Heat Selected Areas Using Electric Underfloor Heating

There are many new methods for heating selected areas of a house or building. One of the most effective and popular methods is heating the floor of that selected area. There are two different technologies to heat that specific floor area. One type of technology is, using pipes through which heated water is passed through. The other technology involves electric cables that are laid underneath the floor surface. Both are effective but using electric cables technology is better because these cables are made of non-perishable materials and do not leak or decay in the long run.

The electric cable heating technology is called electric underfloor heating in the UK and radiant floor heating in the US. Installing electric underfloor heating is easy. The electric cables that are used for it are first run through a mesh mat and then placed on the existing floor surface. In fact, most products for this system today come ready-made as rolls of electric floor heating mats that consists of electric cables running through a mesh. Most mats generate around fifteen watts per square foot but the actual voltage may differ between products. After the electric cable mats are laid out, its better to place a thin layer of cement over them before installing the surface flooring material. This way homeowners and commercial establishments can provide additional heating to selected areas or rooms. That is if they need to complement the central heating system.

However because using this under floor heating systems make great warm floors to walk on during the colder months, many people are now replacing their existing heating systems with underfloor heating. But in areas where electricity costs more than using natural gas and standard oil heating, it is not yet economical to use this new technology as a complete home and building heating solution.

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