Laying a warm floor in a living room is an excellent solution, and she found many fans. But many are interested in whether this type of heating can be used if the laminate has been used as a coating. The technology of laying it easily makes it possible. But will not this lead to other problems in the future? After all, it will be exposed to high temperatures, which can cause a different reaction. In addition, there are different types of ways of laying warm floors. Before starting the installation work it is necessary to choose the most optimal option, then not to throw away money for alterations and new repairs.
Choose a laminate for underfloor heating
It turned out that not all laminate grades can be used with heating. It is necessary to carefully read the labels on the label when buying this material. It should be indicated whether it is allowed to use this laminate with a "warm floor" system. This can be the "Warm Wasser" marking. Also, the thermal resistance of this coating, its resistance to heat, should be indicated. Usually consumers look at the load class, choosing the most wear-resistant option when possible. But there is another division in terms of the degree of release into the atmosphere of formaldehyde. Everyone knows that when the substance is heated, evaporation from its surface of various chemical elements is intensified. If there is a marking E3 or E2, then it is better not to buy such a laminate for a warm floor. Now in Europe in general, it was banned to release, trying to use only the class E1 or even E0, the least contaminated.
Laying the laminate on the floor
The way of laying will depend on which one you choose the heating element. At home, you can mount a water-heated floor or electric. In addition, the electrical system is divided according to the type of heating element. Let's consider all variants:
- Water-heated floor . The heating element here is made in the form of a flexible tube of copper or other material. Warm water circulates through it and carries out heating of the floor under the laminate. But here there are some nuances that the consumer must necessarily know. If nobody restricts you to a private house, it is almost forbidden to connect such floors to general heating systems in multi-storey buildings. Also, this design is difficult to mount in small rooms (up to 20 sq.m.). In addition, it is not always possible to accurately adjust the temperature of the carrier. But this is a very important issue. The temperature of the warm floor under the laminate is not recommended to increase more than 26 degrees.
- Electric underfloor heating . Here, a heating cable, a mat or a special film is used. In any case, it is more convenient to control the temperature here than in the first case. A good thermostat will allow you to adjust the amount of heating of the coolant to one degree. Let's consider some features of all three variants:
- if you bought a cable floor, you will have to make a thin screed in the room and lay the laminate on the substrate. This will slightly reduce the heat transfer, although many argue that the losses are not very significant;
- for heating matting screed is not needed. But the large step of laying the cable often leads to the fact that the floor will not heat evenly over the entire area, which sometimes leads to deformation of the coating;
- the most successful solution for today is the film warm floor. The film is very thin, the thickness is only a few millimeters.
Laminate can be laid directly on it, and this minimizes heat loss minimally, eliminates the deformation of the coating and it evenly warms up. It is not necessary in this case to produce any preliminary work, which speeds up and simplifies installation.
Now some manufacturers already supply laminate together with a ready-made system for its heating. No need to worry that it does not fit for these purposes, look for temperature regulators in stores and other components. Such heated floors under the laminate will ensure a good heating of your apartment, protecting the owners from the cold and colds in the winter.