Underfloor heating is becoming an increasingly popular commodity for both commercial and domestic use.
With the potential to save energy, whilst establishing ambiance and fitting in with interior style, it’s not hard to see why so many people are choosing it. Electric underfloor heating loose wire could be a potential solution to streamlining your dry underfloor heating systems and offering the most efficient installation system possible.
Electric Underfloor Heating Loose Wire Explained
What Is Loose Wire?
Loose wire refers to the method of laying out wire for electric underfloor heating. With loose wire, the wire that conducts electricity, and in turn generates heat, is laid out across the floor as necessary for the room.
Layout depends on the heating (wire laid out further apart will be less efficient in generating heat than wire that is compactly fitted), and the room shape. Electric underfloorheating loose wire is extremely flexible, suitable for installation in complex room shapes or rooms with multiple fixtures.
Why Is Loose Wire Used For Electric Underfloor Heating Systems?
There are two ways of generating heat for underfloor heating – dry underfloor heating systems, which use electricity, and wet underfloor heating systems, which disperse hot water from a boiler like a traditional radiator.
Electric underfloor heating can be installed using either loose wire, or heating mats. Heating mats are mats which already have a heat conducting wire installed within them. They typically have an adhesive bottom which allows it to stick to the floor.
Heat mats are easy and quick to install, however they need to be cut and twisted to the room shape whilst avoiding cutting through the wire – which can be an awkward and delicate task.
Loose wire can provide a solution to this - consisting of a singular wire which must be taped down as it is being installed. Whilst loose wire is easier to use in smaller or more complex-shaped rooms than heat mats, they need to be laid in a way that ensures the heat is dispersed evenly throughout the room.
What Types Of Wire Can Be Used For Electric Underfloor Heating?
Both stranded and solid wire can be used for electric underfloor heating – though they have distinctly different properties and structures. For the types of metal used within electric underfloor heating loose wire, see here.
Stranded wire, often referred to as bunched wire, is composed of several wires grouped together within a non-conductive protective coating. The wires can be bunched together with or without geometric structure, the former being referred to as concentric bunched wire.
Stranded cables are durable even when bent and shaped, though it is important to remember their durability is not necessarily correlated to wire diameter. Because of their malleability, stranded wires are suitable for use in cramped or tight spaces.
Solid cables, on the other hand, consist of a singular wire wrapped in a non-conductive protective layer; because of this, they have a smaller diameter. These cables are often used outdoors, since they do not corrode as easily, or in fitted home electrical wiring, where they do not need to bend. Solid cables are also cheaper than their bunched wire counterparts.
Understanding, and subsequently being able to choose between the wires used within underfloor heating loose wire systems, will mean your company can offer a bespoke heating system, tailored to your clients’ needs.