The heating cable – the main and most important part of the design. Its purpose – to convert flowing through it an electric current directly into heat. In any cable or wire a small portion of energy is transformed into heat, but this is a very small value of – 1 to 3%, with a range of measures taken to reduce it. In the heating cable is the opposite: 100% of the power must be converted into heat, and specific heat – the most important technical parameter of these cables. In other words, it is a heating element made of cable technology.
Specific heat of floor heating cables for systems of electric heating floor – 7-21 W / m, with higher values ??are undesirable. With increasing specific power cord is reduced in length, attributable to a specific area, and perhaps this increased distance between the individual lines of the cable, which will be uneven heating of the average step -7-15 cm). One of the secrets of high reliability of the warm floor in the fact that the cable is heated to 60-70 ° C, and insulation materials and the shell can withstand temperatures above 100 ° C.
In the sale of the heating cable is supplied as a finished product. The consumer receives the heating sections – sections of the cable of fixed length, a certain power, special couplings with so-called cold ends, that is, segments of wire intended for connection to an electrical heating cable network. Length of the cold ends – from 0.75 to 2 m in most cases, that is enough to sum up the wires to the junction box on the wall. The service life of the whole system depends on the reliability of the heating section, so manufacturers usually have many times it is very hard conditions. Complete replacement of the heating cable in the system electric heating floor, as a rule, is impossible without the complete destruction of the surface of the floor construction.
Modern heating cables from leading firms are 50 – 75 years which is much more familiar terms of warranty on equipment that make up 12-24 months. This means that the modern technology of production equipment for the underfloor heating provides not only reliable, and extremely reliable product. The difference in term of warranty has no special meaning for the consumer. Much more important is the presence of a network of companies, distributors, actually works to ensure the verification of the system in case of any problems. The most common two types of resistive radiant floor heating cable for floor heating: solid and shielded two-wire shielded. The first contains two clutches and two cold end, the second at one end of the end plug and the other – adapter and power cord. Scheme of installation vary. As a rule, put two-wire cable is easier, but it is slightly more expensive than single-core.
The heating cable has a metal screen (usually a shield), and two – three layers of insulation. The presence of the shield required for the operation of electrical requirements of the Regulations, and in his section, he shall be equivalent to 1.0 mm2 copper conductor. As a rule, on the surface of the cable marking is present, allowing to accurately determine the type of cable, power supply, power density and release date.
The second constitutive element of the design – the thermostat (the device to control the temperature and its changes). He can be programmed or operated manually. In the programmable thermostat you can set options for the week: the desired temperature and time of the system only once, and then it will automatically adjust the settings as conditions change.
The temperature of the floor and the room air through the instrument determines the temperature sensors: floor (located between the turns of the cable – to control the floor temperature) or air (located inside the thermostat – control the room temperature). More often for floor heating installed as an additional underfloor heating system thermostat is used with a floor sensor. If the warm floor – the main or only equipment for heating, it is important to control the overall temperature of the air in the room. In this case, experts recommend air thermostat with a sensor. In some systems, particularly in the regeneration of a warm floor covered with wood or laminate flooring, heat-sensitive, use a dual control system with temperature sensors and air floor. The only restriction on the installation of thermostats – high humidity, so the bathrooms are used thermostats with high moisture protection class. Or is he driven out of a wet room.
