underfloor heating in a small area Help, advice, information, answers and tips on all types of flooring from laminate and carpet to timber and vinyl

[chris_on_tour2002]

hi

i've posted this on a few threads as not sure where best to put it!

does anybody know of an underfloor heating system (electric, not wet) that will suit an area of appx 0.75sqm? it is for our toilet upstairs that will be tiled. its a very small area and the room is too small for a radiator.

i've looked at the usual under tile types but the smallest they do is 1sqm. this would be ok but would mean that i would have to lose the extra under the carpet on the landing.

i would also like to underfloor heat our bathroom in the adjacent room. (appx 3sqm) and was wondering if i could use one underfloor mat and span across both rooms. but this again would mean running part of the heating under the carpet to bridge across into the toilet.

anybody encountered this problem? any suggestions would be gratefully received!

[ericmark]

There are three basic types of electric under floor heating. Two use a resistive cable and out of them one is of a set length the other uses two cables with resistive cable between the two and you can see indents where the connections are made and you can cut it just after each indent giving about 1.5 meters between each. And finally there is one with a chemical compound between the two cables and is also used as frost protection. For example ray-chem as the cable heats up its resistance increases so is self regulating and can be cut to any length. All the types which are cut need special ends fitting after they are cut and would not normally be sold as a DIY kit also they don't tend to have built in earth like the set length types and you may want to add an earth mat in case any little boys miss it could be painful to say the least.

[chris_on_tour2002]

thanks for that ericmark - the second system that you detail, could i make it work in an area 800mm wide by 600mm deep? the room is actually deeper than 600mm but i don't want to have the heating under the toilet pan itself, which i believe is a no-no anyway.

[ericmark]

There is a company down the road from me who fit the chemical type heating called Allbrite UK Ltd., I am sure there are many more like them. Because the type of heating wires they use need terminating correctly I would not advise DIY with this type. As to multi-rooms on same system it would have to be chemical type as only that type is self regulating. Placing rubbish bins etc. on self regulating does not cause a problem but it would with plain resistive type. On saying that I laid resistive type in my Mums wet room but in a wet room one does not place things on the floor they would get wet. Also needed a type with built in earth mat as I had no room to lay mat on top.

[chris_on_tour2002]

thanks, i shall investigate the chemical type further.