Connecting a film underfloor heating: features and diagram.

On the heating market film warm floors from exotic types of heating have already turned into a popular, efficient and quite economical alternative to classic systems. The reason is simple - the emergence of modern film materials, which are relatively inexpensive and available, do not require serious capital expenditures when equipping the premises and are quickly assembled, including independently, with minimal work skills.

This article will be a detailed analysis of the features of infrared film warm floors of Russian and South Korean production.

notethat here we are considering infrared underfloor heating as an additional source of heat in living quarters. If you are interested in installing a film underfloor heating as the main type of heating system, we recommend using a heating ceiling based on appropriate film materials. This is an order of magnitude more effective.

Types, device and principle of operation of infrared film floors

Most of the film materials used in the Russian market for organizing a warm floor are of South Korean or domestic origin. This is due to several factors:

uniform heating of the material practically over the entire area;
convenient standard sizes: mainly roll deliveries 100 m long of various widths (500–1000 mm) with a cutting step of 200–250 mm;
several types of power in the range of 110-400 W / m2;
record quality guarantees (10–20 years of operation);
optimal cost available to most consumers.

The most famous manufacturers of infrared film materials are Q-Term, Heat Plus, RexVA, STEM Energy, «Hit-Light»And several other companies. These are carbon-based electric heaters supplied in bays, the features of which we will analyze.

Installation of a film underfloor heating includes laying a special film, across which carbon heaters are located (see figure), having a linear shape.

These heaters have a strictly calculated specific resistance. With the passage of an electric current, electrical energy is converted into thermal energy, that is, the film heats up. The resulting heat is evenly distributed over the entire surface, quickly warming up the coating of your finished floor.

Current carrying copper strips (tires) are located at both ends of the roll. A variety of standard sizes and marking of cutting lines allows you to cut the film material right in place with virtually no loss. In addition, due to its great flexibility, elasticity and minimum thickness (total 0.338 mm) the material adheres perfectly to any surface, without requiring its special preparation when installing a film warm floor. Weight of one "square" electric heater 0,4 kg.

The main types of power of South Korean films: 150, 220, 300, 400 W / m2 (there are also less common options). The width of the material most often has the following steps: 0.5, 0.8 and 1.0 m... All South Korean heaters have proven to be excellent. The main thing is the exact connection diagram of the film heated floor, high-quality installation according to the instructions provided and correct operation. Many of these heaters are suitable not only for equipping underfloor heating, but also for heating ceilings (including as the main sources of heat).

Among the Russian manufacturers of infrared electric heaters, the ZEBRA EVO-300 WF is in a special place.This is an excellent development, which became famous after the release of the popular heaters for the heating ceiling (ZEBRA EVO-300 series SOFT, ST, PRO, EX). EVO-300 WF was created specifically for warm floors. Zebra is a modular device equipped with ground loop and aluminum foil casing.

The main advantage of "Zebra" WF - unilateral heat radiation, in which up to 95% of the energy goes directly to heating, providing a record system efficiency.

Approximate connection diagram of the film underfloor heating ZEBRA EVO-300 WF is presented below. ...

Advantages of a film warm floor

The advantages of a warm floor are many, here are just the most basic advantages that are distinguished by everyone who has installed a film warm floor:

Rapid warming up of the room. The direct impact on the floor material significantly increases the heating rate in comparison with the vast majority of alternative systems.
Ease and simplicity of installation.
There is no need to make a screed: the material fits perfectly under most types of finishing coatings: laminate, linoleum or carpet.
The room loses practically nothing in height (we remind you that the thickness of the electric heaters is only 0.388 mm).
You can be completely calm, no water leaks threaten you.
The infrared system works completely invisibly and absolutely silently, everything happens automatically according to your settings.
The control is carried out using a thermostat, which is equipped with a remote temperature sensor that responds to changes in parameters within 0.5 degrees.

The manufacturer guarantees the flawless functioning of the infrared underfloor heating from 10 to 20 years old (depending on the specific company). The real service life of electric heaters exceeds 25 years.

Cons of a film warm floor

We do not idealize underfloor heating at all and objectively admit that it also has drawbacks. The disadvantages of such heating include:

High cost of heating for rooms with a very large area and high ceilings.
Temperature limits. According to SanPiN (SNiP RF 41-01-2003 "Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning"), the floor surface in rooms where people are constantly should not be heated above 26 ° C. And the temperature of the floor where people are temporarily can be raised to 31 ° C. Attempts to raise the floor temperature excessively (when the temperature outside is 30 ° C and below) will lead to discomfort: it will become too hot to walk on.
Installation of a film underfloor heating is possible only in open areas free of furniture without legs. Otherwise, there is a threat of critical overheating of the film and its premature failure.
The system dries up the air. This is due to the natural convection of the air during heating. This is especially evident when using an infrared warm floor as the main source of heating. In this case, we recommend installing humidifiers.

Application

Infrared underfloor heating is used as a system for additional heating of premises in country cottages and houses, in apartments and offices of high-rise buildings. It is used as the main heating system for small warehouses and greenhouses.

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Also, with the help of infrared underfloor heating, many owners of private houses heat the entrance porch, polymer pipes for water supply.

On a note. In some cases, such a system is used to heat load-bearing cold walls. This allows you to make the corner rooms in high-rise buildings warmer, reducing heating costs by 20-30%.

Energy consumption of film warm floors

To find out the maximum power consumption of the system, it is enough to pay attention to the marking.For example, with a heater power of 220 W / m2 for 1 hour of operation, 1 "square" of electric floor heating consumes 220 Wh (0.22 kWh)... At the same time, please note that the main power consumption occurs when the room is heated, and maintaining the set temperature requires periodic switching on, the frequency of which depends on the heat loss of the building envelope, as well as the parameters you set on the thermostat. Of course, the thermal insulation of the facility should be at least at the level of the recommendations of the SNiP of the corresponding region.

The temperature sensor is located directly on the surface of the film material, under the final finish of the floor. Let's imagine that you set the thermostat to 26 ° C, which is the most comfortable for you. When this temperature value is reached, the sensor will fix it, give a signal to the control device, and the thermostat will turn off the power. Then the floor will gradually cool down, and the speed of the process directly depends on the level of heat loss - and the thermostat will again supply power to the electric heaters.

In this way, the real power consumption at a specific facility directly depends on the frequency of turning on / off the system. The more heat loss, the higher the flow rate... We recommend that you always insulate the floor (a layer of ordinary building insulation with a thickness of 100 mm is sufficient). In this case, the specific average power consumption will be about 20-30 W per 1 sq.m of heated area.

The most common mistake of buyers of electric underfloor heating is that they want to insulate their floor with the help of them. But the film material does not retain heat: its task is to generate heat energy... And to keep the received heat must special heaters, which must be provided for in the floor structure. The modern market offers a lot of available options for insulation from various companies from different materials (Knauff, Isoverr, expanded polystyrene, etc.) with a thickness of 30 to 100 mm (the thickness is selected depending on the climatic characteristics of the region and the design of the insulation object).

What will happen if the installation of a film underfloor heating is performed without insulation? In some cases, the system can cope with heating your space, but in most cases it cannot. Without insulation, thermal energy will simply be lost, go into the atmosphere, into the ground, or be absorbed by ceilings. But in any case, the overconsumption of electricity is inevitable, because the system will have to work almost constantly to compensate for heat loss.

Is it possible to use special substrates up to 5 mm thick, because they also reduce thermal conductivity? Yes, such a substrate is better than nothing at all. However, the effectiveness of insulation is manifested with a minimum thickness of the insulation material in the floor structure from 100 mm.

Features of infrared underfloor heating

Traditional underfloor heating is made on the basis of a thin pipe made of cross-linked polyethylene (or metal-plastic), through which a hot coolant circulates. All this economy, together with insulation and vapor barrier, is hidden under a thick layer of concrete screed. The result is a kind of "sandwich" that allows you to get a warm floor covering... Adults and children can safely move on this floor without fear of catching a cold. Warmth is also relevant for those who constantly get cold feet.

Water-heated floors have quite serious disadvantages:

Large load on the floors - it is created by a thick concrete screed. Therefore, in multi-storey buildings, their installation is undesirable and even dangerous;
Possibility of leakage - oozing water can penetrate the concrete and fill the basement or lower floor;
Difficulty in installation - nothing prevents you from laying water-heated floors on your own, but in reality the complexity of the work is higher than it seems after reading the step-by-step instructions.

In some cases, instead of pipes with a heating medium, a heating cable is laid. It does not need a strong and heavy concrete screed, so it can even be laid in an apartment. But it is best to replace it with a heating mat - it is easy to install and fits most floor coverings, especially tiles or porcelain stoneware.

Underfloor heating provides a more uniform and rational heating of the room, which has an extremely positive effect on human comfort.

Film underfloor heating is a modern alternative to all of the above types of floors. It is based on infrared foil installed under the floor covering. Electricity is supplied to it, as a result of which it begins to generate infrared rays. When they reach the surface of tiles, wood, linoleum and any other coating, they are converted into heat energy.

Consider the main features and advantages of film warm floors:

Easy installation - in some cases, it takes a maximum of two hours. Moreover, it is more difficult to remove and put back the removed cover than to mount the film;
There is no load on the intermediate floors - thanks to this, the film can be used for installation in apartments;
Film heat-insulated floor is safe for humans and animals - it does not have a negative effect on health and is not a source of electromagnetic radiation;
Compatible with almost any flooring;
Durability - a properly laid film can work for 10-15 years (some manufacturers guarantee up to 50 years of operation) without requiring replacement.

There are also disadvantages:

High cost - although prices for film-heated floors are falling, they remain high;
Electric heating leads to high energy costs - there is no getting around it;
Lack of resistance to stress - in the case of using linoleum, it will be necessary to protect the film with plywood sheets.

Some experts note the low reliability of film warm floors, but here it all depends on the chosen film - if you chase after cheapness, then everything will be bad with reliability.

The main feature of film underfloor heating is that they do not reduce the height of the ceilings, as water pipes and heating cables do.

Calculation of film underfloor heating

For the efficiency of the infrared floor heating, the correct preliminary calculation of its power is important. Let's give an example in which a warm floor is planned to be used as additional heat source (i.e. a boiler or central heating is running in parallel). In this case, it is enough to cover with a film. up to 50 % floor.

To begin with, we determine the useful heating area. Effective area - these are only its open areas, not occupied by furniture, etc. 8.6 sq.m. (S = 4.1 x 2.1 m).

Based on the size of the usable area, we select the standard sizes and the number of film electric heaters, while it is desirable to cover the entire usable area as much as possible. Here we will use a South Korean film with a capacity of 150 W / sq.m with width 500 mm... You will get 4 segments of 4 meters each, that is, 8 square meters of electric heaters with a total power 1.2 kW (8 sq.m. x 150 W / sq.m = 1200 W). We get the load current 5.5 A (1200 W / 220 V = 5.5 A).

We recommend that you draw up a laying diagram before installation. On it, you will need to mark the place of laying the film segments, the distance between the strips, the wiring diagram for the film heated floor, including the location of the power wires and the temperature sensor coming from the thermostat.

Note! It is strictly not allowed to overlap electric heaters! Along the perimeter, indents from walls and stationary heating systems should be provided along 10-20 cm... An indent of up to 50 mm.

Another very important point. At the site where installation is planned film warm floor, should have additional electrical power... Quite often, in the absence of it and high power consumption (the system operates in several rooms at the same time, including as the main one), there is network congestion problem... This leads to the constant operation of the introductory machine and other troubles.

In order to avoid such problems in the future, it is necessary to design the parameters of the facility's power supply in connection with the additional electric power of the warm floor.

Below is the recommended maximum length of South Korean carbon based film based on roll width and heater power density.

Table No. 1. Recommended max length of Yu. Korean film materials on a carbon basis, depending on the width of the roll and the specific power of the heater.
Roll width (m)	Specific power (W / m2)	Recommended max film length (m)
0,5	150	10
0,5	220	8
0,8	220	6
1,0	150	7
1,0	220	5

Connection instructions

The process of installing an infrared warm electric floor includes designing, preparing the base, laying the substrate, thermal film, connecting the heating elements to the thermostat, checking their performance,

Design

When designing manually or using special graphic editors (AutoCad, Compas, Graphite), a large-scale scheme of the room is drawn in which it is planned to lay the warm floor. The diagram indicates the location of capital-standing furniture and household appliances (cabinets, sofas, refrigerators, etc.), the direction of laying the thermal film. Based on this scheme and taking into account the indentation of the heating film from the walls, furniture, the required amount of materials is calculated.

Preparation of the base

When preparing a concrete rough base, debris is removed from it, potholes, chips, cracks are removed with the help of a gypsum filler. With a large difference in height at various points of the subfloor, it is poured with a self-leveling quick-drying screed

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Laying a heat-reflecting layer

The underlay is laid over the entire floor area. At the same time, the neighboring lanes are connected to each other with the help of a scotch. When laying the substrate on a subfloor made of boards, the heat-insulating material is additionally fixed with a furniture stapler.

A layer of thermal insulation material laid under the thermal film

Thermal film laying

The process of laying the thermal film consists of the following manipulations:

A roll of thermal tape is rolled on a backing with a copper bus down.
Using scissors or a sharp clerical knife, the thermal film is cut into strips of the required size.
The cut strips are laid in parallel with an indent from the walls of at least 10 cm.
Using masking tape, the thermal film strips are attached to the substrate and to each other.

Important! When laying strips and further work, use shoes with soft rubberized soles, avoid heavy tools falling onto the film.

Assembling the electrical circuit

Connecting the laid strips of thermal film is made as follows:

Contact clamps are fixed on the copper busbars of one of the cuts of each of the strips using a special tool or pliers.
The stripped ends of the power cables are fixed in the clamps.
Copper busbars located on the opposite cut, as well as contact clamps, are insulated with the pieces of bitumen tape included in the delivery set.
A thermal sensor is glued to the lower surface of one of the strips of the heating film with bitumen tape.

Power cables and terminals insulated with bitumen tape are placed in grooves and recesses cut out in the substrate.

Diagram of connecting a warm floor to electricity

Connecting the thermostat

The following are connected to the terminals of the thermostat installed in the wall niche:

two conductors of the power cable supplied from the electrical network with a voltage of 220 V;
wires from the temperature sensor;
cable feeding strips with heating elements;

Important! A more detailed connection diagram for a specific thermostat model is given in the instructions attached to it.

You can see how to connect a warm floor to electricity with your own hands in the following video:

We test the infrared heating system

To check the performance of the system, the integrity of the thermal film is visually assessed, the reliability of the insulation on the contact clamps is checked. After that, the thermostat is turned on, the heating temperature of the thermofilm is set at 20-220C. The uniformity of heating the bands of the infrared floor is checked after 2-3 minutes using a special device - a laser thermometer.

Laser thermometer

Laying the protective cover

After the installation and connection of the underfloor heating is completed, its performance is checked, the thermal film is covered with a protective coating over the entire area.

The type of material used in this case depends on what the finishing (finishing) layer of the floor will be with:

to protect infrared warm floors laid under the laminate, a protective covering made of dense polyethylene film is used;
when laying infrared underfloor heating under linoleum or carpet, the strips of thermal film are protected with plywood sheets.

When installing a thermal film under a ceramic tile, sheets of moisture-resistant drywall are laid on top of it as a protective coating.

Thus, an infrared floor is a convenient and reliable system for heating rooms of various sizes. Simple, reliable, easily and quickly assembled with your own hands, it is widely used not only in country houses and cottages, but also in apartments, offices, apartments, rooms of various hotels and hotels. Possessing a large number of advantages, it has two main disadvantages that are significant in a number of cases - volatility and high power consumption.

The choice of the cross-section of the electric cable for the film underfloor heating

The choice of the cross-section of the electric cable for the film underfloor heating is made depending on area of materials used and correspondingly, power of individual groups of film heaters... These recommendations are drawn up taking into account the rules for the installation of electrical installations (PUE), as well as taking into account the underestimated data of the cross-section of wires of some manufacturers. So, a wire marked 2.5 sq. Mm actually turns out to be with a cross-section of 2-2.1 sq. Mm. Below is a table with the recommended cross-section of copper wire, depending on the maximum area of the heaters and the power of one group.

Table No. 2. Selection of the cross-section of the electric cable for the film underfloor heating
Film heater power (W / m2)	Copper wire cross-section (mm2)	Recommended max area of film heaters of one group (sq.m)
150	1,5	up to 12
150	2,5	from 12 to 20
150	4,0	from 20 to 30
220	1,5	up to 8
220	2,5	from 8 to 14
220	4,0	from 14 to 24

If the area of the heaters in a group exceeds the values indicated in the table, then when connected, they must be divided into subgroups of the permissible area in accordance with the recommendations. Example: 28 square meters of infrared underfloor heating with a power of 150 W / square meters can be easily divided into 2 subgroups of 14 "squares". In this case, each subgroup is connected to the power line with a separate wire with a cross section of 2.5 sq. Mm.

Note! The choice of the cross-section of the power wire for connecting an electric underfloor heating is very important. If you install wires with a reduced cross-section (relative to the recommended one), this threatens the wire overheating, melting of the insulating layer, which can lead to fire!

Advantages and disadvantages

The advantages of infrared underfloor heating are:

Versatility - infrared floor heating is used to heat not only residential premises, but also various warehouses, large greenhouses.
Simple do-it-yourself installation - the installation of this type of electric underfloor heating can be performed without much difficulty by any person with a minimum set of tools and skills to work with them.
High installation speed - installation of a warm floor based on an infrared heating film takes no more than 2-3 days.
Local heating - a wide variety of standard sizes of heating films allows them to be used to heat not only spacious rooms, but also small local areas (workplaces, recreation areas, etc.).
Uniform heating of the air in the room - unlike electric convectors, central heating batteries, the warm infrared floor contributes to a more even heating of the air in the room: warm air masses that rise from the floor and rise to the ceiling cool very slowly. Thanks to this, a comfortable temperature from +22 to + 24 + 25 ° C is created in a room at a height of average human height (1.7-1.8 m).
High efficiency - about 80-85% of the infrared radiation emitted by the carbon strips of the film is spent on heating the air in the room.
Low thermal inertia - infrared floors have a very high heating rate, ensuring a comfortable temperature in the heated room.
Possibility of quick dismantling of heaters - if necessary, the infrared heating element can be quickly and easily dismantled by disconnecting it from the power cable and rolling up a compact roll.
Environmental friendliness - infrared rays emitted by the heating film do not have a negative effect on the human body.

The disadvantages of this heating system include

Volatility - when the electricity is turned off, such a heating system stops working.
Electric Shock Hazard - Electric current flowing through copper busbars is a potential hazard to the human body.
High energy costs - when using infrared floor heating as the main heating system, electricity costs in the cold season can be very high.
Additional costs for a protective coating - when laying infrared floors under a soft covering - carpet, linoleum - they are additionally protected with sheets of plywood, moisture-resistant drywall. The use of these materials increases the cost of installing the heating system, increases the final thickness of the floor.

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Thermoregulators for film underfloor heating

The thermostat is a control device, or simply the brain of the film heating system. It is he who allows you to automatically monitor and control the heating process, maintaining a preset temperature. The main difference between thermostats for warm floors is the presence of a remote temperature sensor, which is located on the surface of the film, immediately below the final finish of the floor.

We constantly monitor the equipment market, selecting thermostats for our customers, which can definitely be entrusted with the management of film underfloor heating. Such devices include 70.26, E 31.116, E 51.716, E 91.716, Wi-Fi SIU WF-1 and some others. You can freely find a description of the advantages and a connection diagram for each device on our website.

Checking the thermostat before installation

In order to be sure that the thermostat is working, before installing and connecting a warm floor to it, it is necessary to check the thermostat. A separate article of the site "How to repair a thermostat for a warm floor" is devoted to the repair of thermostats for underfloor heating.

The photo shows the simplest thermostat with a temperature sensor, which only allows you to set the heating temperature without the possibility of changing it during the day.

On the back of any thermostat there is a screw terminal block for connecting wires and marking their connection. A thermal sensor is connected to contacts 1 and 2.

The power supply voltage of the household wiring is supplied to contacts 3 and 8. The wires coming from the warm floor are connected to 4 and 5. The 6 and 7 pins of the terminal are grounding. One of them is connected to the PE ground wire yellow - green

the colors of the electrical wiring, and to the second a wire coming from a heat-reflecting aluminum substrate, which spreads under the underfloor heating film. When checking the thermostat, pins 6 and 7 are left free.

To check, instead of the heating elements of the warm floor, you need to connect an incandescent lamp of any power to a voltage of 220 V to contacts 4 and 5. Put the temperature sensor on top of the light bulb. Use the thermostat knob to set the temperature slightly higher than the air temperature, connect the thermostat to the power supply and turn it on.

On the panel of the thermostat, the indicator of voltage supply to the heating element should immediately light up and the connected lamp should light up.

A few minutes later, when the light bulb heats up the temperature sensor to the set temperature, the thermostat stops supplying the supply voltage and the light should go out. After cooling down, turn on again and so should be repeated with the correct operation of the thermostat ad infinitum.

Accessories and tools for film underfloor heating

This includes almost everything that can be included in the system, from backing to machines, tape and connecting contacts to tools that are needed for installation. Let's look at the required components using the same example that was used above. So, the useful heating area is 8.6 square meters, 4 film pieces, the total power of the heaters is 1.2 kW. According to these data, we will select additional materials and equipment:

Substrate for heaters. Isolon with a thickness of up to 5 mm and an area of 10 square meters is ideal here. This is both additional thermal insulation and protection of the film from accidental damage to the base of the floor. Attention! The substrate must be free of metallic coating (aluminum foil).
Polyethylene. Performs a protective function against accidental water leaks. Enough 10 m² of polyethylene with a thickness of 50 microns.
Circuit breaker for 10 A - 1 pc.
Modular box (4 modules).
Wire PUGV 1 x 1.5 sq. Mm - 2 pieces of red and blue, 10 running meters each.
Connecting clamps (clips) - 2 pcs. for each heater + spare pair, 10 pcs in total.
Bituminous tape for insulating the ends of the films (at the rate of 30 pieces of 50 x 50 mm: 6 for each electric heater plus a small margin).
Household (ordinary) tape for fixing materials.

Assembly tools: screwdriver, wire cutters, pliers, assembly knife, scissors, electrical tester.

Before installing underfloor heating

To work you will need:

The Kaleo underfloor heating kit itself, which includes: a roll of thermal film, contact clamps, a floor temperature sensor (purchased separately), a thermostat (purchased separately), a set of electrical wiring and insulation.
The material required for the installation of the film and flooring: heat-reflecting material, adhesive tape, when finishing with a laminate or parquet, a noise-suppressing substrate (no more than 3 mm thick) or polyethylene film is used, in the case of carpet or linoleum, we use fiberboard (hardboard, LSU, GVL, etc.) etc.).

It is imperative to use a heat-reflecting material when installing a film infrared underfloor heating, it reduces heat losses. As it is used a material covered with polypropylene or metallized lavsan film.

Never use aluminum foil-based material.

When laying under floor coverings such as carpet, linoleum and analogs, it is recommended to use a heat-reflecting material with a soft interlayer, for example:

Infraflex,
Izolon PPE-3003 or NPE-3003,
Penotherm NPP LP 3-5 mm thick.

Izolon (Infraflex) is a heat-reflecting material based on polyethylene and polyester, on one side it is covered with metallized lavsan. It is an environmentally friendly material that stops heat.

When laying under porcelain stoneware, ceramic tiles, liquid floors, parquet and laminate, we recommend using a heat-reflecting material with a hard layer: isolon PPE-0502 (with a foaming rate of 5-10) or a technical cork 2 mm thick.

Wiring diagram of a film underfloor heating

Film warm floor works from standard network 220 V, 50 Hz... Connecting tapes to the network - parallel... A schematic diagram of connecting a film warm floor (again, focusing on our example) is presented below.

Estimated load data of the group.
Circuit breaker 10 A.
Temperature regulator RTC 70.26.
Group wires PGV 1 x 1.5 sq. Mm.
Insulation of the place where the group wire is connected to the film.
Insulation of live copper busbars at the ends of the strip.
Remote temperature sensor.