I’ve got a job that requires the nuheat floor heating system for a garden room addition that we are building (approx 132 sq ft) as well as an extension to the ensuite which will make it a 90 sq ft bathroom.
I’ve worked with in floor hot water heating systems but never with nuheat or any other electrical heating mats before. I’ve heard that electrical heating mats are more meant as a supplimental heating source, but not meant as the main heat source for keeping a room warm.
Should I be advising the customer to use the Nuheat only as a secondary source of heat?
Replies
Not even sure I'd consider it a "source" of heat--most of the electric systems are designed to take the chill off the floor, not actually heat the room. I just installed one in our basement bathroom (over concrete) and was disappointed with the heat it puts out--definitely warms the floor, but not significantly and definitely not enough to heat the room...
what brand...I've heard that Nuheat is much better than other brands. Not that it be enough to be considered a heat source though. View Image View Image
I've got a few Nuheat mats in our house and will echo what others say... it's not a primary heat source... it's a luxury, albeit a nice one. The 12W per sq. foot is a good guideline.I always try to put as much insulation under the mat as possible, especially in concrete slab situations so that the majority of heat energy is preserved for the floor.I'll also say that I've got three more bathrooms to do and I'm considering an alternative to Nuheat. Nuheat makes good quality rectangular mats (Be sure to test them before installing though!!!! I did have to send one back and had I installed before testing it would have been a VERY costly mistake!!!!!), but fitting their product to odd-shaped rooms poses a challenge. I see a new product at Home Creapo (the name escapes me now) that allows you to zig zag a single wire around any profile. This appeals to me in bathroom situations, although I have yet to ask for info.Scott.Always remember those first immortal words that Adam said to Eve, “You’d better stand back, I don’t know how big this thing’s going to get.”
I do know that you can get custom mats made for Nuheat. ( Not cheap apparently)
what kind of insulation are you using under the floor.
Our mats will go on top of 1 1/2" concrete over a crawl space, with tile on top in both rooms. View Image View Image
>>>I do know that you can get custom mats made for Nuheat. ( Not cheap apparently)Yes, and they're always rectangular. You need to wire multiple mats in parallel for odd situations. (At least the last time I looked which was a year ago).>>>what kind of insulation are you using under the floor.>>>Our mats will go on top of 1 1/2" concrete over a crawl space, with tile on top in both rooms.I would think about what is under the crawl space. FG or foam between joists? As long as you are sure that no thermal energy is leaking then you're OK. In our case it was a concrete slab; I put 2" SM under all areas of heat.Scott.
Edited 7/31/2008 2:06 am by Scott
If you have to fit to an odd shaped room, NuHeat will custom make the mat for you. Pretty much the same per sq. ft. price as the regular mats, and it only takes about 7 to 10 days to get the mat. As soon as the walls are in place, sketch the room with measurements around the perimeter and send them in. They refine the sketch and FAX it to you for approval.
Most but not all. We have a STEP Warmfloor in our bathroom that is and was intended to be (per the manufacturer) the sole source of heat for the room.
Ditto the response above, it's not meant to be the sole source of heat.
If it ain't broke, don't fix it, just open it up to see how it works!
I've used under-tile electric heating and specifically nu-heat as the sole source of heat in several bathrooms and heard no complaints. This past winter I installed another brand as the primary source of heat in a 400 or so sq. ft. Panabode section of a house that served as kitchen and living room. Backup was an infrequently used woodstove and climate was Georgia Straight coastal. Clients were quite satisfied.
How cold does it get in this room? I have a NuHeat mat (love it) but we also have a heated towel bar in a 60 sq. ft. bath. The towel bar is designed to be a true heat source. The NuHeat mat is not.
We live in the warm part of Canada. So coldest it gets is - 5 celsius. Once in a while but not often - 10. Usually winters here hover a few degrees above the freezing mark.
tell me more about the towel bar, never heard of em. View Image View Image
http://www.runtalnorthamerica.com/towel_radiators/index.htmlI love a warm towel in the morning. And our cats park themselves in front of it. They seem to magically know what time it comes on. We use just a plain grounded digital timer on ours, though Runtal does make a timed unit. It is really expensive.
Checking Nuheat's web page I come up with it rated at 12-Watts/sf.
So, for the 132-sf room, I get 1584-Watts. If the room could be heated with a 1500-watt heater then the Nuheat will probably heat it. There are other resistance wire heating systems available that are rated for higher watts/sf.
All the issues with other floor heating systems come into play, the heat will transfer down into the floor just as easily as it does up into the room, if the floor isn't insulated.
I've used custom mats from Nuheat that are not rectangular. They absolutely make odd shapes and sizes and have for years. You pay for them, though.
The other route is to use a heating cable that you zig-zag across the floor and into the odd spaces. You have to tack down the cable so it doesn't move during the process, and then you pour SLC (self leveling cement) over it to get a flat, level surface for tiling.
The heating cable and SLC is cheaper than the Nuheat mat but the labor is more.
Billy
Thanks Billy. You confirm what I have heard. View Image View Image
In mission you might get away with it as primary heat, but I learned in northern BC that mine would not keep up, so I added a register to the cabinet. You do have three exterior walls to contend with and I bet that she, oops, they want a lot of windows. I do not think the BCBC will reckognize this as primary heat, so I would check that. I had a couple of custom mats made by Easy Heat. Not cheap, but fit the spots. It took about 4 - 6wks to get if I recall correctly. The easy heat and nu heat were about the same $$. Pay attention to the collector wire size. The easy heat one was about 3/8" diameter, and I didnt carve it into the subfloor so that led to a bit of a nuisance getting the thinset level for tiling. By the way, I am not a professional installer or contractor.
Brad
Thanks Brad, for the info. Ihave to go in to see the inspector tommorow about the some other itmes, but will ask him about it.
We've already decided ( owner ) that they will run their forced back into the ensuite under and through the vanity toe kick. As for the garden room he wants to add a gas fire place in there as well. So that should take care of that. And yes...8' of glass doors and 13' of windows. View Image View Image