Electric Underfloor Heating For Tiles
If you're lucky enough to be building your own home or you're having a conservatory built then your options for electric underfloor heating for tiles is just that little bit wider.
This extra option is to have heating cables embedded into the concrete onto which the tiles will be laid. It's a cost effective way of installing heating under your tiles but it's not the way most people will install underfloor heating.
Quite simply most of us will be looking to install underfloor heating when we are having a room refurbished. If you're having a smart new bathroom installed or renovating your kitchen then spending that little extra on underfloor heating for your beautiful tiled floor makes sense.
You can now buy kits that will allow you to install the heating yourself. The heating elements are laid directly on to the floor and the tiles then laid on top.
It's very straightforward to do and only the connecting to the electricity part will need to be done by a qualified electrician. The kits come in either cable or mat form and are totally waterproof, something that is very important when installing anything electrical in an area of the home that might get wet.
The first thing you'll need to do is measure up the floor space of your room. Bathrooms in particular can be difficult with things like toilets and baths in the way so there will be an element of guess work involved just try and be as accurate as possible. Remember in the kitchen you won't need to heat underneath any cabinets you're having installed. When you come up with a figure subtract 10% and that'll be the area you need to cover with your kit.
If you've got a small fiddly bathroom then it's probably best to opt for a cable kit so it can go round all the awkward areas. However, you have to get the spacing of the cables correct which can make it rather time consuming.
This is why most people opt for a underfloor heating mat system for anything more than a small room. The mats are simply open weave mats with the cable already attached at the correct spacing.
Of course if your room is a nice square or rectangle then installation can be very quickly. In a bathroom this may not be the case so you will need to cut away the mat and detach the cable to lay it round the awkward bits. Remember NEVER cut the cable itself, just the mat.
One of the most important things you should consider when installing electric underfloor heating is insulation. You want the heat to be reflected back up into the room and not have most of it disappear downwards under the floor. Unless you have a very modern well insulated home that concrete floor will not be insulated effectively enough. That's why you need to use insulation underneath and not just any old insulation either.
You'll find that there are various types of insulation boards designed for using with underfloor heating for tiles. They will be light, highly insulating, and surprisingly thin and they won't need priming before you apply the tiles.
And what about if don’t have a concrete floor but have floorboards instead? Then you will definitely need the insulation boards to give you the surface that you need. Insulation may pricey but you'll soon make back your costs as you'll use much less electricity.