Features of laying a warm electric floor under a laminate

A warm electric floor installed beneath laminate is a great way to improve the warmth and coziness of your house. This system creates a comfortable living space by evenly dispersing heat throughout the room and keeping your feet toasty during the colder months. The outcome is both functional and visually beautiful when paired with laminate, a popular and fashionable flooring option.

Prior to beginning installation, it’s critical to comprehend the essential components of installing a warm electric floor beneath laminate. To guarantee the system operates effectively and safely, careful planning, appropriate material selection, and adherence to prescribed procedures are essential. Furthermore, the final result can be greatly impacted by one’s ability to handle electrical components and apply laminate over heating elements.

The essentials of this installation will be covered in this guide, along with best practices and advice to help you achieve a perfect finish. These insights will give you important knowledge to make sure your warm electric floor under laminate performs optimally and lasts for years to come, whether you’re a do-it-yourself enthusiast or intend to hire a professional.

Feature	Description
Preparation	Ensure the subfloor is clean, dry, and level before starting the installation.
Insulation	Lay down an appropriate insulation layer to improve efficiency and reduce heat loss.
Heating Mats	Place the electric heating mats according to the manufacturer"s instructions, ensuring even coverage.
Thermostat	Install a thermostat to control the temperature of the electric floor heating system.
Laminate Flooring	Ensure the laminate is compatible with underfloor heating and install it over the heating mats.
Testing	Test the system to ensure it operates correctly before completing the flooring installation.

Is it possible to lay?

Modern electric floors can be installed beneath laminated coatings, despite all of their challenges. However, the characteristics of selecting the coating itself must be understood:

• only material with increased resistance to high temperatures up to 27-30 ° C (slowly heating) is suitable for laying;
• not emitting harmful substances.

An electric floor can be made underneath such a material only if these characteristics are present. Because of the coating’s high fire hazard, it is not practical in any other situation.

Types of heating systems

Three kinds of electrical systems can be installed beneath wooden laminated coatings:

• Cable. It is a single-core or two-core cable. A wire is used as a conductive source, which is laid under a screed of medium thickness. The disadvantage of this heating method is large heat losses that go into the concrete.
• From heating mats. They are distinguished by a convenient installation method. Wires laid in a serpentine pattern are used as a source of energy. They can be in a cellular grid or be made on a metal or aluminum base. Aluminum mats are particularly suitable for laminate. They can be laid on a rough base under the finishing coating without the need to pour a screed.
• Infrared heating system. They are mats on which heating elements with infrared radiation are installed. Consist of IR film and copper conductive buses.

In order to act as a heat generator and an intermediary barrier between hot cables and lamellas, a concrete layer is required.

Without laying a screed, IR floors can be installed directly underneath laminate flooring.

Electric floor requirements

You must be aware of the conditions placed on the base and the guidelines that must be followed before beginning work on the screed and electric floor.

Dust and other debris need to be removed from the concrete floor. They are sealed if there are any unevenness or cracks.

Guidelines for installing electric floors:

1. Electric heating cables should not be laid under furniture and under carpets. If the heating element is located under objects, the laminate may overheat and there will be a fire hazard.
2. The distance from the walls to the underfloor heating system should be at least 20 cm, and preferably 30 cm. The same distance should be provided from the heating batteries.
3. The parameter of the total area occupied by electrical cables is important. It should not exceed 60-70% of the total floor space. This is due to the fact that heated air must circulate in open areas.
4. The location of the temperature sensor in the screed layer and under the laminate should be approximately 50 cm from the nearest wall on which the thermostat is fixed. This is necessary so that the device correctly shows the level of floor heating.

The room’s long wall is covered in thermal mats (IR film), and the cables are arranged like snakes.

Selection rules

The room’s conditions and other details determine whether the decision was correct. It makes sense to figure out how much electricity will be needed to heat the space in advance.

Cable electric floors are frequently used beneath laminate as the primary source of heating in a room because of how slowly they heat up. Such a system pays for itself entirely with continuous use, so its use is warranted.

Electric mats with an aluminum base or an infrared system are the best options if the electric floor is going to be utilized for extra heating.

Here, the power option to use is determined by the location of the underfloor heating system. Suggested indicators:

• Comfortable floor heating in an apartment on the second floor and above – 130–150 W/sq.m. m.
• On the ground floor – from 150 W/ sq.m.
• On loggia – 250 W/ sq. m.

You must use the following formula to determine this indicator:

1. Where in the specific power of the cable.
2. C – area of ​​heated surface.

Once the necessary power consumption has been determined, you can select the thermostat. The fact that this device maintains the specified temperature within normal limits (up to 26 ° C) is what makes it unique.

Choose the right kind of gadget (built-in or invoice) based on whether it will be mounted above or in the wall. If required, you can also select a simple mechanical thermoregulator or one that is programmable.

The type is determined by the tenants’ desire to independently adjust the temperature inside their residence or by using a technique in this instance. It’s important to select reputable brands of thermostats from the market that won’t break down after a year of use.

As an illustration, consider such:

1. KEEPLY;
2. DEVI;
3. THERMO.

Considerations that go into selecting the laminate flooring type include:

• You need a floor for heating or just heating? Accordingly, choose a suitable design.
• Determine the conditions where you need to lay the laminate and warm floor, calculate the heating power.
• Select the installation method: for electric cables and wire-based mesh mats, choose laying in a screed.

Rating of the best options

The ranking of the top electric floor for laminate is provided below to help you decide which option is better:

• Deviflex
• Alumia.
• Tropix TLBE.
• Ensto FinnMat.
• XiCA.

Every one of these systems has unique qualities.

Deviflex 100-150 T

Under the screed, an electric cable in Danish. It is durable, high-quality, and comes with a long warranty. The necessary power is taken into account when installing. The spacing between consecutive rows of cable should be increased if you intend to lower the power.

Features:

• Warranty — 20 years.
• Power — 100 W/ sq. m.
• Average price — 6000 rubles/ sq. m.

Benefits: extended warranty time. The installation in the screed is a drawback.

Alumia

Made especially for laminate or parquet floors by Teplolux. Because the cable is embedded in an aluminum foil mat, it has excellent heat-conducting properties.

Characteristics:

• Specific power per 1 sq. m. — 150 W.
• Warranty — 25 years for the product.
• Cost 4269 rubles per 1 sq. m.
• Cable diameter — 1.08-1.49 mm.

Tropix TLBE

The cable has two cores. It is advised to use the specified power of 180 W/sq. m as the primary source of heating. 3500 W per square meter is the maximum value for heating when installed as the primary type.

Features:

• Power consumption – 984 W;
• Cable length — 2 m.
• Warranty — 50 years.

Benefits: A larger heating cable’s cross-section allows for quicker heat distribution. extended guarantee time. Cons: Screed filling is necessary.

Ensto FinnMat

A product of the Finnish company EFHFM130.2 are grid-mounted heating mats. Installation is done on tile adhesive or beneath the screed.

Features:

• Specific power — 260 W per sq. m.
• Cost — 7000 rubles / sq.m
• Mat thickness — 4 mm.
• Warranty — 10 years.

Benefits of use: mats are safe for the environment and friendly to the environment. The screed filling beneath the laminate is a drawback.

XiCA

Rexva Xica XM305-1, a South Korean-made infrared floor kit. depicts rolls of film fixed with tape using a corrugated pipe.

Characteristics:

1. Specific power — 220 W/ sq. m.
2. Cost — 850 rubles/running m.
3. Warranty — 10 years.

Benefits include ease of installation and speed of laying without filling the screed. Cons: can’t be used under carpets; needs to be used carefully.

Preparation of the base

It’s important to comprehend the floor’s pie beneath the laminate in order to determine the preparation stages:

• Concrete rough coating.
• Waterproofing membrane.
• Thermal insulation layer with a foil surface.
• Electric heating elements.
• Screed
• Substrate.
• Finish laminated coating.

Thus, the layers will need to be laid in the desired order in order to prepare the base. Using a rag and a broom or vacuum cleaner, the concrete coating is first cleared of dust. It ought to be uniform and seamless. If there are any cracks or irregularities, they need to be filled in with a cement-sand mixture and primed after they have dried.

An insulating membrane is placed on a level base, with a 20–30 cm overlap on the walls. To guarantee tightness, tape is used to glue the overlap between the rolls. Foamed polystyrene foam or any other material with the reflective side up can then be laid. This layer has a thickness of 50 mm in a heated room and 100 mm in an unheated room.

A damper tape laid along the perimeter of the walls compensates for the expansion of the screed. Across the entire area of ​​the future floor installation, it is necessary to fix mounting tapes. They will help the screed and electric floor to adhere.

There are subtleties in installation for aluminum mats and infrared floors. The base is made in the same manner as previously mentioned because the screed is not poured in this location.

All you have to do is lay the underlay, install the laminate, and remove the screed from the pie sequence.

Heating installation diagram

How can a laminate laying diagram be properly drawn? To do this, figure out the power and then the required area’s mat count (cable footage).

You then have to do another calculation (for cable only). Determine the laying step by accounting for the surrounding area.

• Ш – laying step.
• П – area of ​​the heated floor.
• D – the length of one section in meters.

The requirements for installing a heated floor are taken into consideration when drawing up the diagram, including the cable system, furniture placement, wall-to-wall spacing, and thermostat location. The connecting and end sleeves of the electric floor are shown in relation to the room’s area in the diagram.

Additionally, it displays the quantity of cable lines installed on the screed as well as the temperature sensor’s location and exact distance from it.

The figure provides an illustration of one of these diagrams. To connect a heating mat or cable to a thermostat, an electrical diagram is also created.

Methods, rules and nuances

The mat, thermostat, temperature sensor, and tape must be fixed with specific clamps in order to install an infrared or aluminum electric floor.

Mark the locations of the devices first. Draw lines in the screed and the wall.

Next, you’ll require:

1. Lay out heat-reflecting insulation on the floor and secure it with tape.
2. After this, attach the mounting tapes in a certain order. Fix the clamps to the tapes. And attach the IR or aluminum film to the clamps.

Guidelines for installing the heating mat:

• Spread out the aluminum mat. Use the marked cutting lines (cut space) if you need to adjust its dimensions to the length or width of the room.
• Leave some space between the first laid mat and the wall to lay the power cable.
• The heating mat must be connected through connectors.
• The mats are laid end to end, they cannot be attached overlapping.

To prevent damage, the temperature sensor is installed inside a corrugated pipe. After that, the pipe itself is sealed.

The thermostat and temperature regulator are connected to the mat following the installation of the IR film or aluminum material flooring.

Make sure to check that the electrical circuit is connected correctly before continuing to lay the flooring.

Features of connections:

• Contact clamps are installed on the IR film and their ends are fixed inside the copper strip and outside on the shiny side.
• Then, the edges of the cut mats should be insulated with a special bitumen mastic.

You must place the mat along the room’s longest wall in order to reduce the quantity of cut rolls.

In the video, expert installation advice is given:

Installation over the coating

The electrical circuit is connected and checked before the finishing coating is applied:

• A system of wedges is installed around the perimeter of the room to contain the expanding effect of the laminate. The gap between the wall and the coating can be from 0.8 to 1.5 mm.
• After this, lay the underlay under the laminate.
• The first row of flooring begins with a solid board, and the last dick is drained to the required size.
• The second row is laid starting with a cut plate offset by 1/3 from the first. In this case, its length should be at least 30 cm.
• The last row of planks can also be sawn in width, but not more than 1-1.8 cm, with a standard width of 7 cm.
• The next step will be removing the wedges and laying the baseboard.

The first row is sawed if the width of the final row is less than 5 cm.

To ensure effectiveness and comfort, there are particular steps and considerations to follow when laying a warm electric floor beneath laminate. The first step in this process is to prepare a clean, insulated subfloor. The heating elements are then evenly laid down. Making sure the floor is level and smooth during installation is essential to preventing laminate damage. A well-thought-out layout and adequate insulation are necessary to maximize energy efficiency and heat distribution. Ultimately, to guarantee a robust and efficient heating system, it’s critical to use a suitable underlayment and to adhere to manufacturer instructions.

Difficulties and errors

If you install it yourself, you might run into mistakes that cause problems with the electric floor’s functionality.

• Clamps for connecting wires are connected to the infrared film only from the outside of the copper strip. This can lead to premature failure of the conductive buses.
• Lack of indentations from batteries, laying a warm floor under furniture. Will lead to drying out of the laminate, its damage.
• Incorrect cutting of the heating mat: according to the material itself, and not according to the marked lines, the heated floor will not work, or this can lead to a short circuit.

Testing and device installation can be challenging when installing electric flooring. It is crucial to understand that there is less chance of harming the heated floor system when all of this work is left to qualified professionals.

In certain instances, the °C sensor was positioned far from the electric floor, causing the floor covering to overheat because the device displayed the temperature of the non-heated floor covering rather than the electric floor. It is important to keep in mind that the sensor is situated within the underfloor heating system, in the space between the heating elements. By doing so, errors can be prevented.

It is preferable to keep the floor temperature steady for a few days after installing the laminate rather than raising it. By doing this, the wood will be kept from drying out.

Pros and cons according to reviews

According to customer reviews, the main benefit of installing an electric floor is that it is warm and comfortable to walk on.

Additional advantages

• Quick laying and installation of the heating mat or IR film can significantly save time that would be spent on installing a traditional water heating system.
• Minimum of dirty work when working with electric floors. In most cases, screed is rarely installed when installing laminate, preferring clean types of electrical systems – IR film or alumomats.

The drawbacks of employing electric flooring

• Harmfulness from radiation when installing infrared and other electric floors. This can lead to health problems, although this issue has not yet been sufficiently studied.
• High electricity bill. When installing an electric floor over a large area, electricity costs increase, which can be quite expensive.

Reviews can be read here and here.

Warm electric flooring under laminate can dramatically increase your home’s coziness and comfort. Even though it involves precise planning, a lot of do-it-yourselfers can complete the process. A successful and long-lasting installation is ensured by knowing the required procedures and supplies.

You can steer clear of common pitfalls by selecting the appropriate kind of electric floor heating system and paying close attention to the manufacturer’s instructions. An even distribution of heat, appropriate insulation, and thoughtful element placement are all critical to the system’s effectiveness. This will extend the life of your laminate flooring in addition to saving energy.

It’s also crucial to take your laminate’s compatibility with the heating system into account. Select laminates with heat-resistant properties and adhere to installation instructions. By paying close attention to the little things, you can protect your flooring from harm and preserve its longevity and aesthetic appeal.

In general, the cost of a warm electric floor beneath laminate may be justified by the comfort and energy savings it provides. You can have a cozy and welcoming floor that brightens your living area all year long with proper planning and execution.

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