Electric Radiant Floor Heat - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

kpikul · 12-05-2006, 02:06 PM

This is my first go with Electric Radiant Floor Heat, i am doing a remodel where we are tiling over a cement slab. I need to put in some Floor Heat. I have read up on SunTouch and EasyHeat.

Can someone recommend one for me? Since I have not done it before, ease of installation is important.

Thanks.

ron schenker · 12-05-2006, 05:30 PM

Up here in Toronto guys are saying this stuff is great
http://www.nuheat.com/

Mike Finley · 12-05-2006, 07:54 PM

Warmly Yours.

justin savage · 12-06-2006, 06:53 AM

I have nuheat in my own house. I have installed a couple different brands and nuheat is the easiest to install, its enclosed in a blanket so your not tripping or catching the wires.ours is under slate in a mudroom area works great. justin

J DoubleD FLoor · 12-06-2006, 05:24 PM

I've never heard of it but am looking into it now

Bud Cline · 12-06-2006, 07:06 PM

I have installed about two dozen jobs in the past few years and everuone seems to love the stuff. I have experience with several different brands and one seems to be as good as the other.

I prefer the matted systems over the wire only systems as far as installation goes but they have all been easy enough to do and seem to work well.

There is now a style that doesn't require a looped system and that would be the better way to go in my thinking from an installation standpoint but I haven't done one as yet.

I will tell you that covering the system with SLC is the best way to go in my opinion but the wires will float in the SLC

product and they will rise to and above the surface you will want to be sure to secure everything about every eight inches.

osborn · 12-06-2006, 08:01 PM

I like suntouch. I can reconfigure the wires to a custom pattern.

Mike Finley · 12-06-2006, 08:08 PM

Hate to bag one system over the other but quite frankly Nu Heat sucks kind of to install.

Nu heat needs a double layer of thinset instead of one. It is a matt system so you order it and it is exaclty as you ordered it, no adjustments can be made at all. Warmly yours allows for adjustments. Warmly yours is also known in the industry as the hottest system, utilizing a full 15 watt/sq foot instead of 10 I believe. Warmly yours is repariable in the field, as I recall nu heat is not. I did one Nu heat system and hated it, vowed never again. Just a few tid bits. I would have to say Sun Touch would be the only other one I would consider. Nu Heat does a great job of advertising itself. I think this is the one you see in Home Depot.

kpikul · 12-07-2006, 10:23 AM

Thank you for your feed back, it is very helpful.

Bud Cline · 12-07-2006, 06:07 PM

Home Depot sells Sun Touch here and I see nothing wrong with the product it is easy to install. If I were in the market personally I would use Sun Touch. Sun Touch can be configured to suit offsets and L's without a problem.

steven62 · 08-22-2007, 10:41 AM

Most all of the currently available electric radiant floor heating systems are pretty good. Basically they are very similar to an electric blanket.
When choosing a system, I would suggest looking at the warranty as the final factor (after cost, user preference, voltage etc.) as the tie breaker.
I prefer the loose wire systems simply because the are less expensive, easily conform to any shape and size, and can be spaced closer or farther apart to attain the best wattage/BTU's per square foot of space required. I feel it is best to fasten them down and use self leveler or thinset mixed very runny (depending on application, self -leveler is not compatible with all floor covering/underlayment combinations) and tile after it has set up, or, lay in a floating floor.