With the onset of cold weather, each owner seeks to qualitatively heat his home with minimal energy costs. Therefore, in recent years, such heating as a heated electric floor has been gaining popularity. Electricity consumption, according to manufacturers, is quite small.
But there are several conditions that affect energy consumption by such systems. Customer reviews will allow you to draw the right conclusions and equip a warm floor with minimal operating costs. Only with proper installation will the system be able to fully heat the room, while spending a minimum of electricity.
Principle of operation
The electric wire used for heating consists of a nichrome core and various insulating shells. Such devices must be mounted in a solution. A layer of screed or tile glue heats up and gives off heat to the floor. At the same time, laminate, tile or other materials become similar to the heated surface of the convector. Only heating, unlike such an electrical appliance, occurs according to a different principle.
The convector sends streams of heated air up. The ceiling in this case determines the maximum temperature. Cold masses accumulate at the base of the room. An electric heated floor, the energy consumption of which is often less than that of a convector, creates heating at the bottom of the room. At the ceiling, the air is colder. Therefore, this type of heating is more comfortable for humans.
System purpose
Today, a large number of types of electric floor heating are on sale . With their help, you can create both comfortable and autonomous heating. In the first case, the area of the room is covered by less than 50% by a wire system or film. At the same time, an additional device (battery, convector) is used for heating .
Full heating of the room without the use of additional devices allows you to create a warm electric floor. Electricity consumption, reviews of which are provided by experts, may be minimal. The spent energy resources will then be spent optimally.
It should also be said that with the help of a film heat-insulated floor, it is not necessary to create autonomous heating. Such systems are designed for comfortable heating.
Types of systems
The power consumption depends on the type of system. The most commonly used varieties are cable, mat and film. In the first embodiment, the heating element is supplied in the bay. On a special bar, the installer lays out the wire independently. In this case, the installation step is from 7 to 15 cm. The thicker the wire is mounted, the greater the electricity consumption from 1 m², as well as the heat transfer. A wire with a cross section of about 7 mm is poured into a screed 3-5 cm thick.
The mat system is already assembled with a certain step on the PVC mesh. This is underfloor electric underfloor heating. Electricity consumption is fixed. Mat is placed under 5-8 mm tile adhesive. The diameter of such a wire is approximately 3 mm.
Film underfloor heating also has a fixed power. This system is mounted under the laminate, linoleum without the use of a solution.
Power selection
In order for the underfloor heating to warm the room, it is necessary to set sufficient power per 1 m². This parameter ranges from 110 to 180 W / m² for rooms. Street heating requires 2 times more power.
The presented indicator is influenced by the features of the room. The greater the level of heat loss in it, the more powerful the system will be. If the windows, floor and walls are insulated, the ceiling is of a standard height (no more than 2.7 m), a low-power system is suitable.
But for cold rooms in which heat losses are significant, it is necessary to intensify heating. Sometimes it is necessary to set the power to 300 W / m². A special electric underfloor heating is used for this. Electricity consumption in a garage, for example, will be significantly greater than in an apartment in a multi-storey building.
If the coating will be made of laminate in a room with minimal heat loss, the power of the system should be 110-130 W / m². For a balcony, a bathroom where the tile will be mounted, this indicator is increased to 150-180 W / m².
Power calculation
In order to correctly select and install an electric heated floor, the energy consumption of which will not hit the family budget, it is necessary to make a preliminary calculation. First, select the required power per 1 m². For example, it will be a bathroom in an apartment on the 2nd floor (there are neighbors below that heat the room), where the flooring will be made of tiles.
The power consumption of the system will be 150 W / m². If we discard the area on which the furniture, plumbing is located, the quadrature is 3 m². So, a warm floor requires this:
150 x 3 = 450 watts.
The footage of the wire is selected based on this indicator. This is the optimal power at which a given room will be heated at a minimum cost.
Temperature control
The presented calculation allows you to determine the maximum power indicator of the system. As a rule, the working temperature of the heating wire is 65º. The floor will not heat up to this level, as certain heat losses are present in the room. But 50-55º C with good insulation of the base, the system can give out on the surface.
It is comfortable for a person to stand with bare feet on a surface heated to 25-28º. To maintain this level, a warm floor is connected to a thermostat. In this case, the device, upon reaching the user-specified heating, opens the circuit.
When the floor cools down a few degrees, the appliance will turn on the current again. Therefore, the system consumes less electricity per hour than indicated on the package.
Consumer Reviews
To understand how much the system will consume energy per day and per hour, it is necessary to take into account several features. They have any warm floor electric. Electricity consumption, reviews of the owners of which are presented in various sources, is ambiguous.
In order to minimize this indicator, it is necessary to qualitatively mount a heater under the system. Otherwise, due to rapid heat loss, the device will not be able to heat up to the desired level. The same wire in the room and on the balcony will consume an unequal amount of electricity.
But if you compare the warm floor and convector in a room of 20 m², then a wired device, according to consumer reviews, is more profitable. The convector consumes under such conditions about 2 kW per hour. Underfloor heating under these conditions on average will require about 1-1.2 kW.
What type of systems is more economical?
The unequal consumption of energy is characterized by a different heated electric floor. Power consumption is greater for film varieties. With an average consumption of 220 W / m², this system does not heat the surface more than 40 ° C.
A cable installed in a screed or tile adhesive at the same heating level will cost an average of 150 W / m². Therefore, if possible, it is better to give preference to wires at the stage of repair. If the base is properly insulated, the device will work about 8 hours a day. The rest of the time, the screed will release the accumulated heat to the environment.
Having considered the main features, you can correctly choose a warm floor electric. The energy consumption of this system with proper installation is less than that of radiators and convectors. This is a profitable system in every respect.