Make life easy, search the forum.

Discuss Electric ufh not reaching desired temperature in the Tiling on Underfloor Heating area at TilersForums. USA and UK Tiling Forum

Reaction score
1
Please checkout the following advertisement.
Apologies in advance for the long post, hope someone can advise

We've had our floor tiled a couple of weeks ago. This week we put the underfloor heating on for the first time and gradually increased the temperature by 5 degrees per day

Today we've set it to 27 degrees and it has taken 6 hours to get to 20 degrees starting from cold at 10 degrees!

Currently it is showing as 20.5 degrees but have also noticed it goes to 21 but then drops rather than increasing to the 27 degrees I've set it to

Is this normal?

We have 2 mats but one temperature sensor, we've also noticed where the mat is laid on the concrete side it is not as warm as the side where its a timber floor with concrete cement boards

Furthermore on the timber floor side some areas of the floor are considerably warmer than other areas of the same floor!?

Any ideas what could be wrong? Could it be the thermostat/sensor or something else?
 
T

Time's Ran Out

Did you see the mats laid out or do you have a plan layout?
Was there any insulation laid?
10 degrees is too cold for a start up temperature - your sensor may not be in the correct position!
 
OP
J
Reaction score
1
Did you see the mats laid out or do you have a plan layout?
Was there any insulation laid?
10 degrees is too cold for a start up temperature - your sensor may not be in the correct position!

The sensor was positioned in between the heating cables 300mm in

I saw the mat being laid down with the self https://www.tilersforums.com/forums/tile-adhesive/ mesh backing. In some instances the mesh was removed to avoid where the kitchen units and island will be placed

Would it be worth disconnecting the floor sensor from the thermostat to see if this makes a difference?
 
T

Time's Ran Out

Was the floor sensor in a tube in the floor so it could be replaced if it failed?
Sometimes if the sensor is not taped to the tube when it’s connected to the supply it can be pulled out of position.
What was the power output of the mats?
How large is the floor area?
 
OP
J
Reaction score
1
Was the floor sensor in a tube in the floor so it could be replaced if it failed?
Sometimes if the sensor is not taped to the tube when it’s connected to the supply it can be pulled out of position.
What was the power output of the mats?
How large is the floor area?

Yep, it was placed into conduit and taped down

The mat on the timber floor side is 200w 6sqm and the concrete side it's 10sqm
 
T

Time's Ran Out

My floors only take 30 mins or so to warm up and warm up is the term. Some UFH are tile warmers and others can provide primary heat source. Mine is 150w and set at 24/25 degrees as it never really gets any higher. If you disconnect your sensor it will overheat, especially a 200w mat over timber ( even on cement boards).
 
OP
J
Reaction score
1
My floors only take 30 mins or so to warm up and warm up is the term. Some UFH are tile warmers and others can provide primary heat source. Mine is 150w and set at 24/25 degrees as it never really gets any higher. If you disconnect your sensor it will overheat, especially a 200w mat over timber ( even on cement boards).

What I cant figure out in some areas its nice and warm as how I would expect it but in some areas of the floor its barely warm!?
 
T

Time's Ran Out

Can only be the way it was laid or lack of insulation. I have an area near a patio door without UFH mat and that’s where I head for when cramp sets in!
 
OP
J
Reaction score
1
Can only be the way it was laid or lack of insulation. I have an area near a patio door without UFH mat and that’s where I head for when cramp sets in!

Its the timber floor as you walk in its nice and warm but the rest of the floor on the timber side which had concrete boards is not as warm!

The concrete side of the floor is worse!
 

Ajax123

TF
Arms
Reaction score
933
What insulation was laid and what depth. My guess is that it's an indulation issue rather than a malfunctioning most issue
 
Reaction score
26
Sorry to enter late in this thread but a question I have is, is the sensor over the timber floor side or the concrete floor side? If it's over the timber floor side then that area of floor around the sensor could be reaching the set temperature before other floor areas, such as the concrete floor area, and then switching of the system as programmed. Unfortunately the floor sensors only sense the immediate area where the sensor is placed and cannot sense the temperature on the other side of the floor. Dependant upon the programmer and where it is mounted ie. Does the programmer have the option to sense air temperature instead of floor temperature? And is the programmer mounted within the same roon as the underfloor system?
If the answer to both is yes then you could disconnect the floor sensor and use the programmer to sense air temperature instead. Even if only to see if it works any better that way.
The programmers that I use have both options and we mostly use the air temperature option, even though we still fit the floor sensor as an option to our customers if they wanted to go that route instead.
 
OP
J
Reaction score
1
Sorry to enter late in this thread but a question I have is, is the sensor over the timber floor side or the concrete floor side? If it's over the timber floor side then that area of floor around the sensor could be reaching the set temperature before other floor areas, such as the concrete floor area, and then switching of the system as programmed. Unfortunately the floor sensors only sense the immediate area where the sensor is placed and cannot sense the temperature on the other side of the floor. Dependant upon the programmer and where it is mounted ie. Does the programmer have the option to sense air temperature instead of floor temperature? And is the programmer mounted within the same roon as the underfloor system?
If the answer to both is yes then you could disconnect the floor sensor and use the programmer to sense air temperature instead. Even if only to see if it works any better that way.
The programmers that I use have both options and we mostly use the air temperature option, even though we still fit the floor sensor as an option to our customers if they wanted to go that route instead.

So we isolated the mat which is on the timber floor side, disconnected the sensor which only left the mat in the concrete floor side connected for approx 6 hours.

6 hours later the floor is barely warm! you can just about feel some warmth on the tiles :(

Should i leave it on longer? If so is there any risk of damage, overheating etc given that the floor sensor has been disconnected

The thermostat doesn't have an air sensor
 
Reaction score
26
So we isolated the mat which is on the timber floor side, disconnected the sensor which only left the mat in the concrete floor side connected for approx 6 hours.

6 hours later the floor is barely warm! you can just about feel some warmth on the tiles :(

Should i leave it on longer? If so is there any risk of damage, overheating etc given that the floor sensor has been disconnected

The thermostat doesn't have an air sensor

Okay. So heating a concrete floor from cold could easily take a day or so before you may feel any serious heat through the face of the tiles. Obviously the time scale is dependant upon the floor / insulation make up below the tile (how thick is the insulation / how far below the tile is the insulation / how cold was it before switching the underfloor on etc).
You say that you are starting to feel heat at around the 6 hour point which is a good sign as it shows that it is actually heating.
You need to keep the system switched on a lot longer yet but say every hour just carry out a check of the surface temperature of the tiles in various places over the floor. If you use the back of your hand to check this and not your palm then you will have a better idea of just how warm or hot it is getting. If it feels like a snugly / comfortable warm temperature then that should be as far as it needs to get. If the temperature is really getting quite hot or too warm to be comfortable on the back of your hand then it is going too far and needs to be turned off. The temperature shouldn't be allowed to go above around 55deg's 'C' as there is a risk then of breaking down the screed below. Trust me here though, even 40deg's on the back of your hand will feel uncomfortable!

so, in carrying out the above you will confirm that that part of the system is functioning correctly.

You didn't say in which part of the floor the sensor was placed?? Was it the timber side or the concrete side??

Obviously in all of this, do be aware and remember that you now have no sensor connected so make sure you turn off the system before going to bed this evening if you carry out the above first thing in the morning.

Let me know how you get on.
 
Last edited:
OP
J
Reaction score
1
Okay. So heating a concrete floor from cold could easily take a day or so before you may feel any serious heat through the face of the tiles. Obviously the time scale is dependant upon the floor / insulation make up below the tile (how thick is the insulation / how far below the tile is the insulation / how cold was it before switching the underfloor on etc).
You say that you are starting to feel heat at around the 6 hour point which is a good sign as it shows that it is actually heating.
You need to keep the system switched on a lot longer yet but say every hour just carry out a check of the surface temperature of the tiles in various places over the floor. If you use the back of your hand to check this and not your palm then you will have a better idea of just how warm or hot it is getting. If it feels like a snugly / comfortable warm temperature then that should be as far as it needs to get. If the temperature is really getting quite hot or too warm to be comfortable on the back of your hand then it is going too far and needs to be turned off. The temperature shouldn't be allowed to go above around 55deg's 'C' as there is a risk then of breaking down the screed below. Trust me here though, even 40deg's on the back of your hand will feel uncomfortable!

so, in carrying out the above you will confirm that that part of the system is functioning correctly.

You didn't say in which part of the floor the sensor was placed?? Was it the timber side or the concrete side??

Obviously in all of this, do be aware and remember that you now have no sensor connected so make sure you turn off the system before going to bed this evening if you carry out the above first thing in the morning.

Let me know how you get on.


Cheers I'll do the above and report back

The floor setup is as follows

On the timber floor side it was overlaid with 6mm cement boards, primed and the mat laid on top followed by the https://www.tilersforums.com/forums/tile-adhesive/ and tiles

The floor sensor was positioned 300mm in between the heating cables on the timber floor side

The concrete side no insulation was laid as this would have increased the height of the floor. the floor was levelled using levelling compound which also encased the underfloor heating mat, followed by the https://www.tilersforums.com/forums/tile-adhesive/ and tiles.

The mat is 2mm thin 200w per sqm cable mat
 

Reply to Electric ufh not reaching desired temperature in the Tiling on Underfloor Heating area at TilersForums.com

Or checkout our tile training advice or the Tile Standards

This website is hosted and managed by www.untoldmedia.co.uk. Creating content since 2001.

New Tiling Questions

UK Tiling Forum Stats

Threads
66,601
Messages
866,708
Members
9,513
Latest member
05jtaylor
Top
AdBlock Detected

We get it, advertisements are annoying!

Sure, ad-blocking software does a great job at blocking ads, but it also blocks useful features of our website. For the best site experience please disable your AdBlocker.

I've Disabled AdBlock