 50 hertz, this process cannot be completely eliminated.

I don’t like salt ones either, that’s why I “threw” a metal conductor through the water.

Using a regular telephone pair (pasta) in polyethylene insulation is quite possible. You only need to apply a very small voltage from a very thick transformer winding.

I think it’s better not to bother with “regular” noodles. The insulation crumbles after several heating and cooling cycles.

For small currents, you can try using the same computer network cable for outdoor use only. There are many types of them.

P.S. There is a wire with a steel core. And there is also a rope in a plastic sheath. Here it is made of steel.

What will knowledgeable people say about such a wire?

Kolchuginsky plant.

Wire 4 squares, one core.

The melting point of a thick-looking casing is like that of a honey hose, the melting point of the casing is 500!!! degrees.

----------------------

And what if you lay it along the bottom PVC hose, thick-walled and connected to the heating system or to a separate small heater (tank) with its own small pump?

I made a heating cable from nichrome wire and adjusted the length to the length of the aquarium so that 3-4 branches could be laid. The degree of heating was regulated by voltage (by selecting the windings of the transformer), I received 7.5 m of cable with T = 41C (I wrapped the thermometer with a cable), the voltage was 24 V..

You can purchase heating cables in a retail chain, but you should be aware that their cost is quite high. But, with some dexterity and some technical skills, you can try to make a heating cable with your own hands, using an alternative material.

Experienced craftsmen claim that the most suitable replacement for a branded heating cable is the so-called “field” - a power telephone cable intended for military field communications, its official marking is P-274M. It is thin, quite durable, rigid, has good and reliable insulation, and can be used in a damp environment.

When installing a “field wire” inside a water pipe, so as not to expose the wire at the end, it is better to unravel it into two wires. Then bend the single wire in half and double it again. At the two open ends, it is necessary to provide a sealed entry for the wire; it can be constructed from a flange from a flexible water connection. The input must be truly sealed and not allow a drop of moisture to pass through; for this, the fitting, with the wires threaded inside, must be filled with epoxy glue and slightly flattened; the union nut will allow the connection to be tightened well.

In this way, heating can be arranged not only for water supply, but also for sewerage. The current flowing through the “field switch” should not exceed 9A..

“just connect the wires at the opposite end”, that is, short-circuit?

Yes, that is, close...

Hello! I purchased a gray cable ENGL 1 heating 180 degrees. They sold the wrong one, there is no way to change it. How to use it with metal-plastic pipes?

What exactly bothers you? You bought a passive cable with a maximum operating temperature of 180 degrees. Based on paragraph 3.1.8, the operation of this cable requires additional funds automatic temperature control. In other words, you need to connect this cable from a device that will monitor the temperature of the cable (namely the cable and not the liquid in the pipe or pipe - otherwise, upon reaching a certain temperature, irreversible changes in the insulation of your cable or pipe will begin).

1. The depth at which the pipe should be laid must be at least 1.8 meters.

This recommendation is for central Russia. For the north, even 2.5 meters will not be enough. And in the middle zone it’s better to play it safe. It is believed that the depth of soil freezing in the central part of Russia reaches 1.5 meters. This is an average. But some years frosts last for weeks. The depth of freezing depends on humidity and soil density. The freezing depth indicator does not take into account that the pipe may lie under concrete base roads cleared of snow, under strip foundation fence, under paving stones. All this, to one degree or another, increases the degree of soil freezing, and if water consumption is low (for example, you left for a couple of days), this can lead to unpleasant consequences. Dig the trench deeper.

I installed the pipe at a depth of 2 meters. Despite the fact that the site in general and the article in particular are devoted to what you can do yourself, it is better to entrust migrant workers to dig a trench 2 meters deep. It will be cheaper in every sense. Take pity on your health. Average prices for this type of work have not changed for many years and are approximately 350 rubles per cubic meter, and in our case (trench 0.5m x 2m) for linear meter. And this cost includes excavation of the soil and then backfilling of the installed pipe. And you can bargain.

2. Which pipe to use for external water supply

Practice has shown that the most optimal solution at the moment is the use of HDPE (low-density polyethylene) PN10 pipes for drinking water. These pipes do not rust like metal ones, can withstand pressures of up to 10 atmospheres (they say that even up to 50 atmospheres, be careful, cheaper PN 6 pipes are available for sale), are strong enough, and easy to bend, since water supply routes often have zigzags , tolerate freezing cycles well. Plastic is more elastic than metal and polyethylene pipes do not break from freezing like metal pipes. Fittings for HDPE pipes are cheap and can be installed quickly, simply and without the use of any tools (just by hand). Many years of operating practice have shown that a ball valve is more likely to burst than a HDPE connection twisted with one hand to leak. HDPE pipes are very cheap. The cost of a decent 32 pipe from a well-known manufacturer is 30-35 rubles per meter. A pipe with a diameter of 32 mm is sufficient for laying a water supply system., as well as 25 mm.

3. Entering the house. How to make a hole in a 50 cm thick FBS foundation block.

To ensure the entry of water into the house, most often come to make a hole in the concrete: monolithic foundation or the factory FBS unit. Pipe diameter 32 mm. Despite its apparent simplicity, making such a hole is not easy. Of course, it’s good if you have a diamond tool on your farm, or at least an SDS-Max hammer drill with a 40 mm drill bit. But not everyone was born with an angle grinder in their hands. All I had on my farm for these purposes was a household low-power hammer drill SDS-Plus Makita HR-2450 and a 24x400 drill. The 24x400 drill does not fit in diameter or length. But I decided to try. And I succeeded. It all took 3 hours. Nothing from the tool was used anymore. This is the technology. Using hammer drilling mode, we drill 4 holes by 24 side by side in two rows. Each hole takes about 15 minutes. Next, from the back side of the wall (when the trench has already been dug), we try to get coaxially into the same holes. Next, using the same drill in impact only mode, we break the partition between the holes. I had 18 cm “peak” and “scapula”, but they were of no use. This is the longest and most unpredictable part of the job. Oddly enough, with a 24x400 drill, designed for drilling, I quickly and efficiently broke all the partitions and was able to insert a pipe into the resulting hole. That's what a drill from Drebo means ;) By the way, the hammer drill did not overheat during operation, so there was no need to take breaks. In addition, unlike some professional hammer drills that I have worked with, the Makita HR-2450 has a good air discharge - from below and to the side. This does not interfere with work and does not raise columns of dust around. Of course, there are also drills for 32 for SDS-Plus on sale. But the cost of such drills starts from 1800 rubles, while the commercial cost of a hole from companies is 1500 rubles. From a financial point of view, it made sense to indulge in what we had. ;) Despite the very dusty and not very pleasant work, I did not trust the Tajiks with it, since, from experience, I would have been left without a drill and without a hammer drill;) You can only trust them with a shovel, and they will definitely break that one.

4. Just in case a fireman...

As a person who has experienced freezing water pipes, I recommend installing a heating cable along with the pipe, just in case. And despite the fact that if installed correctly, a cable is unlikely to be needed, anything can happen in our lives. Naturally, a pipe frozen in the ground will thaw only by mid-May. But it seemed unreasonable to me to buy an expensive heating cable and instead I took the usual cheap P-274 field communication cable. The cable has very durable insulation, which can remain in the open air for years without harm. Inside the cable, along with copper conductors, there are also steel conductors. It is they who provide the “warming” effect to the cable. Of course, this cable cannot be connected directly to 220V. It all depends on the length of the cable. The voltage is calculated to be approximately 1-1.5V per meter of cable. With a length of 30 meters, a voltage of approximately 36V and a current of 8-10A are required. With these parameters, the cable will heat up to approximately 60 degrees. This temperature will quickly melt any ice plug. Since the cable is double, in order for it to work, you need to connect the two ends of the cable through the terminal block at the opposite end (well, borehole) and seal it. The solution is simple and, most importantly, very cheap, although it requires the use of a suitable power supply (transformer, you can find a suitable one on the market for very reasonable money). I wrapped the water pipe with a field cable in increments of about 10 cm. This way the defrosting efficiency will be higher.

5. Alarm and heating automation

Since we are installing the water supply ourselves, why not install points for collecting information about the temperature underground. It is enough to attach 3-4 sensors to the track in order to be able to manually or automatically control the ground temperature at any time. If the temperature begins to drop below +5 degrees, the system can automatically turn on the heating cable or inform the owner by voice, e-mail or via SMS. As sensors, I took DS18B20 elements, which operate on a common 1-wire bus. At a cost of 40 to 70 rubles per piece, these are insignificant costs. I used cheap shielded twisted pair category 5 (FTP) as a cable. Of course, it is a little more expensive than the unshielded one, but it is stronger due to the foil layer and is less susceptible to interference with a long branch length. I installed 4 sensors on the route in the most critical and potentially dangerous sections of the route. And just in case, I connected the line with the sensors to a separate network master DS9490R, which, however, with the help of the owfs program, entered with all the slaves into the general list of available devices in a single system. After soldering, the sensors were protected with heat-shrinkable tubes, sealant and a layer of special plastic glue. So let’s see what the temperature really is in the middle zone in winter at a depth of 2 meters. I promise to post a schedule.

September 201017C October 201014C November 201011C December 20109С January 20117C February 20114C

To be even more important, in order to further protect the water in the pipe from freezing during a prolonged absence of flow and to increase the efficiency of possible defrosting with a heating cable, I mounted a layer of Energoflex insulation 13 mm or 9 mm thick on the water pipe. At a low cost (about 25 rubles per meter), you can still sleep more peacefully. In addition, energyflex provides additional protection for both pipes and cables.

Energoflex is foamed polypropylene that does not allow moisture to pass through and protects the pipe from freezing. In common parlance, a fur coat for a pipe.

7. Heat the pipe

So far there has been no need to heat the pipe in combat conditions, it is still summer, but preliminary tests of the system have been carried out. A suitable transformer was found in the family storerooms. Still Soviet, almost military, and therefore excellent. Experiments have shown that the proposed scheme works, that the pipe and the water in the pipe quickly heat up to temperatures that, however, are safe both for the insulation of the wire and the pipe itself. To assess the scale of the transformer, I placed a matchbox bought in a nearby supermarket, which, as it later turned out, depicted Comrade Stalin, as if to confirm the above.

=

Conclusions:making a heated floor yourself for pennies is REAL!!!

Space heating based on underfloor heating technology is much more efficient than heating with conventional radiator batteries. Underfloor heating provides the room with normal air circulation: warm air is below, cooler air is above.

There are two options for heating the floor in the house: electric and water. But electric method Floor heating is very expensive to operate, so water floor heating is more popular.

How to organize a warm water floor in the house

To heat a house using water, you will need a certain number of pipes. Water will circulate through the system and warm the floor.

The bottom line is that you need to lay the pipes under the floor covering. The process is not the easiest, but anyone can figure it out if they want.

Which room is suitable for installing heated floors?

Since this floor heating option requires a considerable number of pipes, it is mainly installed in private sector homes.

Multi-storey buildings are not suitable for this type of heating. The management company simply will not give permission to install underfloor heating from general heating.

Most new buildings are equipped with systems for both radiator and water floor heating.

In order for the installation of a heated floor to be successful, you need to study all the nuances of this process.

Heat conductor temperature

In order for the floor to be at a comfortable temperature, the temperature of the water in the radiators should not be higher than 45C. In this case, the flooring itself will heat up to 28C.

But in most cases, heating systems produce minimum temperature about 65C. Only gas boilers are able to maintain the required temperature level. They are effective precisely at low temperatures.

If other heating systems are used, then a mixing unit is required. It adds cooling water from a return line to the existing heating system.

The cooling effect is as follows: hot water from the boiler enters the thermostatic valve, which opens the addition cold water from the return pipe when the temperature rises greatly.

How to make a heated floor with your own hands: eyeliner

There are two technologies used to fix pipes:

Dry eyeliner. Metal strips with prepared channels for pipes are laid out on polystyrene foam mats or wooden plates. This will distribute the heat more evenly during heating.

Plywood or other hard materials are laid on top. If you plan to install heated floors under the tiles, then the entire technology remains unchanged, only the tiles are laid on OSB or plywood using a special glue.

Laying in a screed or “wet” version of laying pipes. This technology will require several layers:

• Insulation;
• Mesh or tapes;
• Pipes;
• Screed.

The floor covering is laid after the screed has set. You can put waterproofing or reinforcing mesh under the insulation.

Note!

Damper tape must be used when installing the floor. It is laid where two contours connect, having previously rolled it out over the entire area.

Which system is better?

How to make a heated floor, and what system to use? Both systems have both pros and cons.

The dry installation option will be more expensive if you buy all the components ready-made. But their mass is much smaller and they can be used faster.

The screed has a large mass, and not any foundation can support it. Only having a foundation with a reserve can installation be allowed in this way.

If pipes laid using the screed method are damaged, it will be very difficult to repair them. The screed will have to be broken, and the repair itself may cause damage to nearby pipes.

You can use a heated floor in a screed only on the 28th day after installation, because the concrete must gain strength. You will have to go without heating for almost a month.

Note!

If in the house wooden floor, then the screed and high temperatures will contribute to rapid deterioration of the wood.

It is necessary to study all the initial data of the house in order to avoid serious consequences. Perhaps in some cases it is better to resort to dry technologies.

Having warm floors in your home is a great idea that can be implemented by understanding the information about this process.

It is worth studying the information found, looking at photos of heated floors on the Internet, as well as diagrams of piping systems for floor heating.

Photo of a heated floor with your own hands

Note!

Water or hydraulic floors are the most common type of insulated floors. Firstly, a water floor is lower in price during installation and subsequent operation. Secondly, you can do it yourself, without resorting to the help of professional installers, which means you can reduce costs. Thirdly, a water floor is considered safer for human health, compared, for example, with an electric or infrared floor, where electromagnetic radiation is an inevitable consequence.

The water floor has two types of installation.

1. First - concrete system, in which a concrete screed becomes the base, it accumulates heat. This system is good in individual low-rise buildings with strong floors.
2. Second - flooring system, which is used in wooden “light” houses, attics, where concrete screed cannot be used, since the floors cannot support its weight. The flooring system is also used in multi-storey buildings, especially “Khrushchev” buildings, where the floors are made of slabs with limited load.

The floor becomes a source of heat in the room, providing horizontal, uniform heating in any area of ​​the room. The heat spreads vertically, creating a natural "feet warm, head cold" effect, unlike radiator heating where the heat goes up and then back down.

This heating system works especially well where high ceilings. The air does not dry out, the apartment warms up evenly. Aesthetically, hydraulic floors also benefit because there is no need for wall-mounted radiators, freeing up space. In addition, water heated floors are economical to operate; their energy consumption is lower, which means the costs of maintaining the system are reduced.

Disadvantages of a hydraulic floor

When choosing a water floor, you should take into account heat loss, which should not exceed 100 W/m2. To reduce them, you should take thermal insulation seriously. If heat loss is high, it is better to combine water floors with wall-mounted radiators.

Laying heated floors in toilets and bathrooms has its own difficulties. Often the water heating pipe is connected to the heated towel rail pipe, which leads to elevated temperatures and the floor overheats excessively.

Difficulties arise where the ceiling is low, since the screed above the pipes must be significant in thickness, it is necessary to raise the floor to a height of approximately 10 cm. And if the bathroom is located above a cold basement, the rise reaches 15 cm. Additional costs also come from strengthening floor slabs and other load-bearing structures, as well as for reinstalling doors.

What will you need for installation?

To install a hydraulic heated floor you will need:

• boiler for water heating;
• pump for pumping water (often built into the boiler, but sometimes you need to purchase it additionally);
• pipes, which are heating elements(it is better to choose metal-plastic ones, with approximately a twenty-millimeter diameter);
• distribution pipes and valves to bleed air from the heating system;
• fittings for connecting pipes and all hydraulic mechanisms;
• a collector or several collectors (in a wall box, with supply and return pipelines and a control mechanism);
• shut-off valves that connect pipelines to the collector;
• thermal insulation and waterproofing materials, reinforcing mesh, special damper tape;
• additionally - self-leveling building mixtures or building materials replacing them and means for leveling the subfloor.

Preparing and leveling the floor

Laying a water floor heating system requires careful preparation of the base. First, you will have to completely dismantle the old floor screed to the base and level the floor horizontally. After dismantling the screed, the surface must be thoroughly cleaned of debris, particles of old screed, dust, dirt, and deposits.

The cleaned base of the floor must be covered with a thermal insulation and then a waterproofing layer. After the necessary manipulations, the damper tape needs to be secured around the entire perimeter, then laid according to the lines passing between the contours of the pipes.

Insulation is necessary to prevent downward heat transfer. Foamed polyethylene (penofol) covered with foil is best suited. If there is a heated room on the floor below, any insulation will do, the most reliable is polystyrene foam in sheets. Its thickness is approximately 20-50 mm. If you insulate the floor on the ground floor, which is located on the ground or above a cold basement, you will have to resort to a mound of expanded clay, and choose thicker sheets of expanded polystyrene, approximately 50 - 100 mm.

Modern building materials offer special insulation materials that have special channels for pipes. They are more expensive, but more reliable and less troublesome during installation. When the insulation is laid on the floor, a reinforcing mesh must be laid on top. In this way, it will be possible to secure a new, still damp, layer of screed covering the entire pipe system.

In addition, it is convenient to attach the hydraulic floor pipe to the mesh using plastic ties. This method is more convenient than a design consisting of many fastening strips and clips.

Collector - its selection and installation

Before you begin installation, you need to install the collector. It is installed after contour calculations.

The selection of a collector (or several collectors) is made after calculating the number of circuits. When choosing a collector, you need to decide in advance how many pins are needed to connect the circuits to it. In addition, the device must have a drainage outlet for waste water and an air vent valve.

The purpose of the collector is to distribute hot water flows, as well as adjust, turn on and off the heating hydraulic system.

When choosing a collector, you should not save money. The simplest, cheapest, collector has only shut-off valves, and this makes the operation of heated floors inconvenient. Manifolds with built-in control valves are, of course, an order of magnitude more expensive. But by regulating the water flow in the rooms, in each hydraulic loop, as well as the temperature of a particular room, you can save much more.

If we are talking about an industrial building, a large office, or a similar type of premises, then ideal option there will be a manifold with pre-mixers, and also with special servos. What are mixers needed for? They will allow you to regulate the temperature of the water supplied to the pipes, while mixing hot water with already cooled water.

Of course, collectors of such a technical level will “eat up” the bulk of the funds that will have to be spent on installing a water floor. Of course, in ordinary apartment or a private house, where the loads are constant and one operating mode of the system is sufficient, you can get by with simple-type collectors.

The collector is placed in a special box and mounted on the wall. Under the box should be empty; here it will be necessary to supply circuit pipes from all rooms. The cabinet, for interior aesthetic reasons, can be painlessly “sunk” in a wall or in a niche; its width is 12 cm.

An important rule: the pipes must be lower than the box with the collector. This is done for free air outlet.

When putting the entire system together, it is important to follow the instructions that accompany the manifold. And only after the box with the collector is installed can pipe laying begin.

How to correctly calculate and distribute water floor pipes?

The first step is to calculate the exact route for laying the pipes. It is best to order an estimate for laying a water floor to be calculated by a specialist estimator or done using specialized computer calculation programs. It is difficult to calculate manually, and an error in the calculations will be expensive and will cost a pretty penny when reworked.

The consequences of incorrect calculations, for example, can be undesirable effects: insufficiently active water circulation inside the pipes, heat leakage in certain areas of the floor, uneven heating of the room, alternation of cold and hot areas of the floor (the so-called “thermal zebra”).

The most important rule when calculating: if a heated floor is installed in several rooms, then the total length of the pipe is calculated separately for each.

What parameters need to be taken into account in the calculations?

1. Area of ​​premises.
2. The material from which the walls and ceilings are made.
3. Availability of thermal insulation, its quality.
4. Heating boiler power.
5. The diameter of the pipes and the material from which they are made.

Based on these parameters, it is possible to calculate the length of the pipe and the distance between its segments during installation (“step”) so that heat transfer is optimal. The step is usually 10-30 cm. The higher the heat loss in the room, the narrower the step should be (10-15 cm). If the room does not lose heat, there are no cold walls, huge windows, or balconies, then the step, accordingly, can be made wider - 30 cm.

Pipe distribution

When distributing pipes, it is necessary to create a laying route. Passing through the pipes, the water heated in the boiler cools, and this circumstance must be taken into account when determining the route for laying the pipe circuits. You should remember several rules, the violation of which can later affect the quality of heating and the inconvenience of operating the entire heating system. What are these rules?

Heating boiler and pump

The main thing to consider when choosing a water heating boiler for a warm hydrofloor is power. It must correspond to the sum of the powers of all sectors of the floor, plus there must be a power reserve of 20% (minimum 15%, but not less).

To circulate water, you need a pump. Modern boilers are designed in such a way that the pump is included with the boiler and is built into the boiler. One pump is enough for 100-120 sq. m. If the area is larger, you will need an additional one (one or more). Additional pumps require separate manifold cabinets.

The boiler has an inlet/outlet for water. Shut-off valves are installed at the inlet/outlet. They are necessary to turn off the boiler in case of minor breakdowns or stop the boiler for preventive purposes, so as not to completely drain the water from the entire system.

If there are several manifold cabinets, you will need a splitter for the central supply so that the water is distributed evenly throughout the hydraulic system, and reducing adapters.

Pipe installation and screed

To lay a water floor, you will need fastening profiles with sockets that are easy to follow, which will allow you to fix and secure the pipes. The fastening profiles are screwed to the base of the floor using dowels and corresponding screws.

The pipes must then be pressed against the reinforcing mesh and secured with a plastic tie. Do not tighten or squeeze the soft pipe; the loop should be more or less free. The pipes to be laid must be bent in the required places carefully and carefully, but must not be pinched. This is especially true for polyethylene pipes, which are vulnerable to deformation processes.

If, when pinched, a White spot or strip, the material cannot be used, it is deformed, and during operation a crease or stretching may form. A damaged pipe is discarded and cannot be installed in a water heating system to avoid bursting and leakage.

After the floors are laid, the ends of the pipes are connected to the collector. If necessary, pipes are laid through walls (not load-bearing ones only). Then a thermal insulation layer (foamed polyethylene) is wound around the pipe. Convenient for connecting pipes is the so-called Eurocone system, and also, as an option, a compression fitting.

So, after installing the system, you need to check its operation under high pressure. The test takes place when water is supplied (pressure 6 bar), the test period is 24 hours. The system is tested ideally with cold and heated water. During both cold and hot crimping, care should be taken to ensure that all elements of the system are in working order, functioning properly, and that the pressure does not drop by more than 1.5 barv.

After making sure that there are no failures, leaks, or pipe expansions in the system, you can complete the process of laying a water-heated floor by pouring screed over the pipes.

It should be noted that when using a screed intended for tiles on top of a warm floor, the thickness of the fill should be in the range of 3 - 5 cm. Under a laminate or similar covering, the screed is made thinner.

Filling must be done with the water heating system running and under pressure. Finally, after pouring the screed, you need to be patient and wait at least 28-30 days. And only after this period has passed, you can continue the repairs - work on the flooring.

The floor is heated with electricity or water. Both methods are imperfect and have pros and cons. About, and in this article we will talk about how to make a warm floor using water and pipes, or rather, about how to make a water heated floor with your own hands and what is needed for this.

Operating principle of water heated floor

The coolant is heated in two ways:

In both cases, a reduction in coolant temperature is required: operating parameters radiator system for which these sources are designed are in the range of 65-95°C, while underfloor heating requires only 35-55°C. This range is explained by the fact that the temperature of a water heated floor, according to SNiP, cannot be higher than 30°C. Agree that it will hardly be pleasant to walk on a hotter floor.

To achieve the desired temperature, the hot coolant is mixed with cooled water from the “return” before entering the pipes. This way the required temperature is obtained, and then, through the underfloor heating manifold, it enters the pipes.

This is all the mechanics of how a water heated floor works, but there are some technological nuances, increasing its comfort and simplifying adjustment.

Temperature adjustment

In order to be able to support comfortable temperature heated floor, available special device- thermostat, or as it is also called a thermostat. This device works in conjunction with sensors that measure the temperature of the floor and coolant.

Water heated floor pie

Now let's talk about the structure of a heated floor: so that you know what and in what order to do when filling it with your own hands. Water heated floor is multi-layer construction. An approximate diagram is shown in the figure.

Thermal insulation is first laid on a flat base (height difference no more than 1 cm per 1 m2). The choice of material and its thickness depend on the initial insulation of the floor and which room is located below (if there is one). The goal is to achieve minimal heat leaks. Then heating will be economical (you will pay little for it, and the house/apartment will be warm). Therefore, when choosing a material and its thickness, it is better to take the characteristics with a reserve: in this case it will definitely not be worse. If there is a heated room below, thermal insulation of 20-30 mm is sufficient; if there is an unheated basement or soil below, a solid thickness of 50 mm or more is required; in the northern regions, the thickness of the insulation can be from 100 to 150 mm.

Installation of a “pie” of a water heated floor

A damper tape is rolled out around the perimeter of the room or thermal insulation tape is laid; you can use polystyrene foam, expanded polystyrene or other sheet insulation (about 10 mm thick) cut into strips 10 cm wide; you can also use mineral wool cardboard.

This measure is necessary, firstly, to ensure that cracks do not appear around the perimeter of the floor due to thermal expansion, and also to reduce heat loss through the walls and foundation.

After the pipes are laid, you can begin pouring. A special composition is used - with additives that increase thermal conductivity. In some cases, to increase the strength of the structure and additionally protect the pipes from mechanical loads, a reinforcing mesh is laid on them, and only then the solution is poured. The concrete layer should be such that there is at least 3 cm of solution above the pipe. Only with such a thickness will the floor not “walk” underfoot and its temperature will not have pronounced hot/cold bands.

And there is one more nuance: Pouring a warm water floor with a solution should take place when the pipes are filled, that is, under pressure. Then they take on “working” dimensions and no problems will arise during further operation.

The most unpleasant moment in all this is the long drying time of the screed. At least 28 days must pass after pouring for it to acquire its final strength. But further work can begin after 7-10 days, if the average daily temperature was higher than +17°C.

While the concrete is gaining strength, the heated floor cannot be turned on. An increase in temperature will cause cracks to appear, which will negatively affect the thermal conductivity of the floor and its durability. So wait patiently for it to dry naturally.

Beacons have been installed for pouring screed - for many floor coverings the floor must be perfectly flat. Please note: thermal insulation is installed around the perimeter. Its height is higher than the height of the finished floor; after the screed has dried, the excess is cut off with a knife. A model with markings, like the one produced by Valtec, was used as a substrate for thermal insulation.

These are only the main layers of the water heated floor cake. Often, at the very bottom under the thermal insulation, a hydrobarrier (thick polyethylene film) is laid. It will protect the lower premises in case of leakage. It is often recommended to lay a heat-reflecting coating on the heat insulator so that the heat does not go down, but is reflected upward. But here it is worth remembering that it is useless to place aluminum foil or foil-coated materials in the screed: after a month or two, the foil collapses and turns into dust. If you use a heat-reflecting coating, it should be metallized. It is very similar to foil, but is made of other metals that perform well in cement-sand mortar for many years. As you can see, installing a water heated floor is not an easy undertaking, with a large number of components and components.

System parameters

To make a warm water floor with your own hands, you need to know a few more features and rules that you cannot do without.

Which pipes to use

Pipes for warm water floors can be used as follows:

All these types of pipes can be used in both screed and deck systems. Moreover, it is necessary to lay coils of pipes without connections inside the floor. If the length of one bay is not enough, you can make several contours, each of which is displayed on.

Pipe parameters: diameter and length

The length of the pipe in one circuit depends on the diameter: the smaller the diameter, the shorter the length can be used, but circuits that are too long are unprofitable. And not only because a meter of such a pipe costs more, but also because there is too much water in the system, and it becomes too sluggish and ineffective. For any pipe material, it is recommended to use diameters from 16 mm to 20 mm. This cross-section is sufficient to heat any domestic space.

• Using metal-plastic pipes With a 16 mm section, the maximum contour length is 100 m, but in reality it is better not to make it more than 60-80 m.
• When using pipes of the same material, but with a cross-section of 20 mm, a maximum of 140 m can be laid, but in reality - 100-120 m.

Approximately the same loop sizes can be used for other materials. If the declared quantity is not enough for the premises, several circuits are made, each of which is connected to the corresponding input/output of the collector.

If there are several circuits, the damper tape is rolled out not only around the perimeter of the room, but also separates the circuits. And one more nuance: in order to make it easier to maintain the same temperature with several circuits, it is advisable to make the circuits the same length.

Pipe laying diagrams and steps

Water heated floor without screed

Warm floors with screed have several significant disadvantages:

• it has a large height - the thickness of the water-heated floor is 8-10 cm, depending on the thermal insulation layer,
• weighs a lot ( cement-sand mortar a layer thickness of at least 4-5 cm over the entire area has a solid mass);
• the screed takes a long time to dry;
• has low maintainability.

All these disadvantages lead to the fact that many people are looking for options for installing heated floors without screed. There is such an opportunity and this is it. They do not require “wet” work, are light in weight and height, and are quickly installed. Therefore, they are often used in houses with wooden floors(you can’t use screeds in them because of its heavy weight) or in rooms with low ceiling heights, where losing 10 cm to install a heated floor is unacceptable.

There are two types of floor heating systems: polystyrene and wood. In both cases, these are slabs in which there are special grooves for laying pipes. Polystyrene boards are a well-known high-density foam plastic in which grooves for pipes are molded. Wooden systems are made of chipboard or OSB. Since these materials have low thermal conductivity, to increase heat transfer, metal plates with similar grooves are placed in the grooves and on the plates, and pipes are already fixed in them.

After installing the pipes, you can immediately begin laying hard surfaces - laminate, parquet or boards. Using soft covering a rigid base is required - sheets of plywood, chipboard, etc. They are laid directly on top of metal pipes, secured, and carpet is rolled out on top or placed. When installing a heated floor without a screed under the tiles, the adhesive can be placed directly on the metal plates, but you must use a special composition for heated floors.

As you can see, doing it with your own hands is even easier than using a screed - the principle is clear, the work is not the most difficult, and there won’t be a lot of materials needed. Moreover, you can not only mount ready-made slabs from polystyrene or fiberboard, and do everything yourself. It will take more time, but it will require less money.

Results

Do-it-yourself warm water floor is a difficult undertaking to implement, but realistic. Of course, you will spend more time - you need to figure everything out, digest a lot of information. But you will do everything yourself, and according to your mind, and not in the way that is faster or more convenient, and as hired workers often do. You will also save quite a decent amount - the services of builders are not cheap at all.

Warm floors are considered in our understanding to be more modern system heating than radiator heating. However, this is far from true - they appeared much earlier. Stubborn historical facts indicate that heated floors were successfully used back in the days of Ancient Rome, in Korea, and in Russia too. True, only stove heating was used at that time, since the system for transporting hydrocarbons through pipes did not yet exist. IN modern world the most economically successful countries widely use heating warm floors, and this is done not only for reasons of obvious comfort, but also takes into account the fact that such heating allows saving energy resources, the demand for which is growing every year.

This type of heating is not a cheap pleasure. Parts and labor are very expensive. That is why any zealous owner may have the idea of ​​making a water-heated floor with his own hands. Why not? Moreover, the experience of both successful and unsuccessful implementations has already been accumulated enough to give specific recommendations. The purpose of our article is to give specific advice to those owners who are going to make a warm water floor, but at the same time so that they save their money and ultimately get what they wanted - comfortable and economical heating.

Why water heated floor?

Of course, they are simpler to implement and easier to manage, but the cost of energy makes its own adjustments - this type of heating is much more expensive to operate than a water-heated floor. Only 4-5 years will pass and the warm water floor will pay for itself with interest, but only on the condition that it is done competently and correctly. This is exactly what the authors of the article want to tell our readers. Disregarding colorful catalogs with expensive equipment, and based only on the experience of people who were able to implement a warm water floor in their home.

Most heating systems currently use natural gas as a heat source - and this makes perfect sense, since this type of fuel is cheaper than others. And this trend will continue for at least several more decades. Therefore, it is best to implement heated floors with water, in which the coolant is heated by the energy of combustion of natural gas. But for this, a number of conditions must be met.

Water heated floor installation

A warm water floor is a complex multi-component system, each part of which performs its own function. Let's look at its structure in the following figure.

Typical design of a warm water floor “pie”

This type of underfloor heating is called “wet” because it uses “wet” construction processes, namely pouring a cement-sand screed. There are also so-called dry heated floors, but they are made mainly. In this article, we will consider “wet” warm water floors, since they are much better, although their installation is more difficult.

A warm water floor is mounted on a stable and durable base, which can be concrete slab or soil. A vapor barrier made of polyethylene film with a thickness of at least 0.1 mm is laid on the base. The next layer of the “pie” is insulation; it is best to use extruded insulation, which has a very low thermal conductivity coefficient, high mechanical strength and reasonable cost. A cement-sand screed is installed on top of the insulation, to which a plasticizer is necessarily added - for the mobility of the mixture, ease of installation and reduction of the water-cement ratio. It is advisable to reinforce the screed with metal wire mesh with a cell pitch of 50*50 mm or 100*100 mm. There, inside the screed, there are underfloor heating pipes with coolant circulating in them. It is recommended to make the height of the screed above the pipes at least 3 cm, however, practice suggests that 5 cm is better, as the strength will be higher and the heat distribution across the floor will be more uniform.

At the junction of the walls and the screed, as well as at the boundaries of the warm water heating circuits, a damper tape is laid, which compensates for the thermal expansion of the screed when it is heated. The final floor covering must be designed specifically for use with heated floors. The best solution is ceramic or porcelain tiles, but some other types of coverings - laminate, carpet or can also be used with heated floors, but they must have a special symbol in their markings.

Such coatings, however, require strict adherence to the thermal conditions of the floor, which is achieved by using automation - special mixing units.

Requirements for premises where heating with warm water floors will be implemented

The smartest move in construction is when the underfloor heating pipeline is laid at the stage of erecting the floors. This is very successfully used in Germany, Sweden, Norway, Canada, and in other economically successful countries where energy resources are very expensive and therefore they use underfloor heating, which is 30-40% more economical than radiator heating. It is quite possible already in the finished premises, but it must meet certain requirements. Let's list them.

The most correct underfloor heating pipeline is the one that was laid during the construction of the house

• Considering the significant thickness of the warm water floor - from 8 to 20 cm, the height of the ceilings in the room should allow the installation of such a heating system. It is also necessary to take into account the size of the doorways, which must be at least 210 cm in height.
• The base of the floor must be strong enough to withstand a heavy cement-sand screed.
• The base for heated floors must be clean and level. Irregularities should not exceed 5 mm, since differences greatly affect the coolant current in the pipes; they can lead to airing of the circuits and an increase in hydraulic resistance.
• In the room where a warm water floor is planned, all plastering work, windows installed.
• Heat loss in the premises should not be more than 100 W/m2. If they are larger, then you should think about insulation rather than heating the environment.

How to choose a good pipe for heated floors

Warm water floor pipes are written in sufficient detail on our portal. Obviously, for heated floors it is better to choose pipes made of cross-linked polyethylene - PEX or PERT. Among PEX pipes, preference should be given to PE-Xa pipes, since they have a maximum cross-linking density of about 85% and therefore have the best “memory effect”, that is, pipes, after being stretched, always tend to return to their original position. This allows the use of axial fittings with a sliding ring, which can be walled up without fear building construction. In addition, if a pipe is broken, you can restore its shape by heating the problem area with a hair dryer.

PERT pipes do not have a memory effect, so only push-in fittings are used with them, which cannot be walled up. But if all the contours of the heated floor are made with solid sections of pipes, then all connections will only be on the manifold and it is quite possible to use PERT pipes.

In addition, manufacturers produce pipes of composite construction, when aluminum foil is placed between two layers of cross-linked polyethylene, which is a reliable oxygen barrier. But the heterogeneity of the material and the difference in the coefficients of thermal expansion of aluminum and polyethylene can provoke delamination of the pipe. Therefore, it is better to choose PE-Xa or PERT pipes with a polyvinylethylene (EVOH) barrier, which significantly reduces the diffusion of oxygen into the coolant through the pipe wall. This barrier can be located in the outer layer of the pipe, or inside, surrounded by layers of PE-Xa or PERT. Of course, the better pipe is the one with the EVOH layer inside.

For underfloor heating circuits, there are three main pipe sizes: 16*2 mm, 17*2 mm and 20*2 mm. Most often they use 16*2 and 20*2 mm. How to choose exactly the “right” pipe.

• Firstly, the brand matters in this matter and you need to pay attention to it. The most famous manufacturers: Rehau, Tece, KAN, Uponor, Valtec.
• Secondly, the marking of pipes can “tell” a lot; it should be carefully studied and do not hesitate to ask more questions to the sales consultant.
• Thirdly, the qualifications of the sales consultant are very helpful when choosing a pipe. Don’t forget to ask for certificates of conformity, inquire about the availability and price of fittings, mixing units, manifolds and other equipment. It is necessary to find out in which coils the pipe is sold, and how many meters, in order to take this into account in future calculations.
• And finally, if a PE-Xa pipe is selected, then you can conduct a small test. To do this, you need to bend a small section of pipe, and then warm up this place with a hair dryer. A high-quality PE-Xa and PE-Xb pipe should also restore its original shape. If this does not happen, then no matter what is written on the label, it is simply not a PEX pipe.

Principles of designing heated floors

One of the most important stages in the installation of warm water floors is their proper calculation. Of course, it is best to entrust this to specialists, but sufficient experience already suggests that this can be done independently. You can find a lot of free programs and online calculators on the Internet. Most reputable manufacturers provide their software for free.

water heated floor

First you need to decide what temperature the heated floor should be.

• In residential areas where people spend most of their time standing, the floor temperature should be in the range of 21 to 27°C. This temperature is most comfortable for the feet.
• For work premises - offices, as well as living rooms the temperature should be maintained around 29°C.
• In hallways, lobbies and corridors optimal temperature– 30°C.
• For bathrooms and swimming pools, the floor temperature should be higher - about 31-33°C.

Heating with warm water floors is low-temperature, therefore the coolant must be supplied at lower temperatures than to radiators. If water can be supplied to the radiators at a temperature of 80-90°C, then the heated floor cannot be supplied at more than 60°C. In heat engineering there is such an important concept as temperature drop in the heating circuit . This is nothing more than the difference in temperature between the supply pipe and the return pipe. In heated water floor systems, the optimal modes are 55/45°C, 50/40°C, 45/35°C and 40/30°C.

A very important indicator is (loops) of a warm water floor. Ideally, they should all be the same length, then problems with balancing will not arise, but in practice this is unlikely to be achieved, so it is accepted:

• For a pipe with a diameter of 16 mm, the maximum length is 70-90 m.
• For a pipe with a diameter of 17 mm – 90-100 m.
• For a pipe with a diameter of 20 mm – 120 m.

Moreover, it is advisable to focus not on the upper limit, but on the lower one. It is better to divide the room into more loops than to try to achieve circulation with a more powerful pump. Naturally, all loops must be made of pipes of the same diameter.

Step of laying out (laying) heated floor pipes - another important indicator, which is made from 100 mm to 600 mm, depending on the thermal load on the heated floor, the purpose of the room, the length of the circuit and other indicators. It is almost impossible to make a pitch of less than 100 mm with PEX pipes; there is a high probability of simply breaking the pipe. If the heated floor is equipped only for comfort or additional heating, then the minimum step can be made 150 mm. So, what layout step should be used?

• In rooms where there are external walls, so-called underfloor heating is used. edge zones , where pipes are laid in increments of 100-150 mm. In this case, the number of rows of pipes in these zones should be 5-6.
• In the centers of rooms, as well as in those where there are no external walls, the laying step is 200-300 mm.
• Bathrooms, baths, paths near swimming pools are laid with pipes with a pitch of 150 mm over the entire area.

Methods for laying heated floor contours

The contours of a water heated floor can be laid in different ways. And each method has its advantages and disadvantages. Let's look at them.

• Laying a heated floor pipe in a “snake” pattern easier to install, but its significant drawback is that there will be a noticeable temperature difference on the floor at the beginning of the circuit and at the end - up to 5-10°C. The coolant, passing from the supply manifold to the return manifold in the heated floor structure, cools down. Therefore, such a temperature gradient arises, which is clearly felt by the feet. This installation method is justified in boundary zones, where the floor temperature should decrease from the outer wall to the center of the room.

• Laying a heated floor pipe "snail" more difficult to implement, but with this method the temperature of the entire floor will be approximately equal, since the supply and return pass inside each other, and the difference is leveled out by a massive floor screed when the calculated requirements of the laying step are met. In 90% of cases this method is used.

• Combined methods of laying underfloor heating pipes are also used very often. For example, the edge zones are laid with a snake, and the main area with a snail. This can help to correctly divide the room into contours, distribute the pipe coil with a minimum of residue and ensure the desired mode.

In each of the methods it can be used variable laying step , when in the edge zones it is 100-150 mm, and in the room itself 200-300 mm. Then it is possible to meet the requirements for more intense heating of the edge zones in one room without using other installation methods. Experienced installers most often do just this.

Layout of the heating circuit “snail” with a constant pitch (left) and with a variable pitch (right)

To calculate contours, it is best to use special and very easy-to-learn software. For example, the well-known manufacturer Valtec, which distributes its program for free. There are also simpler programs for calculating the layout of contours that calculate the length of the loops, which is very convenient. For example, the “Snail” program, which is also distributed free of charge. For those who are not very computer friendly, you can calculate the contours yourself by using graph paper, on which you can draw a floor plan to scale and, on this sheet, “lay out” the contours with a pencil and calculate their length.

When dividing rooms into water-heated floor circuits, the following requirements must be met:

• The circuits should not move from room to room - all rooms should be regulated separately. An exception may be bathrooms if they are located nearby. For example, a bathroom next to a toilet.
• One heating circuit should not heat a room with an area of ​​more than 40 m2. If necessary, the room is divided into several circuits. The maximum length of any side of the contour should not exceed 8 meters.
• A special damper tape must be laid along the perimeter of the room, between rooms, as well as between individual circuits, which, after pouring the screed, will compensate for its thermal expansion.

Choosing the type of insulation for a heated floor and its thickness

Insulation for a warm water floor is mandatory, because no one would like to spend their money on heating the ground, the atmosphere or unnecessary building structures, but the floor is exactly what is needed, which should receive the lion's share of the heat from the heating circuit. This is why insulation is used. What types should be used? Among all their diversity, the authors of the article recommend that you should pay attention to only two of them.

• Extruded polystyrene foam (EPS). This material has low thermal conductivity and high mechanical strength. EPS is not afraid of moisture, it practically does not absorb it. Its price is quite affordable. This insulation is produced in the form of slabs standard sizes 500*1000 mm or 600*1250 mm and thickness 20, 30, 50. 80 or 100 mm. For good joining of the plates there are special grooves on the side surfaces.

• Profile thermal insulation made of high-density polystyrene foam. On their surface there are special round or rectangular bosses, between which it is very convenient to lay the pipe without additional fixation. The pipe fastening pitch is usually 50 mm. This is very convenient for installation, but the price is much higher than EPS boards, especially from famous brands. They are produced with a thickness of 1 to 3 cm and dimensions of 500 * 1000 mm or 60 * 1200 mm - it depends on the manufacturer.

Eps boards may have an additional foil layer with additional markings. Marking the slabs is, of course, useful, but the presence of foil only increases the cost of the insulation, and it will be of no use for two reasons.

• The reflectivity declared by the manufacturers will not work in an opaque environment, such as a screed.
• Cement mortar is a strong alkaline medium that will perfectly “eat” an insignificant (several tens of microns) layer of aluminum before it hardens. You need to realize that foil plates are marketing ploy and no more.

The authors of the article recommend using EPS boards for insulation. The savings compared to profile mats will be obvious. The difference in cost will be enough for fasteners, and there will still be a lot of money left over. Let us remember the popular wisdom that money saved is akin to money earned.

How thick should the insulation be in the construction of a warm water floor? There are special and complex calculations, but you can do without them. If you learn a few simple rules.

• If heated floors will be made on the ground, then the thickness of the insulation should be at least 100 mm. It is best to make two layers of 50 mm each and lay them in mutually perpendicular directions.
• If heated floors are planned in rooms above ground floor, then the thickness of the insulation is at least 50 mm.
• If heated floors are planned above rooms heated from below, then the thickness of the insulation is at least 30 mm.

Additionally, it is necessary to provide for fastening the EPS boards to the base material, since when pouring the screed they will tend to float. Disc-shaped dowels are ideal for this. They must be used to secure all slabs at the joints and in the center.

To attach the pipe to the EPS, special harpoon clamps are used, which securely fix the pipe. They are fastened at intervals of 30-50 cm, and in places where the PEX pipe turns, the step should be 10 cm. It is usually calculated that 500 pieces of harpoon clamps are required for a bay of 200 meters of pipe. When purchasing them, there is no need to chase the brand, as it will cost several times more. There are very high-quality and inexpensive staples from Russian manufacturers.

Selecting a collector-mixing unit for heated floors

The water floor collector is the most important element that receives coolant from the main, distributes it among the circuits, regulates flow and temperature, balances circuit loops, and promotes air removal. Not a single warm water floor can do without it.

Selecting a collector, or, to put it more correctly, collector- mixing unit It is better to entrust it to specialists who will select the necessary components. In principle, you can assemble it yourself, but this is a topic for a separate article. We’ll just list what elements should be included so as not to make a mistake in choosing.

• Firstly, these are the collectors themselves, which can be equipped with various fittings. They must be equipped with tuning (balancing) valves with or without flow meters, which are placed on the supply manifold, and on the return manifold there may be thermostatic valves or simply shut-off valves.

• Secondly, any manifold for removing air from the system must be equipped with an automatic air vent.
• Thirdly, both the supply and return manifolds must have drain valves to drain the coolant from the manifold and remove air when the system is filling.
• Fourthly, to connect the pipe to the collector, fittings must be used, which are selected individually in each specific case.

• Fifthly, special brackets are used to fasten the collectors and ensure the required center distance.

• Sixth, if the boiler room is not equipped with a separate riser for heated floors, then a mixing unit, including a pump, thermostatic valve, and bypass, must be responsible for preparing the coolant. The design of this node has many implementations, so this issue will be discussed in a separate article.

• And finally, the entire collector-mixing unit must be located in a collector cabinet, which is installed either in a niche or openly.

The collector-mixing unit is located in such a place that all the lengths of the mains from it to the heated floor loops are approximately equal and the main pipes are in close proximity. The manifold cabinet is often hidden in a niche, then it can be placed not only in change houses and boiler rooms, but in dressing rooms, corridors and even living rooms.

Video: What calculations are necessary before installing a heated floor

Do-it-yourself water heated floor installation

After making calculations and purchasing all the necessary components, you can gradually implement a warm water floor. First, it is necessary to outline the places where the manifold cabinets will be placed, niches are hollowed out, if necessary, and passages are made through building structures. All slotting and drilling work must be completed before the next step.

Installation of insulation

Before this stage, it is necessary to prepare the premises for this - take out everything unnecessary, remove all construction debris, sweep and vacuum the floors. The room must be absolutely clean. When installing slabs, you must wear shoes with flat soles, as heels can damage the surface. We list the sequence of actions when installing insulation.

• First of all, the level of the clean floor is marked on the walls using a laser or water. All base irregularities are measured using a long rule and a level.
• If the unevenness exceeds 10 mm, then they can be completely leveled by adding clean and dry sand, which should subsequently be leveled.

• If the heated floor is installed on the ground or above the basement floor, then a waterproofing film is spread with an overlap of adjacent strips of at least 10 cm and overlapping the wall. The joints are taped with tape. Suitable for waterproofing polyethylene film 150-200 microns.
• Starting from the far corner of the room, the process of laying EPS boards begins. They are laid close to the walls with the marked surface facing up.
• The EPS boards must fit tightly together using grooves on their side surfaces. When laying each slab, it must fit tightly to the base and be in a horizontal plane, which is checked by the building level. If necessary, add sand under the slab.

• If along the laying path there are obstacles in the form of protrusions, columns and other elements, then after preliminary marking the slab is trimmed construction knife along a metal ruler. In this case, the EPS must be placed on some kind of non-solid base so that the knife does not become dull, for example, a piece of plywood or OSB.
• When laying the next row, it should be taken into account that the joints of the slabs should not coincide, but should be staggered, like brickwork. In order to ensure that at least 1/3 of its length remains from the last remaining EPS slab in a row, then laying the next row should begin with it.
• If it is planned to lay the second layer of EPS, then it should be laid in a mutually perpendicular direction with the first layer.
• After laying the thermal insulation, use a hammer drill with a long drill and a hammer to secure the disc dowels at each joint - at each joint and in the center of each EPS board. The joints between the EPS are sealed with construction tape.

• If after installing the insulation there are cavities or cracks left, they can be filled with EPS cuttings and blown out with foam, but this can also be done later, after the pipes have been installed.

After this, we can say that the installation of insulation has been completed. Although EPS boards are dense enough to support the weight of an adult, you still need to take precautions when moving on them. Best to use wide boards or pieces of plywood or OSB.

Installation of a warm water floor pipe

The most responsible one has arrived and difficult moment- installation of underfloor heating pipes. At this stage you need to be especially attentive and careful, and you can’t do it without an assistant. It is also advisable to have a special device for unwinding the pipe, since removing the pipe from the coil with rings is strictly prohibited, since there will then be very strong stresses in it, which will complicate or make installation impossible. The main rule is that the coil must be twisted, and not removed from the fixed coil. In principle, this can be done manually, but with a device it is much easier.

If there are markings on the top side of the EPS slabs, then this is simply wonderful, then laying the pipes will be greatly simplified. And if not, then you shouldn’t go for the purchase of thin foil insulation made of foamed polyethylene with markings applied. It won't be of any use. You can apply the markings yourself. To do this, marks are made with a marker on the top side of the slabs at the distance of the required contour step, and then the lines are beaten off with paint thread - this way you can a short time make markings. After this, you can draw the routes of the heated floor contours.

screed for heated floors

A manifold cabinet is attached to the intended location and a manifold is mounted in it, without a pumping and mixing group for now, it will be needed later. At the entrance to the collector, at the exit from it, and also at the entrance to the pipe, each pipe must be protected with a special corrugation. However, corrugation from famous manufacturers costs mind-boggling money, so it is quite acceptable to replace it with thermal insulation of the appropriate diameter. Also, pipes must be protected during transitions from room to room and from circuit to circuit.

Installation of underfloor heating pipes should begin from the areas furthest from the collectors, and all transit pipes should be covered with thermal insulation made of foamed polyethylene, which will ensure maximum energy conservation to the destination point and will not “lose” heat along the way. Next, the pipe “emerges” from the EPS slabs, already “naked” it bypasses its entire heating circuit and “dives” back and, already in thermal insulation, follows to the collector. The transit pipes themselves are placed inside the EPS slabs; for this, passage routes are first cut into them with a knife.

If the thermal insulation consists of two layers of EPS boards, then the first layer is laid first, then all communications are laid, including transit pipes for the heated floor, and then the second layer is adjusted and trimmed on site.

In addition, in the area where the heated floor is located, pipes to radiators, as well as hot and cold water supply lines, can run. If there are several pipes, then they can be secured in a bundle either with disc dowels or with a perforated metal strip and dowels. In any case, they should not protrude beyond the top surface of the EPS slabs, so that the heated floor contour can be laid on top without any obstruction. All cavities are filled with polyurethane foam, which, after hardening, is cut flush from the surface of the insulation boards.

Along the perimeter of the room where there will be heated floors, a damper tape is glued to the walls, which is designed to compensate for the thermal expansion of the screed. The tape comes with or without an adhesive layer. When purchasing it, you don’t have to chase the brand and pay several times more. A damper tape that is worthy in every sense is now being produced Russian production. If there is no tape at all, then this is also not a problem - it can be replaced by foam plastic 1 or 2 cm thick, glued to the wall with liquid nails or polyurethane foam.

Damper tape should also be installed between rooms and different circuits. For this purpose, a special tape is produced with T-profile. And in this case it can be replaced thin foam, glued with polyurethane foam or glue.

Pipe installation is done as follows:

• 10-15 m of pipe is unwound from the coil, thermal insulation and a corresponding fitting for connection to the collector are put on its end.
• The pipe is connected to the supply of the corresponding outlet of the manifold.
• The pipe is laid along previously marked routes and secured with harpoon clamps on straight sections after 30-40 cm, and on turns after 10-15 cm. The pipe should be bent carefully, without creases.

• When laying, you should not try to fasten the pipe immediately, but should first lay it out approximately along the routes for 5-10 m, and only then fasten it with brackets. The pipe should lie on the insulation without tension, there should be no force that tries to pull the staples out of the EPS.
• If for some reason the bracket has flown out of its place, then it is mounted in another place, at a distance of at least 5 cm.
• After bypassing the entire circuit of the heated floor, the return pipe returns to its supply pipe and follows next to it to the collector. If necessary, thermal insulation is put on it.
• Upon arrival at the collector, the pipe is connected to it with the appropriate fitting.

• Near the corresponding loop of the heated floor on the wall, as well as on paper, the length of the contour must be written down. This data is necessary for further balancing.

All contours are laid in the same way. At first it will be difficult, but then, after one “snail” has been laid, everything will be clear and the work will go without problems. When moving along already laid contours, you need to lay boards, plywood or OSB under your feet or knees.

Walking in shoes through pipes is not recommended. It is better to organize such “paths”

Video: Laying a heated floor pipe

Installation of reinforcing mesh

Disputes about the appropriateness of reinforcing mesh are ongoing. Some say that it is needed, others say the opposite. There are many examples of successful implementation of a heated floor without a reinforcing mesh and, at the same time, there are examples of unsuccessful implementation of a heated floor with reinforcement. The authors of the article claim that reinforcement will never be superfluous, but only if done correctly.

The Internet is replete with examples where a metal mesh is laid and secured onto the insulation, and only then a heated floor pipe is attached to it using plastic ties. It seems convenient, but this is not reinforcement, but simply placing an absolutely useless mesh under the screed, on which money was spent. Reinforcement is when the mesh is inside the screed and not under it. This is why the authors recommend placing the mesh on top of the pipe.

To reinforce the screed, a metal mesh made of wire with a diameter of 3 mm with a cell size of 100 * 100 mm is suitable - this is quite enough. It is not recommended to use mesh made from reinforcement due to the fact that the reinforcement has a corrugated surface and during installation can damage the smooth surface of the pipe. And you shouldn’t spend extra money on the excessive strength of the screed, because it is assumed that the heated floor is already installed on a fairly solid foundation. The mesh is laid overlapping one cell and tied either with knitting wire or plastic clamps. The sharp protruding ends must be bitten off so that they do not damage the pipe. Additionally, the mesh is attached to the pipe in several places with plastic clamps.

Instead of a metal mesh, a plastic mesh can be used, which will perfectly reinforce the screed and save it from cracking. It is more convenient to lay plastic mesh, as it comes in rolls. Application plastic mesh practically eliminates damage to pipes, and its cost is significantly lower.

After laying the mesh, the question of protecting the pipes again arises, because when moving in shoes on a metal mesh, you can easily damage both it and the pipe. Therefore, it is again recommended to move only on boards, plywood or OSB. But there is also a very smart solution that will avoid damage to pipes when pouring screed.

A cement mortar is prepared - the same as it will be when laying the screed (1 part M400 cement and 3 parts sand) and during the laying process, “lappers” are made from the mortar, which protrude slightly beyond the surface of the mesh - 2 cm is enough. These “blunders” are made at such a frequency (30-50 cm) that will allow you to later put boards or plywood on them and move completely safely. Another advantage of this approach is the fixation of the mesh, because when walking on it it tends to bend, and this can damage the welds.

“Bands” from the solution will fix the mesh and help you move safely

Filling the contours. Hydraulic tests

This operation should definitely be carried out before pouring the screed, since in case of a hidden fault it is easier to eliminate it immediately than after the floors have been poured. To do this, a hose is connected to the drain pipe on the manifold and discharged into the sewer, since a lot of water will be spilled through the heating circuits. It is best if the hose is transparent - this will make it easy to track the release of air bubbles.

Tap water is connected to the inlet of the supply manifold, which must be equipped with a shut-off ball valve, through a hose or pipe. If the quality of tap water is low, then it is worth filling the system through a mechanical filter. A pressure testing pump is connected to any other output connected to the underfloor heating circuits. This may be the free outlet of the supply manifold, the return outlet from the manifold, and other places - it all depends on the specific implementation of the collector unit. In the end, you can screw a tee into the ball shut-off valve of the supply manifold and use it to fill the system and perform pressure testing. After testing, the tee can be removed and the manifold connected to the supply line.

Filling the system is done as follows:

• On the collector, all the contours of the heated floor are covered, except for one. Automatic air vents must be open.
• Water is supplied and its purity and air output are monitored through the drain hose. During production, process grease and chips may remain on the inner surface of the pipes, which must be washed off with running water.
• After all the air has escaped and the water flows absolutely clean, turn off the drain valve, and then turn off the already flushed and filled circuit.
• All these operations are performed with all circuits.
• After flushing, removing air and filling all circuits, turn off the water supply valve.

If leaks are detected during the filling stage, they are eliminated immediately after the pressure is released. The result should be a system of warm water floors filled with clean coolant and de-aired.

To test the system, you will need a special tool - a pressure testing pump, which you can rent or invite an experienced technician who has such a device. Let us describe the sequence of actions during crimping.

• All underfloor heating circuits connected to the collector are fully opened.
• Pour into the container of the pressure testing pump pure water, the pump supply valve opens.
• The pump builds up pressure in the system twice as high as the working pressure - 6 atmospheres; it is controlled by the pump pressure gauge and on the manifold (if it has a pressure gauge).
• After raising the pressure, a visual inspection of all pipes and connections is carried out, which, in principle, should only be on the manifold. The pressure is also monitored using a pressure gauge.
• After 30 minutes, the pressure is again raised to 6 bar and all pipes and connections are again inspected. Then after 30 minutes these steps are repeated. If leaks are detected, they are repaired immediately after releasing the pressure.
• If no leaks are detected, then the pressure is again raised to 6 bar and the system is left for a day.
• If after 24 hours the pressure in the system has dropped by no more than 1.5 bar and no leaks are detected, then the underfloor heating system can be considered correctly installed and sealed.

When the pressure in the system increases, the pipe, according to all the laws of physics, will try to straighten out, so it is possible to “shoot off” some staples in those places where they were “greedy” with them. Therefore, “blobs” from the solution will greatly help to hold the pipe in place. In the future, when the screed is poured, the pipe will be securely fixed, but during pressure tests, a poorly secured pipe can present unpleasant surprises.

Video: Filling the system with coolant

Video: Pressure testing of a heated floor system

Installation of beacons

The heated floor screed must be poured through pipes under operating pressure. Considering that in most closed systems For heating, the operating pressure should be in the range of 1-3 bar; you can take the average value and leave a pressure of 2 bar in the circuits.

It is best to use plasterboard guide profiles PN 28*27/UD 28*27 as beacons. They have sufficient rigidity and a smooth top surface, which is very useful when leveling screeds.

Beacons should be installed at the level of the finished floor minus the thickness of the finishing flooring. To secure them, very often they simply use mortar pads, on which a guide profile is laid, and then it is recessed according to the level. But this approach has the disadvantage that if the beacon falls below the required level, it has to be taken out, fresh solution added and set again.

It is best if the beacons made of a guide profile have a rigid support underneath, and concrete dowels and a screw of the appropriate length can serve as it. It is preferable to use special concrete screws - pins, which do not require the installation of a dowel, and, therefore, the drilling diameter will be smaller. If you need to drill a hole with a diameter of 10-12 mm for the dowel, then 6 mm is enough for the dowel. The top surface of the screw head should be level with the surface of the future screed.

Concrete screws - dowels

Beacons should be located at a distance of no more than 30 cm from the walls. There should not be a large distance between the beacons, since the solution tends to settle and a hole may form on the finished screed. Optimally - 1.5 m, then the construction rule of 2 m is used to level the screed. When installing beacons, do the following:

• Two lines are drawn from the walls to the left and right of the entrance at a distance of 30 cm - this will be the position of the outer beacons.
• The distance between these two lines is divided into equal parts so that it does not exceed 150 cm. It is desirable that one of the stripes falls directly on the entrance to the room. If necessary, the strip at the entrance can be smaller.
• Lines for the position of future lighthouses are drawn on the floor. Marks are made on them for the location of the dowels in increments of 40-50cm.
• Using a hammer drill with a drill corresponding to the dowel, holes are drilled to a given depth.

To align the dowel heads in one plane, it is best to use a laser level. If in the arsenal home handyman he’s not there, it doesn’t matter, now he’s very useful tool You can rent it, especially since you only need it for one day.

A laser level is an indispensable assistant when marking and installing beacons

The position of the beacons is marked on the wall. To do this, subtract the thickness of the finishing floor covering from the finished floor level previously drawn on the wall. The laser level is aligned to this mark, and then, by screwing or unscrewing the dowels, their caps are aligned at the same level. If you use a regular building level for this operation, it will take much longer, and the error will be higher.

Next, guide profiles are placed on the caps of the dowels, and the correct installation is checked with a building level. To fix the beacons in their places, use a cement mortar of the same recipe as for floor screed (1 part cement + 3 parts sand).

The beacons are removed from the dowel caps, and then slides are made from the prepared solution slightly higher than the height of the screed. It is enough to do them every 1 meter, since the beacon will already be securely fastened to the dowel caps. Next, the profile is laid and pressed into the solution, and its excess on top is immediately removed with a spatula. Finally, the level checks the correct installation of all beacons.

At the same time, you can check the correct installation of all damper tapes separating the rooms and contours and, if necessary, strengthen their position with a solution.

water heated floor

Video: Installation of beacons for underfloor heating screed

Pouring heated floor screed

Increased demands are placed on a heated water floor screed, because in addition to the mechanical loads it carries, it also experiences temperature deformations. And usually a cement-sand mortar will not work here; the concrete mixture must be modified with a plasticizer and fiber.

The plasticizer is designed to reduce the water-cement ratio, increase the mobility of the mixture and increase its strength when drying. Mobility when laying underfloor heating screed is extremely important, since the solution must tightly “grab” the pipes and release easily air bubbles out. Without using a plasticizer, the only way to increase the workability of the mixture is to add water to it. But then only part of the water will react with the cement, and the rest will evaporate for a long time, which will increase the setting and hardening time and reduce the strength of the screed. The water-cement ratio should be exactly the same as to allow the screed to set. Typically, 1 kg of cement requires 0.45-0.55 kg of water.

The plasticizer is available in liquid and dry form. It must be used exactly as the manufacturer recommends, and no other way. All sorts of “substitutes” in the form liquid soap, washing powder, PVA glue are not acceptable.

The fiber is intended for dispersed reinforcement concrete mixture, which makes it possible to significantly reduce or virtually eliminate the formation of cracks, increase strength and abrasion resistance, and increase bending and compressive strength. This is achieved by the fact that fiber microfibers are distributed and fasten the screed throughout the entire volume of the concrete mixture.

Fiber can be metal, polypropylene and basalt. To screed heated floors, it is recommended to use polypropylene or basalt fiber. It is added according to the manufacturer's recommendations, but it is recommended to use at least 500 grams of polypropylene fiber per 1 m 3 of the finished solution. To obtain a mixture with the best properties, add 800 or more grams per 1 m 3.

On sale you can find ready-made mixtures for pouring heated floor screeds from well-known and not so well-known manufacturers. These mixtures already contain a plasticizer, fiber, and other components. Despite their undoubted ease of use and high quality, the cost of the finished screed will be significantly higher than a solution prepared independently.

Before pouring the screed, you must remove all extra items from the floor, if necessary, vacuum the surface. It is also necessary to prepare all the tools and utensils for mixing and transporting the solution. All work on pouring a heated floor screed in a room must be done at one time, so it is advisable to have two assistants: one prepares the solution, the second carries it, and the main person lays and levels the screed. All windows in the room must be closed, the screed must be limited from exposure to drafts and direct sunlight.

Independent preparation of a solution for screeding a heated floor should only be carried out mechanized way– the quality of the solution must be high. A concrete mixer or a construction mixer can be used as auxiliary mechanisms. No attachments for a drill or hammer drill will work here, no matter what various “truthful” sources say.

The basis of the solution is Portland cement of a grade not lower than M400, which must be dry and with a shelf life of no more than 6 months after the date of issue. The sand must also be dry, washed and sifted. river sand won't fit - it's too regular in shape. For screed, the ratio of cement to sand should be 1:3 by weight, but in practice, few people weigh sand and cement, and a universal measurement method is used - a bucket. Considering that the density of construction sand is in the range of 1.3-1.8 t/m 3, and that of cement during transportation is 1.5-1.6 t/m 3, then you can not be afraid to measure cement and sand in buckets, since the quality mixture will be quite acceptable.

The water in the solution should be approximately a third of the mass of cement, that is, for 1 bag of 50 kg of cement, approximately 15 liters of water are needed. However, the use of a plasticizer reduces the water-cement ratio, so when preparing a solution with water you need to be very careful - it is better to underfill a little and then add it, rather than overfill it.

The technology for preparing the solution with a mixer and a concrete mixer is slightly different. Using a mixer, you need to mix dry cement, sand and fluffed polypropylene or basalt fiber at low speeds and then gradually add water with a plasticizer dissolved in it. In gravity-type concrete mixers, of which the vast majority are, it is difficult to mix dry cement and sand (dry cement sticks to wet blades and drums), so first part of the water with a plasticizer is poured into it, and then gradually add first cement, then sand, then another portion of cement and the remaining water. Fiber is added gradually. One part with water, the other with sand. In this case, the fiber cannot be thrown into the drum of a concrete mixer in a lump, but must be divided into portions and fluffed before loading.

The time for preparing the solution in a concrete mixer is usually 3-4 minutes, and with a mixer it is a little longer - 5-7 minutes. The readiness of the solution is determined by its uniform color and consistency. If you take a lump of solution in your hands and squeeze it, no water should come out of it, but at the same time the solution should be plastic. If you place the solution in a heap on the floor, it should not spread much, but only settle a little under its own weight. If you make cuts in it with a spatula, they should not blur, but should hold their shape.

Laying the screed begins from the far corners of the room and is carried out in strips along the beacons. Only after completing one strip, the next one is laid and leveled; the process should end at the entrance to the room. During the leveling process, there is no need to immediately try to perfectly level the surface of the screed along the beacons. The main thing is that there are no dips in the screed, and small sagging and marks from the rule can be easily corrected later.

After 1-2 days (it all depends on external conditions), when you can already walk on the screed, you need to clean its surface. First, the damper tape protruding from the screed is cut with a construction knife and the damper tape protruding from the screed is removed, and then the construction rule is taken and the sharp end is pressed against the plane of the beacons. In the direction away from you, with short but energetic movements, stripping is done until the beacons are completely exposed. Then the resulting debris is removed, the screed is moistened with a spray bottle and covered with plastic wrap.

The next day, the beacons are carefully removed, you can also unscrew the dowels, and the resulting grooves are rubbed with a solution or tile adhesive. The screed is moistened and covered again; it is recommended to do this daily for the first 10 days after pouring.

Balancing the contours of a warm floor. Commissioning

After the screed has fully matured, which is at least 28 days, you can begin to balance the contours of the heated floor. And manifold flow meters will help a lot in this process. That is why it is necessary to purchase a manifold with balancing valves and flow meters.

The fact is that underfloor heating loops have different lengths, accordingly they have different hydraulic resistance. It is obvious that the “lion’s share” of the coolant will always follow the path of least resistance - that is, along the shortest circuit, while others will get much less. In this case, in the longest circuit the circulation will be so sluggish that there can be no talk of any heat removal. A well-designed underfloor heating project always indicates the flow rate in each circuit and the position of the control valves, but if the underfloor heating is done on your own, then a simplified but effective method will do.

• If the pumping and mixing unit has not yet been connected, then it is being installed. The underfloor heating collector is connected to the supply and return lines.
• All circuits of the heated floor are opened completely, the supply and return ball valves of the manifolds are opened at the inlet. Automatic air vent valves must be open.
• The circulation is turned on. The maximum temperature is set on the head of the mixing unit, but the boiler does not turn on yet; the coolant must circulate at room temperature.
• The pressure in the entire heating system is brought to working pressure (1-3 bar).
• All contours of the heated floor are closed, except for the longest one. The position of the flow meter on this circuit is noted and recorded.
• The second longest circuit opens completely. If the flow rate in it is greater, then the balancing valve is tightened until the flow rate is equal to the longest one.

• Next, all circuits are opened sequentially in descending order of their length, and the flow is regulated by balancing valves.
• As a result, the flow rate in all circuits should be the same. If this is not the case, then you can adjust the adjustment on the contours without touching the longest loop.

All of the above operations are performed correctly and the flow meters show that circulation in the circuits is occurring, then you can begin testing the heated floor with heated coolant. You need to start with low temperatures - from 25°C, and then every day gradually increase the temperature by 5°C, until the coolant is supplied to the circuits at its operating temperature. What is the sequence of actions at this stage.

• The temperature on the thermostatic valve of the mixing unit is set to 25°C, the circulation pump is turned on at first speed, and the system is allowed to operate in this mode for a day. At the same time, the circulation through the flow meters is controlled and adjusted.
• After a day, the temperature rises to 30°C, and the underfloor heating system is left on again for a day. The flow and temperature of the supply and return are controlled.
• The next day the temperature rises another 5°C, to 35°C. This is much closer to the operating mode of a heated floor, so it is already worth adjusting the temperature difference between the supply and return collectors. If it is in the range of 5-10°C, then this is normal, but if it is more, then you should increase the speed circulation pump one step.
• The maximum temperature to which you can raise the temperature in the heated floor supply manifold is 50°C, but it is better not to do this, but check it at operating modes - 45°C or 40°C. The temperature difference between the supply and return is checked in the same way. The pump must operate at the lowest possible speed to maintain a temperature difference of up to 10°C.

The correct adjustment of the heated floor cannot be assessed immediately, since such a heating system is very inertial. It may take several hours to feel the change. temperature regime. Therefore, everyone who has made a heated floor on their own should arm themselves with patience and gradually bring the system to a mode that would ensure desired temperature floor taking into account the covering. To do this, you will need to “play around” with the settings of the balancing valves, thermal heads (if the collector is equipped with them) and the speed of the circulation pump. The main thing is that the water heated floor system, made by yourself, works.

Find out how by studying the instructions with photos in a special article on our portal.

Conclusion

Stubborn statistics show that the system of warm water floors, in addition to obvious comfort, also provides significant energy savings. The same statistics indicate that the number of successful independent implementations of such heating is growing every year. All technologies have already been developed, the market is flooded with any components for every taste, color and budget. Necessary information is always in open sources, you can always ask experts for advice. The team of authors hopes that this article dispelled the initial fear and made it clear to readers that it is quite possible to make a water-heated floor with your own hands.

Video: How to calculate and make a water heated floor with your own hands

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