Which is better - underfloor heating or batteries?

A couple of decades ago, no one would have had the question of which is better - a warm floor or batteries. All inhabitants of urban high-rise buildings and private houses with conveniences used exclusively radiators. But in recent years, underfloor heating has gained great popularity, so now almost everyone who started a serious repair has to weigh all the pros and cons. Each system has its own advantages and disadvantages, which will be discussed in our article.

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What are the heating systems?

Radiators are the most common batteries that are mounted most often under the windowsills (but not necessarily - they can also be on any other wall). The coolant flows through pipes, which are also very clearly visible.

The system has a warm floor, as the name implies, the heaters are mounted below, under the coating. In turn, there are two types of underfloor heating:

• hydraulic;
• electric.

In the first case, pipes and radiators are located under the coating. In fact, this is the same battery system, only located differently. In the second case, the floor is heated by heating elements.

Important! When wondering which is better - a water heated floor or batteries, keep in mind that in many cities it is forbidden to arrange such a hydraulic lower heating in high-rise buildings.

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Advantages and disadvantages of hydraulic floors

The main drawback of the water floor is that in order to install it, you will have to do a major overhaul. There are other not very pleasant features:

1. The top layer of the coating rises by 6-10 cm - this does not play a role for a private house, but in a city apartment it creates many problems, why such a floor is prohibited in many places.
2. For installation you need a perfectly flat surface. Correspondingly, on a smooth concrete pavement, it is first necessary to lay down roll waterproofing, and on it a heat insulator.
3. The coating material expands when heated, so it is necessary to lay a special tape made of foamed polyethylene along the perimeter of the room.
4. The air in the room becomes too dry, so a humidifier is needed.

Several pluses

The floor area is larger than the battery area. Accordingly - a warm floor has greater heat dissipation. If everything is installed correctly, you can achieve great fuel economy - despite the fact that the conditions in the room will be almost ideal for life.

Important! Savings are especially important in a private home. The temperature of the coolant, when it enters the living room, should be 70 ° C, as required by SNiP. In an apartment building, the owner of the house pays according to the norm for the finished heat carrier, while in a private house, as a rule, the gas flow rate is used to heat the water. Savings can be 10-12%.

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Electric underfloor heating

Compared with a hydraulic floor, an electric one has a number of advantages:

• can be laid in any room;
• no overhaul required;
• you can use the existing coating and do not need to lay an additional heat insulator;
• floor height does not change;
• the room warms up quickly.

Heating elements are different.Depending on this, underfloor heating systems are divided into three types:

• wired;
• film;
• with carbon rods.

Important! Wire heating is a system of cables through which electricity is supplied to the heating elements. In the second case, a special infrared film is used. Recently, floors with carbon rods have also begun to appear on sale, but so far they are still very expensive and have little use.

Wired

The wired version is more familiar and understandable, but it has very significant drawbacks compared to the film:

• consumes a lot of energy;
• expensive;
• afraid of overheating, that is, one must be extremely careful about the arrangement of furniture;
• creates electromagnetic fields around conductors;
• requires mounting in a screed.

Important! Do not use a single-core cable indoors.

Film floor

It is more practical and more convenient than wired. Its main advantages include:

• low power consumption;
• lack of magnetic fields;
• can be mounted without screed.

Important! The only negative - like a wired system, infrared does not like overheating.

Carbon rod system

So far this is the most modern option. It is rare enough, but it is necessary to know about the advantages and disadvantages. The benefits are:

• ability to independently regulate heat distribution;
• It does not overheat, that is, furniture can be set as you like;
• consumes not too much electricity;
• stacks under any covering.

Important! The disadvantages include the extremely high cost and the need for mounting under the screed.

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Is any coating suitable?

When thinking about what is best - a warm floor or batteries, be especially careful about what kind of cover you are going to lay. For wired or film underfloor heating suitable:

• laminate;
• linoleum (without insulation);
• parquet (if the boards are thin);
• ceramic tile;
• Self-leveling floors.

There are also coatings under which it is impossible to lay either infrared film or heating elements with wires:

• insulated linoleum;
• carpet;
• ordinary parquet;
• bung.

Important! This is especially important to consider if the system you would like to install has automatic thermoregulation. The fact is that a coating with thermal insulation significantly reduces heat transfer, respectively - the heaters will be constantly overloaded. And this is both inconvenient and dangerous, and the floor will not last long. For hydraulic floors, this is not so relevant, but the efficiency decreases sharply, respectively - the room warms up extremely slowly.

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We mount a water floor

In a private house, nobody will forbid you to put a hydraulic underfloor heating. But you need to mount it in a quality manner, because comfort, safety, and the durability of the system itself, and savings depend on this.

Room preparation

Any important business must begin with preparation, in this case, premises:

1. Mark the level of the top layer of your floor.
2. Drill holes for pipes.
3. Make technology niches.
4. Prepare the rough floor - it must be leveled so that the skew does not exceed 5 °.

Thermal insulation

After the room is ready, it is necessary to lay the insulation.

Foam, polyurethane and other similar materials are suitable for this. It is best vapor barrier - for example, from polystyrene.

Important! If there is no such plate, the vapor barrier layer will have to be done separately. Reinforced polyethylene or polypropylene is used for this.

The vapor barrier must be fixed and glued, for which a foam polypropylene tape is used. It is mounted around the perimeter and at the joints slightly above the screed. Then the heat insulator - the mounting plate is laid.

Pipe laying

For a warm floor, a variety of pipes are used:

• copper;
• steel;
• polyvinyl chloride;
• from metal plastic;
• high strength polyethylene.

Important! The latter option was created specifically for the hydraulic heating system, which is why it is considered the best.Such pipes have excellent qualities:

• they have high thermal conductivity;
• they withstand high pressure;
• they can be bent;
• not subject to corrosion;
• do not give noise;
• serve for a long time.

When laying pipes, you need to follow some rules:

1. 15 cm should be retreated from the outer wall.
2. Do not lay pipes at the joints of floor panels.
3. In the middle of the room, laying is possible with a large step.

As for the types of styling, there are several:

• the snake;
• double snake;
• snail.

Important! It is not necessary to lay pipes over the entire surface. It is necessary to consider the placement of furniture, especially bulky and stationary.

In addition to preparation and installation, the installation includes the following steps:

• connection to the distribution manifold;
• crimping;
• concrete pouring;
• installation of the expansion joint.

Important! For these works, it is best to invite specialists from a licensed utility company. If you do everything yourself, then keep in mind that there are two ways to connect to the collector:

• soldering;
• couplings.

The first option is for copper or polyethylene pipes, the second for steel and metal plastic. Pressure testing is carried out before pouring concrete, since at this stage the quality of the entire system is checked.

No fill

Not so long ago, a so-called non-filling hydraulic floor appeared. It is still not very popular, and its efficiency is lower, but it can be used in apartment buildings. Mounting it is much simpler and faster:

1. Thermal insulation is laid on the ceiling.
2. A layer of chipboard or polystyrene boards is laid on top.
3. The main layer is laid with plates and heat distributors.
4. The plates are covered with a vibration isolating layer.
5. All this is covered by an outer layer, usually a laminate.

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Installation of electric underfloor heating

Installation of cable and infrared systems, of course, is somewhat different. At the same time, cable systems are divided into two types:

• actually cable;
• cable in a reinforcing mesh.

In addition to the system to be mounted, you need:

• mounting wire;
• ground cable;
• fasteners;
• regulator;
• thermal sensor;
• RCD system.

Important! A regulator and a temperature sensor are most often included.

As in the case of a hydraulic floor, the first thing you need to prepare the room is to level the surface and lay a layer of thermal insulation and vapor barrier. The infrared floor just needs to be spread on the surface and attached with tape.

If the system is wired, proceed as follows:

1. Put a layer of a heat reflector.
2. Measure the resistance of the heating cables - this must be done before installation.
3. Compare the discrepancy with the data in the passport - it should not be more than 10%.
4. Lay the cable and fasten.
5. If you need concrete pouring - lay a reinforcing mesh.
6. Connect the power cable and the heater.
7. Lay the cable in the corrugation.
8. Attach the corrugation to the floor.
9. Check the resistance again.
10. Fill the screed or lay the tile.

Important! In the case of a film system, a vibration isolator must be placed on top of the thermal layer, and then a laminate.

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Radiators

Traditional heating systems still have a lot of fans. The principle of work is clear to everyone. It consists in the fact that a working battery warms the room in two ways. It gives thermal radiation, but at the same time, convection flows arise. They are less noticeable with cast-iron radiators, but if you have steel or aluminum, this method of heating becomes very effective.

Important! Convection occurs due to the pressure difference in the room and between the panels of the battery. Cold air is simply sucked into this space, heats up and leaves already warmed up.

Advantages and disadvantages of the radiator system

Apologists for warm floors often say that radiators warm the room unevenly. There are other disadvantages:

• high heating costs;
• the need to strictly verify the position of the pipes and the radiators themselves.

However, these disadvantages are more than compensated by the advantages that must be taken into account when deciding which is better - underfloor heating or batteries:

• various materials;
• different types of installation;
• developed and mastered installation technology;
• the ability to supplement existing batteries with new sections;
• the ability to disable individual sections;
• the air has sufficient humidity.

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Types of batteries

Radiators are made from different materials. They are:

• cast iron;
• steel;
• aluminum.

Each metal has its own pros and cons, which must be considered when replacing.

Cast iron

They have a working pressure of 9 bar. As for the other characteristics, they are:

• height - 350-1500 mm;
• depth - 50-140 mm.

Such batteries, although they began to be used for a very long time, are still very popular. Their main advantages:

• relatively low price;
• the ability to add sections;
• durability;
• the ability to use with any coolant;
• high efficiency.

If we talk about the shortcomings, which must be taken into account when comparing that a warm floor or cast iron batteries are better, then they are also very significant:

1. The room heats up for a long time after the batteries are turned on.
2. The heat dissipation of cast-iron batteries is 110 watts per section, which is quite small.
3. Need a lot of coolant.
4. Such batteries weigh a lot.
5. As a rule, design is no different.

Important! Recently, pretty beautiful cast-iron batteries have appeared - on legs and with exquisite casting.

Aluminum and Bimetal

They appeared later than cast-iron, but quickly gained popularity. Users appreciate:

• high heat dissipation;
• ease of installation
• profitability;
• little weight.

Important! The main disadvantages of aluminum models include fragility, fragility, low working pressure and the fact that not all coolants can be used - for example, some antifreezes very quickly destroy such batteries.

Bimetallic batteries have eliminated most of these shortcomings.

Steel

There are two types of batteries:

• panel;
• tubular.

Important! In the first case, the radiator is made of identical stamped plates. They are welded along the contour. The main disadvantage is the inability to add sections. For tubular radiators, pipes are welded to the manifolds. They look like cast iron.

The operating pressure can range from 5 to 16 bar. Steel radiators give temperatures up to 120 ° C. Dimensions they can have are:

• height - 200-900 mm;
• depth - up to 225 mm.

Steel batteries are much more durable than others. They have other advantages:

• high heat dissipation;
• reliability;
• strength;
• low cost;
• simple installation;
• different connection options.

Important! The main disadvantage is that such radiators rust. But this is not so bad, much worse is that they can not always withstand water hammer.

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How are radiators connected?

By the method of connecting the batteries are also different. There are systems of the following types:

• single tube;
• two-pipe;
• radiation.

Important! In the first case, a special pipe of a smaller diameter is used - bypass. This allows you to disconnect the radiator from the network, which is simply necessary in the event of an accident, but is also used to control the temperature in the room. There are two ways to apply bypass:

• with two taps;
• with one three-way valve.

With a two-pipe scheme, the pipes stand upright, the batteries are connected in parallel. Finally, a comb is used when connecting using the radiation pattern.

With a two-pipe serial circuit, the bypass is connected in one of three ways:

• lateral;
• lower;
• radial.

The latter option is considered the most reliable and most effective.

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What to look for when choosing?

Having decided that a radiator heating system is more suitable for you, consider the operating pressure. This parameter is more important than heat transfer. In systems with natural circulation, that is, in conventional apartment buildings, radiators with a pressure of up to 10 bar are used.This corresponds to the operating pressure of the entire system under normal conditions. However, during pressure testing, the pressure rises one and a half to two times.

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Reasonable combination

There is no single answer to the question which is better - underfloor heating or radiators:

• In fact, hydraulic floor heating can completely replace the radiators in the house. But you can’t say about electric heating. So the most convenient option is a combination of two systems.
• Where you need a warm corner and does not play a special role, the loss of a small area of ​​free space, you can put a radiator. You can’t imagine anything better for a bedroom. The same thing can be done in the living room. For children, heating from below is more suitable, because the baby spends a lot of time on the floor. Such a system is good for the kitchen, bathroom and corridor.

Important! A thermal mixer is a necessary part of a warm floor, but it is not always included. In any case, you need to install it.

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Stock footage

In this article, we examined the option of installing a warm floor and radiators. We hope that thanks to this information you could decide for yourself which is better - underfloor heating or batteries, and did not regret your choice.