Hello Contractors and Craftsmen,
I am hoping to hear some comments/opinions on electric in floor radiant heating.
A friend is installing approx 60 sqf in his bathroom but has heard some scary comments about failures from an electrician. He is using the INFLOOR brand and it sure looks like a nice product to me.
Anyone have input, high praise or horror stories?
Thanks
Replies
I put one in my house a few months back, and love it. I haven't heard many horror stories- actually, the only horror story I've heard is a guy here who put in a non-functioning one or sliced a wire putting it in. Those things can be avoided by careful testing throughout the setting of the wire mat and the tile on top of it.
It seems to me that such a low watt density element would last a very long time, as long as the floor is made to be stable and watertight.
zak
Yeah, test it before it's installed, after it's laid in place, then after each step of the floor finishing process. Most failures can be traced to someone putting a screw or nail through the thing or nicking it with a trowel or some such.
The smartest installation of heating mats I have seen involves pouring self-leveling compound over them, and then setting tile to that. I would personally never trowel thinset over a mat like that, it's an invitation to disaster. I have seen more than one tile floor removed immediately after setting because the heat didn't work.
Thanks for your thoughts guys.
This is a cable type of system and I'm guessing they will last a long time if installed carefully.
I put in the Nu-Heat system in the upstairs bathroom. My wife thanks me all of the time. I recommend going the leveling compound route too....that's not a mistake, it's rustic
We've installed 7 or 8; all Sun-Touch, now Warmly Yours, I guess. We've had problems with 2. One extensive installation on a 4 inch basement slab. We suspect that since the slab was not insulated, we're losing all the heat to the soil; the other was a bathroom installation. We followed proper procedures, tested throughout; it worked for several months, then just died. There's power to the thermostat and now no way to remove tiles for further investigation. I guess that's a success rate of about 75%, for what it's worth.
Thanks,
That's just the kind of situation we are concerned about!
Some ???'s if you've got the time:
Was this a cable type system ( looks like Coax and stapled to SF) or a mat type?
Coverd with mortar and troweled, or a self-leveling material?
Did your system involve a temp probe inserted in a conduit buried with the cable?
Any warranty action involved, or are you swingn' in the wind?
Thanks JP