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 Electric
Underfloor Heating
The basic principle of all types of underfloor heating is the same. To warm the floor thereby creating a low temperature heat source with a large surface area. Instead of one small piping hot radiator on the wall the entire floor becomes a "warmth radiator" under your feet.
Electric underfloor heating for appeared in the Sixties when electrical heating elements were buried within floor screeds. These were heated over night using cheap rate electricity, but this method was expensive to run, unreliable and not particularly practical. The heat wasn't very controllable and rooms would often over heat during the day and then cool during the evening, when heat was generally
required.
The eletric underfloor heating systems sold today are a different animal altogether. They are efficient, economical and effective, and give the user full control over heat 24 hours a day.
Electric floor heating is more popular in areas where there is no mains gas supply and is usually cheaper to install that wet systems.
It also usually takes up less depth - important where head height is a consideration - and because of this is easier to install in an existing house than the warm water system.
A house can be fitted with electric underfloor heating which can be zoned and run along the same lines as the warm water underfloor heating system. Alternatively any individual room, such as a bathroom, kitchen or conservatory, can be heated by an electric underfloor system and is ideal at warming otherwise cold floor coverings such as tiles, stone or marble.
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Electric under floor heating is provided as either cable mats which have the cable secured to a mesh for hassle free laying or as a roll of cable which can be used in any room irrespective of its shape and size. The type of flooring will determine the cable needed, with timber floors requiring less output that concrete ones.
Electric underfloor heating systems make an ideal DIY project, but for safety's sake always employ a qualified electrician to connect an electric heating system to your electrical supply.
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