Thermostat 3ie and other brand mats

[Owee]

Hello Folks....
Got a question regarding heating mats.

I have bought the Warmup 3ie thermostat and a the heating Mat (from B&Q) is manufactured by Homelux. Will the two work together? In principle i presume all heating mats are the same (obviously all brands claim to use the thickest wire etc etc).

I would rather know now than after the mat is laid. I am prepared to give up the mat and buy the warmup brand one as I really like the look of the 3ie thermostat.

Any advice would be great brilliant.
Thanks in advance

 

[Dan]

You'd have to speak to warmup. I think they are quite fussy about their warranty. Though the thermostats usually only have 12 months warranty on them (and very very few fail in that time). The concern of mine would be whether B&Q/Homelux still honour their warranty (which should be minimum 10 years) if a different thermostat is used.

Though they should physically work fine and your qualified electrician who is connecting it up will confirm this as he/she can check the wattage of the heating mat(s) and check that the thermostat is right for that amount of wattage. etc.

 

[Owee]

Warmup have said they dont test their products with other brand mats. there is nothing to sat the warranty is void as i guess they are individual products. if homelux do moan i'll just grab a £20 homelux jobber of ebay to prove my point. having said that I beleive, if your mat fails they just replace the mat but the owner has to put up with all the costs surrounding it.
The sparkys been and done his Ohms testing and thats all good.

 

[Dan]

You're right there. They'll normally refund you the mat cost, or post out a new mat. Not replace the tiles or provide the cash for labour costs etc.

 

[Owee]

Its quite costly to replace the mat if it you have just put the tiles down. Best to just wait and live without it. Anyways I have tested the Warmup thermostat with the Homelux mat and can report it works 🙂

 

[Owee]

Yes i noticed that yesterday. fortunately its just a new colour range, not an upgrade to the actual workings of the thermostat. it was either the grey or black as the other colours are abit too funky and wouldnt match the rest of the house. In the end went for the black. Couldnt justify the extra £45 for the grey and only one retailer seems to have it, claiming exclusivety!!
I think they should work with most half decent brands because as my sparky explained the wiring of the mats is essentially the same, 2 coppers looping (or something like that)...

 

[Uheat - Keith]

We always say when asked, any make Electric U/F Heating mat/cable can work with any make thermostat.

On a new install with a new thermostats, you must install the floor sensor that came in the same box with the thermostat.

Saying that, we have had a new thermostat some months now that can work with a floor sensor already installed in the floor and that you are unable to remove.
Our Elektra OCD4 thermostat was new in 2011.