Electric Underfloor Heating On Tiled Wooden Floor

[Richard]

Hi,

Can this be done? It's normal floor boards, which will be tiled over. The ones i'v done before had a floor stat, which I seem to remember were chased in....obviously this can't be done on a wooden floor as such...or can it?? and would the use of thermal boards be nessecery? thanks

 

[Dunc]

Have a look here for some good videos about doing UFH on timber subfloor. Done it plenty of times as i work closely with a kitchen and bathroom firm without issue. The ones we do seem to get the floor from 14C to 25C in 45mins or so from recent experience and that's through some solid old porcelain tiles.

 

[Richard]

Cheers for your reply. I have a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind. This is to be installed in a bathroom, so, Do you have to have any other thermostat apart from the floor stat? Can I lay this straight onto the wooden floor or will it need to be kept away from the wood?#

thanks

Edit: The Plywood i'm assuming the builder will lay before tiling that is

 

[Dunc]

Just a quick note from a chat with a Warmup repair guy. When you IR test the mat after installation and after tiling it is best (if your meter will allow) to test at 1000V. Apparently testing at 1000V is much more likely to show up minor faults which can burn out over time which a 500V test would not normally show up.

 

[Dunc]

Cheers for your reply. I have a couple of questions if you wouldn't mind. This is to be installed in a bathroom, so, Do you have to have any other thermostat apart from the floor stat? Can I lay this straight onto the wooden floor or will it need to be kept away from the wood?#

thanks

Usually, if it's standard floor boards, a ply wood base is put down first which is then primed with the green primer in the kits. Alternatively you can use the insulated tile backer boards which are better according to the manufacturers at heating the floor up quickly but they're more expensive and the company i work with don't bother with them. A thermostat is fitted outside the bathroom with a floor prob under the tiles as usual. Most (except for the most basic) UFH stats can be set up to work of the floor temperature only which is preferred in most cases. At the moment we're fitting the Warmup 3iE stats which are touch screen and very easy to set up. I think they cost a small fortune mind but i only fit them so can't tell you what the exact prices are. If you need more info have a look at the Warmup manual on their website (LINK). I know i keep on talking about Warmup products but other makes are available and the installation method is the same with all.

 

[rmc86uk]

I've just bought tonight an underfloor heating kit from http://www.floorheatingsolutions.co.uk, you get 5% off if you spend over 150 quid. They were recommended by the good people on here.

Sent from my HTC Desire using Tapatalk

 

[Richard]

Hi again, and sorry to drag this topic up again!

Am I definatly correct in saying that these underfloor heating mats can be layed directly onto plyboard floors (prior to tiling)? and that there is no real need for the insulation boards?

It just seemed like a little bit of a fire risk laying these heating cables staight onto wood?

Here's a quote from their site:

'Electric heating mats provide a highly efective means of heating tiled floors. Mats can be fitted directly on to timber (ply-wood, moisture proof chipboard)floors or above an insulated screed/concrete base. If screed/concrete is not insulated then an insulation board or thermal primer should be applied prior to installing the heating system. All of our mats are 500mm wide and are fully earth screened with a 3mm diameter twin wire (connection at one end) heating cable.'

Thanks

Rich

 

[truckster]

Here's a quote from their site:

'Electric heating mats provide a highly efective means of heating tiled floors. Mats can be fitted directly on to timber (ply-wood, moisture proof chipboard)floors

Rich

It doesn't get much clearer than that!

I don't think the mats get any where near the combustion temp of plywood.

 

[Richard]

Great stuff. Thanks