Underfloor Electric Heating

[Lehaut]

Any one fitted some?

Thinking of doing it in our flats bathrooms, the electric mat type set in latex cement with the click PVC tiles above (OK according to the packet). Also fancy laying 20 square meters under a carpet in the living room rather than classic electric radiators. Not a cold building, solid concrete construction, not put the heating on yet!

[Chancer]

Had to look to see what your question was, then found the question mark!

 

Yes fitted it in all the flats, have exactly what you propose in the bathrooms its a fantastic combination! I have learned what corners I can cut so now just lay the mats on the green wood fibre insulation tiles and lay laminate floor of the PVC planks directly on to it, the heat transfer is quicker if you cast the mat into ragréage but UFH is not about speed but comfort.

 

Regarding the carpet, one word - DONT! Its a very good insulator not what you want, a pal was one of the first pioneers of wet UFH in the early 80's he did a great job and it worked superbly, then girlfriend (now wife) moved in and insisted on carpet, result a heating system that took hours if not days to get up to temp and respond to changes in temp setting.

[Lehaut]

Chancer, thanks for the quick and encouraging reply. Do you have a favoured supplier, the stuff on Amazon comes from the UK at very favourable delivery prices.

Having Googled the carpet question before I posted, it seems that it can be used under carpet given certain conditions.

http://www.warmup.co.uk/blog/can-i-use-underfloor-heating-with-carpet/

is one site I have looked at. The living room echos a lot due to the concrete walls and currently tiled floor. Hoped carpeting it would attenuate the sound a bit. Don't fancy carrying rockwool backed plaster board up 5 flights of stairs (lift is too small). Three kitchen work surfaces and I thought my heart would burst!!

[Chancer]

I bought mine as liquidated stock and will sell the remainder once I have finished, it all works fine but the Schtiebel Eltron stuff has a better quality construction stitching etc, the film still peels off after years of poor storage, the heatmark stuff takes a long time.

 

For sound attenuation and good heat transfer use the green wood fibre underlay and laminate flooring, on top of the tiled floor works really well I only hear very muted footsteps between floors and only when its an elephant walking around, amazing how some seriously obese people can be so light on their feet and some racing snakes clump about like an elephant, you can always tell because they slam doors and just generally break unbreakable things.

 

I really would avoid carpet and UFH, I can no longer stand the stuff and will not ever have it in a house again even if I end up in a colder climate.

[idun]

I have lived in flats in France, and they had carrelage and frankly no noise between floors with it, including the first flat which was horrible and noisy but only from adjacent neighbours as the walls were so thin.

Years ago, most new flats had crepi'd interior walls and I did wonder if there was some thing in the crepi that absorbed noise and maybe insulated, although I have never looked into it. We had quite a few friends who bought appts and we never heard neighbours and their appts did not echo and they had carrelage floors.

Also years ago, there was that fabric wall paper, did that absorb noise....???? My friend has only just got rid of hers, in her home for 30 years........ yuk!

I hate laminate flooring, noisiest and worst stuff we ever put down and I would never have it again. And we did have insulation boards beneath it.I would rather have lino than that stuff. And carpet, I never imagined I would have carpet again, but I have.

[Lehaut]

The flat we have just bought was built in the mid 80s. All the walls were covered in what I can best describe as carpet - presume to stop this very problem. A few years ago all the stuff was removed, except in a couple of corridors where the donkey brown stuff remains.

Laminated PVC is much warmer and less noisy.

[idun]

LOL Lehaut, I did wonder if that stuff was to insulate, I never thought it was to decorate. Any crepi, in your new place, some of it seems to have bits in, and I have often wondered if that was insulation too.

[Lehaut]

No crepi so I cannot add anythiing to your theory. Used cork tiles stuck to the engine room bulkheads of our narrow boat to both insulate and reduce noise.