Electric underfloor heating has so far been used mainly as an additional, supplementary thermal support, for example, in the bathroom or hallway – if we wanted a pleasantly warm effect in these places. It was something of a heating gadget, to the delight of the feet. Concerned about the high price of electricity, we used them less often on a wider scale. Today, this trend is reversing. What is the reason for this?
In terms of investment and installation, electric floor heating is one of the cheapest heating solutions. Water underfloor heating requires much more maintenance and financial outlay. For it to work, we need a complete plumbing system: a boiler to heat the water (or a heat pump with a buffer), a manifold to distribute the heat, and pipes to heat the floor. It’s a demanding system, quite an undertaking and a big expense.
Electric floor heating is not so complicated. It doesn’t require plumbing, moisture insulation, screeding or solid floor preparation. Installation is quick and relatively easy – especially if you use heating mats, in which heating wires are placed on a fiberglass mesh. Slightly more labor-intensive is the laying of the heating cables, but even this is less difficult than the implementation of water installation. Heating mats can be used both in new construction and in major renovation of older buildings that have been in use for years.
Does electric floor heating pay off in terms of operation? What advantages does it have, and what disadvantages? Where will it perform well? We will try to comprehensively answer these questions.
In all likelihood, it has to do with the increasing popularity of home photovoltaics, which allow us to minimize electricity charges – and sometimes even reduce them completely. If we are prosumers of electricity, our perspective changes 180 degrees. Electricity charges cease to scare us. Moreover, other heating energy becomes a burden on the budget – since we can use PV panels and free electricity. In such a situation, electric floor heating is the best choice: uncomplicated installation plus fabulously cheap operation. The convenience of use, functionality and cheapness of electric floor heating is then fully appreciated. It can be the main heating of the building.
Electric heating is environmentally friendly. It can use energy obtained from RES (solar, water, wind). Energy losses are minimal – in fact, 100 percent of it is converted into heat. This type of heating provides high thermal comfort, and at the same time it does not create combustion by-products, does not poison the environment, does not pollute the air we breathe. It is easy to control, thanks to modern building automation. Electric flooring is an automated, almost maintenance-free proposition. It will easily become an element of a smart home (control of heating via the Internet, smart scenarios).
What’s more, in the case of a water floor, the heating process is long. The pipes are laid low, under the concrete screed, which must heat up before the heat reaches the floor – under our feet. This takes time. Electric flooring, on the other hand, is installed directly against the floor, which reduces the thermal inertia of underfloor heating and shortens the time it takes to heat the floor. In short: it gets warm faster.
What is an advantage on the one hand can become a disadvantage. Since electric underfloor heating has less thermal inertia than water heating, it takes less time to heat up, but it also gives off heat for a shorter period of time, accumulating it less quickly. That is, it cools down faster. This is something to keep in mind.
Electric floor heating is safe. Throughout its lifetime it does not require pre-season maintenance (this period lasts on average from 20 years upwards, and it is said even 50 years of trouble-free operation).
For proper installation we need an experienced professional – that’s clear – but electric heating done in accordance with the art of construction is technologically safe from possible punctures and electric shock – and actually the user is protected from this. If done decently, we are safe. Moreover, the use of electric heating mats or cables is much safer than gas or coal heating. The risk of carbon monoxide poisoning or explosion disappears. It is also cleaner and healthier.
Of course, the operating costs – if we can’t take full advantage of photovoltaics. There is no fooling yourself, in the subject of costs you can strongly “swim”. However, this does not apply only to electric heating. If we want to control operating expenses, we need a good understanding, knowledge of energy tariffs, consumption plan and individual calculations. There is no universal recipe for cheap heating.
With current heating fuel prices, the situation is no longer as obvious as it was even two or three years ago. Back then, electricity as the main heating medium was highly questionable – compared to natural gas or traditional coal. Electricity prices were never competitive. But now everything is expensive.
Heating with electricity can be cost-effective, especially if you heat small rooms comfortably or only one or two rooms, and the rest of the interior economically. After all, the whole house/apartment doesn’t have to “gush with heat.” There is rarely such a need and few people like it.
Besides, the monthly cost of electric floor heating can be planned. In a smart home, electricity consumption is watched over by rules laid out with the economy of consumption in mind. Thus, we do not have to give up the convenience and comfort of this solution. Modern floor mats are energy efficient. They are no demonic electricity devourers over which we have no control. If we control the heat intake wisely, we will successfully keep the fees in check.
Once again, let’s recall the option to invest in photovoltaic panels and use surplus production, which can reduce electricity costs to zero.
Besides, modern technologies and controllers equipped with operating algorithms that prioritize energy efficiency help us save. Manual management of consumption has never been and will never be efficient. And in the case of underfloor heating in general it seems on average possible. Automation is a prerequisite for success. Therefore, with electric floor heating, it is worth relying on zone temperature control. Not just to make it convenient, but to make it cheaper.
We already know (not only from today’s article, by the way, because we repeat it at every opportunity) that heating controls are necessary, and not – as some mistakenly believe – optional. In the case of underfloor heating, whether water or electric, it is even necessary. Without it, it would be difficult to control the temperature throughout the building, let alone adjust it to the daily rhythm of the day. Controllers really help to reduce fees. After all, the principle is logical: the heating system is most active during morning and evening busyness and in the rooms we use, while when the household members are absent, its activity decreases. Individual programming of active heating periods is a proven cost-saving strategy.
Modern thermostats “learn” the building (e.g., the TPI algorithm), collecting information about how quickly a room heats up, when to turn on and off to maintain the set temperature, with the lowest energy consumption. Such algorithms can optimize the system and bring heating savings of up to 30%.
Electric floor heating can be an ideal investment for a home. However, it is always worth considering it together with the use of building automation. Otherwise, efficiency will be lost. Controllers and floor heating are the most cost-effective duo.