Guide to Electrical Floor Heating Installation
Selecting the Appropriate System to Keep Those Cold Floors Warm
Sep 19, 2008
Tired of cold floors in the winter? Electric floor heat can solve the problem by providing comfort to feet on cold days, especially tile floors. There is nothing like stepping out of shower or getting out of bed and placing your bare feet on warm floor. Electric floor heating provides an inviting experience compared to cold floors most of people endure in the winter.
The best time to install floor heating systems is during remodeling a room or when building a new home. However, electric floor heating can be added under a floor anytime by removing the old flooring and installing a new floor without remodeling the entire room.
The good thing about installing electric floor heating is any good do-it-yourselfer can install an electric floor heating system. The only requirement a do-it-yourselfer needs is the services of an electrician to connect the heat strips to an electrical source after installation.
Electric Floor Heating Systems Features
- Some floor heating systems come in pre-built mats, similar to electric blankets, for easy installation.
- Some floor heating systems require laying strips and then winding specially coated electrical wires around the strips.
- Floor heating systems can be placed under tiles, stone, and laminate or engineered simulated wood.
- Floor heating systems cannot be placed under natural wood or carpet, because of fire risk.
Electrical floor heating systems help reduce energy bills, because the coldest part of any room is the floor. Typical home heating systems are not capable of warming tile, stone, and laminate floors without over heating the room.
Installing Electric Floor Heating
When searching for an electrical floor heating system, be sure to consider the following points:
- Ensure the electrical wires of the system are shielded to prevent interference with telephones, radios, pacemakers, hearing aids, and televisions. If there is no shielding, then the system will become a static-producing antenna in the floor.
- Install a thermal insulation shield between the electrical heating systems, especially concrete, to save energy costs. Concrete flooring absorbs radiant heat increasing energy costs.
- Install programmable thermostats to reduce energy costs.
- Ensure there is built-in overheat protection in the system.
- Ensure the floor installed over the heating system is watertight to keep water from seeping into electrical wires, which may cause damage to the system or possibly fire.
- Ensure the electric floor heating system has been tested by the Underwriters Laboratory (UL) for safety.
- Ensure only a certified electrician makes electrical connections from the heating system to the home electrical system. This will ensure the floor heating system is properly grounded and risk of electrical shock is eliminated.
- Follow the recommended installation guide to elimate the possbility of cold spots.
An electrical floor heating system will lead to warm floors in the winter and reduced energy costs, because floors are the hardest to keep warm using traditional heating systems. Any good do-it-yourselfer can install a system or a contractor can be hired to install the system for you.
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