Electric underfloor heating

[L1OFF]

I'm looking at renovation of my bathroom and would like to install electric underfloor heating. I have previously used electric underfloor in the utility room (concrete floor) but unsure what insulation etc to use for a suspended wooden floor (bathroom is first floor of house) and proposed cushioned vinyl floor covering. Can anybody point me in the right direction/

thanks
Alan

[Cheib]

I am a long way from knowing exactly what you should do but you can get insulated boarding like this that is designed to insulate underfloor heating. HTH !

Hopefully someone more knowledgeable will be along shortly…

https://www.theunderfloorheatingstore.com/products...

[Patio]

We've done 2 bathrooms and just used loose wire on the first tacked to chipboard floor, then tiled which worked a treat

Last one we used warm up heat mat clipped down then a thin screed with lino on top which also works a treat

Electric needs to be encased in screed/tile adhesive to spread the heat and avoid it burning out

Bathrooms are small areas with(usually) a towel rad so you don't need to do it wall to wall, just walk areas

Enjoy the warm floor in the morning when it's cold outside

[DonkeyApple]

L1OFF said:

I'm looking at renovation of my bathroom and would like to install electric underfloor heating. I have previously used electric underfloor in the utility room (concrete floor) but unsure what insulation etc to use for a suspended wooden floor (bathroom is first floor of house) and proposed cushioned vinyl floor covering. Can anybody point me in the right direction/

thanks
Alan

Our bathrooms just have the wires threaded through the knobbly insulation matting and then covered in tile cement. Works perfectly well. There will be heat loss into the floor but it's not the end of the world. Plus, unlike downstairs and the concrete pad, the floor heats up quickly so it only comes on an hour before people wake then off before coming back on mid evening for a few hours.

That said, no one in my family ever mentioned this winter that none of it was switched on so I didn't switch it on. Which was nice.

[L1OFF]

Would screed or tile adhesive crack on wooden floorboards due to flex?

[119]

Patio said:

Enjoy the warm floor in the morning when it's cold outside

All of our bathrooms are tiled with no underfloor heating and the tiles aren’t cold at all as the whole house is heated to temperatures higher than outside.

[DonkeyApple]

L1OFF said:

Would screed or tile adhesive crack on wooden floorboards due to flex?

You'd certainly want to make sure all the boards were tight but the insulation matting does effectively mean the tile floor is floating.

[zalrak]

I have electric UFH in a couple of rooms with concrete base and tiled flooring. It's very good and I considered it when refurbishing a bathroom with a wooden base.

I decided against as the room is only used for short periods of time and had Amtico LVT installed instead. I have to say that it is very warm underfoot and I'm pleased we went this way. UFH would not be needed in there at all.

[Patio]

119 said:

Patio said:

Enjoy the warm floor in the morning when it's cold outside

All of our bathrooms are tiled with no underfloor heating and the tiles aren’t cold at all as the whole house is heated to temperatures higher than outside.

Have you ever experienced an ufh tiled floor?

[DonkeyApple]

Patio said:

Have you ever experienced an ufh tiled floor?

[119]

Patio said:

119 said:

Patio said:

Enjoy the warm floor in the morning when it's cold outside

All of our bathrooms are tiled with no underfloor heating and the tiles aren’t cold at all as the whole house is heated to temperatures higher than outside.

Have you ever experienced an ufh tiled floor?

Yep many times.

[Cheib]

L1OFF said:

Would screed or tile adhesive crack on wooden floorboards due to flex?

We’ve recently pulled up a floor that was effectively laid like that…the tiles were cracking in various places. Old house but I can imagine over time it would happen on any tiled floor laid on floorboards.

If you use something like an insulated cement or tile backer board that will give you a better structural layer and also insulate to increase the performance of the UFH.

[DorsetSparky]

zalrak said:

I have electric UFH in a couple of rooms with concrete base and tiled flooring. It's very good and I considered it when refurbishing a bathroom with a wooden base.

I decided against as the room is only used for short periods of time and had Amtico LVT installed instead. I have to say that it is very warm underfoot and I'm pleased we went this way. UFH would not be needed in there at all.

I can wholeheartedly recommend underfloor heating with Amtico. It's bliss.

[Patio]

119 said:

Patio said:

119 said:

Patio said:

Enjoy the warm floor in the morning when it's cold outside

All of our bathrooms are tiled with no underfloor heating and the tiles aren’t cold at all as the whole house is heated to temperatures higher than outside.

Have you ever experienced an ufh tiled floor?

Yep many times.

Good, so you'll know that the ambient room temp, for example where the stat is, will be a different temp to the heat source of the room

Stand next to a rad and it will be boiling. Likewise, in ufch the floor becomes the rad, so to get an ambient room temp of 21 the floor temp will be around 28/30 degrees

30 degree tiles feel alot different to 21 degree tiles

[OldPal]

L1OFF said:

Would screed or tile adhesive crack on wooden floorboards due to flex?

You would need to ply then seal the edges with silicone/foam and use a flexible fibre screed for it to work

Or a decoupling mat