Heated floor - uneven heating

17 years ago

Is this a normal issue, or did we just get (un)lucky? We have a heated floor in the master bath, and there are hot and cold spots at various points in it. I don't remember the exact system we had installed, but it's a wire system, not mats.

I'm guessing there's probably not much we can do about it now, with tile laid over the top of it, but not sure what we could have done to test it before? Visually the wires looked fine, although I guess I didn't scrutinize them in detail. I know that there are cold spots at the edges (ie if I push my toes up against the tub frame), which I understand, but at other random spots in the middle of the room there will be distinct hot and cold zones. Maybe the wires are just spaced a bit closer/farther than they should be in those spots?

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snowyshasta
Original Author

17 years ago

I have a picture, will have to check at home, but it's got the wires in a black sort of thinset or something, so they aren't easy to see. My guess is that it's a design issue, that the wires are spaced wrong in some spots?

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Comments (7)

ladycfp
17 years ago
Did you take a picture of your wires as they were put down and before they were covered up with tile? That might help you identify if it is a malfunction or a design issue. I would think if you have a malfunction it would affect more than a small area, but it might depend on how yours is wired. When water got to mine a while ago it affected the entire mat, not just a spot or two. HTH
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bus_driver
17 years ago
I too strongly suspect that the issue is one of spacing of the wires. Electric radiant under tile results in a system wherein the heat does not travel very far laterally (sideways). Typically less than 2".
snowyshasta
Original Author
17 years ago
Here's a picture:

I'm not sure whether it really shows anything or not. It does appear that the wires are closest together near the shower (right side) and then get further apart. The worst hot spot is right in front of the bank of drawers in the cabinets, but I don't really see the wires especially close together there.

I suppose we should have reviewed it more closely before they put the tile down, but I didn't think about it being a problem. At this point I guess there's not much we can do about it.
davidro1
17 years ago
Even though they are spaced in two's (two close, two a bit farther apart, etc) this cannot be the source of a "random" batch of cold spots as you seem to be describing in your first post.

? ! -? ?

HTH
David
weedyacres
17 years ago
Are the zones truly hot and cold? Or are the cold ones just not as warm as the hot ones?

The spacing in your photos is definitely sufficient to produce uneven warmness. I'd put my money on that. You have to be very consistent with the spacing to get even heating. There's one spot in our kitchen floor where, for purposes of making long straight stretches and avoiding extra bending (a pain to thinset over) I spaced one row of the wires an extra inch apart, and I can tell every time I walk over that section of the floor.

At this point you can't respace the wires. The most you could do would be to turn up the thermostat a few degrees and make all of them a little warmer. You'll still get inconsistency, but your toes will be warm.
snowyshasta
Original Author
17 years ago
Not truly hot and cold - I would say the majority of the floor is the same temperature (we usually set it at 86 degrees for warming, although I'm open to hearing what others set it at). The hot spots and cold spots are different from that - you can feel that it's different from the majority of the floor. But it's not cold as in unheated, just feels colder in comparison.

I guess next time (if ever) I get a warm floor I will be a little more careful about checking everything. I'm already learning where the colder spots are and stepping around them (funny what you can unconsciously "train" yourself to do). So it's not a huge deal overall, just a minor annoyance.