Electricity or water: how to make the floor warmer?
At first glance, a warm floor is very convenient: children may not get up from it for a long time, and those who like to walk barefoot will not have to squeeze their feet into house slippers. But does such a heating system have other advantages? Woman’s Day, together with Ariston Thermo, figured out this and at the same time found out which warm floor is better.
Gas boiler GENUS EVO from Ariston Thermo
Surprisingly, underfloor heating is good for your health, as it creates a “gentle” heat evenly distributed throughout the room, thanks to which you can completely abandon not only heaters, but also standard radiators, which excessively dry out the air. Underfloor heating better distributes heat in the room: 24–26 ° C at the floor and 20–22 ° C at head level. For designers and housewives, a warm floor can greatly facilitate the task of creating a minimalist and neat interior. Such a system practically does not take up useful space and does not load the space with unnecessary attributes – heating radiators and convectors. A room without them is the dream of any architect and designer. In it, nothing distracts from creativity, you can achieve absolute unity of style and profitably use the vacated area. For example, put a beautiful floor vase under the window, without fear that it will not harmonize with the radiator or simply close it, interfering with effective work.
Uniform heating of the air excludes dust circulation and microbial growth. This is especially important for those with asthma or allergies. The absence of complex mechanical equipment and a simple control system using the remote control will help you to easily regulate the floor temperature.
Warm floor for the whole house
Water heat-insulated floor REHAU
Warm floors can be both an additional way to heat the room (along with heaters and batteries), and the main one. Such a system is suitable for all types of premises, and its advantages are not limited to just heat. In the kitchen, the floor, which inevitably gets water when washing dishes, will dry much faster, preventing the growth of mold and mildew under the sink and under the baseboard.
The bathroom and toilet are not the largest rooms in the house, and here the saving of usable space will be simply invaluable. When a heated floor is installed in the bathroom, the air in the room becomes drier. This means that the washed linen will dry much faster and will not need to be hung on the balcony or loggia.
In the hallway, where it is often also wet from shoes and umbrellas, a warm floor will save the hostess from the need to wipe the floor every time guests and household members come from the street.
For living quarters, a warm floor is not the only, but a very good solution, especially if you have to scroll in your head a lot of options for bypassing batteries when arranging furniture. But it’s not just living spaces that benefit from underfloor heating systems, they are ideal for atrium and verandahs.
Gas boiler CLAS EVO from Ariston Thermо
Underfloor heating can be of two types: electric and water. The system of the first is based on a heating cable, while the main element of the second is thin pipes through which hot water flows.
The electric underfloor heating cable is embedded directly into the screed or placed directly under the tiles, turning the entire floor into a real heater with a comfortable foot temperature, which is two to three degrees higher than the air temperature. At the same time, the air in the room does not dry out. Such a system is silent, does not create drafts, is economical, electrical and fire safe, provides an optimal temperature regime and does not require repair and preventive maintenance. So even a single girl can afford an electric warm floor.
In the second variant, water, the heated water gives off heat, passing through the pipes laid in the screed.
The pipes are mounted on a special mesh or on so-called mats with clamps, after which they are poured with a concrete screed.
Water underfloor heating is a more comfortable and efficient heating system than a traditional radiator. And in comparison with electric underfloor heating, it allows you to significantly save money, which can be spent on something more material than warm air. However, now there is a certain restriction on the construction of such floors: in city apartments with centralized heating, it is prohibited, since it increases the load on the heating system. In addition, you cannot connect to hot water pipes, because the water from the hot water supply pipe, passing through the heating floor circuit, will return back already cooled, which, of course, will not delight your neighbors.
But in country houses, warm water floors are very popular. And it’s not just about comfort – heat pumps are increasingly being used for economical heating of private houses. These energy-saving systems supply water to the heating network at a temperature of about 35ºC, while conventional radiators require a hotter heating medium.
For floor heating in a country house, boilers of the EVO series from Ariston Thermo are perfect. It includes single-circuit and double-circuit boilers of the middle (CLASEVO) and premium (GENUSEVO) price segments. These boilers are notable for being able to “react” to the weather, independently regulating the temperature of water heating for a warm floor. Thanks to their sophisticated modern design, wall-mounted gas boilers from Ariston will easily fit into any interior.
Warm floor underfoot is a pleasant feeling of comfort. It is quite possible to install it. There are many high-quality branded systems on the market (both electrical and water) that guarantee the reliable operation of underfloor heating for many years.