Basement Conversion with Easy DIY Radiant Electric Floor Heating
Posted: Monday, February 27, 2006
by Mirek Walus
Ideal Heating LLC
Basement conversion. From cold cement slab floor to nice & warm surface in one day!
Created Jan 21 2006 by W. M.
How the unused basement with the cement slab floor was converted into kids playroom with heated floors.
300 sq.ft. of the basement cement slab floor.
Purpose of the room: kid's playroom.
ELEKTRA electric radiant heating chosen for:
-
Ease of installation.
-
Comfort.
-
Safety. Nothing but the thermostat high on the wall is exposed.
-
Relatively low cost.
-
DIY (except for the final check & 30 min. hookup completed by the electrician).
-
Turnaround installation time.
-
Energy efficiency.
-
No need for the maintenance.
-
Simplicity.
-
Reliability: 20-30 years of maintenance free service expected.
Two ELEKTRA MG100/12.0/240V mats. Each to cover 133 sq.ft.
240V was chosen to have lower Amps setup. Each to pull 5.2 Amp.
Controlled by: ELEKTRA OJ MICROLINE UCCG-9991-EA line voltage GFCI programmable thermostat with the floor temp. sensor.
When measuring for floor heating you should only plan for and measure the open floor areas or simply said: 'anywhere you can walk on’. That’s one distinct difference to when you measure for tiles or other floor coverage where you would order somewhat more than you actually need.
Floor heating should not be installed under solid objects like kitchen cabinets, bathroom shower stalls, vanities etc.
The mats could be cut to fit almost any shape of the floor, but not cut-off to make it smaller.
Electric heating cable on the mat, MUST NEVER BE CUT. Only the fiberglass mesh holding the wire can be cut. Therefore it is critical not to order too much. Also you can leave several inches of unheated floor space next to each wall.
First, "Backerboards" were attached to the slab with construction adhesive and the nail gun. This is to help insulate from the cold slab and to save energy as well as allowing stapling the heating mats instead of using the hot glue gun if the mats were installed directly on the slab.
"Backerboard" attached with nails and construction adhesive to the original cement slab with the radiant heating mat stapled on top the backerboards:
The floors are going to be raised by mere 1/8", the thickness of the mat.
Final check of the electrical resistance before floor is covered by thinset and tiles.
82.5F on the floor! The new room feels cool but yet it is a very pleasant cool feeling.
More info: www.Ideal-Heating.com
Where was this done? In a cold climate? With backerboard,tile,mesh,and coil how thick was it? We have limited space in our basement and have less than 3/4 of an inch to work with to meet code. Could this system work for us?
