Installing underfloor heating in your kitchen can be an excellent way to avoid that chilly midnight snacking, or just make your kitchen more practical and contemporary.
Below is a how-to guide on installing the perfect underfloor heating, and doing it right.
Making sure you have the correct tools and equipment can be the difference between a professionally finished, easy to maintain project, and a shoddy, mistake-ridden failure.
If you are unsure of anything below, contact a qualified tradesperson.
Tools and Materials needed to lay Underfloor Heating in your Kitchen
- Heating wires
- Mesh Floor
- Tape
- If it is a laminate floor, you will need foil
- Thermostat
- Electrical Multimeter
- Tape Measure
- Scissors
Knowing how to properly install underfloor heating is a great way to reduce energy costs, eliminate dust mites and even take the chill off a cold, kitchen floor.
- Start marking out where you plan to lay the matting
- Leave 4-5cm around the perimeter of the room
- Take your Multimeter, and take a measurement from the live and neutral cables respectively
- Depending on the size of the mat, your required figure after taking a measurement will differ. Consult the manufacturer’s handbook.
- Start with the cable-end of the matting, next to the wall in which the electricity will be supplied from
- Roll out the heating mat, ensuring that it goes up to the edge of the area you planned to cover
- Ensure that you don’t stick down the flooring until you have layed it all out onto the correct places – this will avoid costly mistakes
- When you reach a wall, cut the mesh down the middle of the mat. Ensure you don’t cut through the heating element.
- Cut with the loop of the heating element pointing the way in which you wish to fold the mat over
- Continue this until the floor is covered
- Open your new thermostat
- Take the heat sensor, and being installing it, again near the electrical supply
- Put the probe under the mesh, 15cm deep (minimum), ensuring that the probe does not cross any heating elements
- Use a little tape to stick the probe down when it is in place
- Now double check the matting’s functionality with the multimeter
- Now you may peel off the tape, and stick the mat in place
You should now know how to lay underfloor heating in your kitchen.
If you have any queries at all, please contact a qualified expert.
