Heating System Selector

Is this a wet area?

Secondly, you will need to select if your Underfloor Heating is to be installed in a wet area or outside of a wet area.

This helps guide us as to the best system to recommend and the most suitable insulation board.

Whilst an uncoated insulation board is typically recommended for concrete substrates, we always recommend the use of a coated insulation board for wet areas regardless of the substrate due to waterproofing.

If you are selecting a mat system for a wet room, we will always recommend using the 200W system even if it is installed directly below the tiles. This is because bathrooms are typically colder rooms so we want to increase the heat output in that space.

The second reason is that for Underfloor Heating to be the primary heat source in the room at least 80% of the floor area needs to be covered with heating. With floor mounted fixtures such as baths and vanities, this can be hard to achieve so having the 200W system at least means we are putting the maximum heat into the available floor space.

In Screed or Directly Below the Floor Covering

Secondly, you will need to select if the underfloor heating is to be installed directly below your floor covering or underneath a sand and cement screed.

All systems are designed so they can be installed directly below the floor finish without the need of a screed or self-levelling. When installing directly below the floor covering it does ensure there is minimal height build-up and fast response time (both heat-up and cool down).

However, in some situations it is preferred by the builder or person laying the floor finish to have the underfloor heating installed with a screed layer.

This ensures that the heating system is protected while the floor finish is being laid and it also ensures that there is a flat surface for the floor layer to work on. When installed within the screed it does mean the heating will take longer to heat up (approx. 1hr longer per 25mm of screed) however will also hold the heat for longer.

Matting or Loose Wire

Underfloor heating systems can come as a matting or loose wire system.

With the matting systems the heating cable is all pre-spaced on the self-adhesive mesh which allows for quick and easy installation especially in large open areas.

The loose wire systems are used for small or awkward shaped areas.

Floor Finish

Lastly select your floor finish to find the recommended solution.