What power of the heating mat?
The first thing to know before choosing the heating power of floor mats or cables is that its higher value does not mean more electricity consumption. Instead, you can expect the floor and the room to heat up faster.
What does this mean in practice?
It means that in the case of a lower wattage, the floor will need more time to heat up and will have time to cool down a bit in the meantime. So, betting on saving money in the household budget, choose cables with higher heating power - they will use less energy to reach the target temperature in the room. Also, remember to choose larger values for rooms like the kitchen and bathroom than for the pantry and living room.
More heating power, pros:
- heat the floor faster,
- consume less energy than a cable with less power,
- protect us from the unpredictable and very cold winter.
Larger heating power, downsides:
- a couple of percent higher cost of heating cables,
- you need to take into account more protection when designing the electrical switchgear,
- increased electric power allocation fee.
An aspect that is particularly important in our latitude is the difficult to predict course of the winter season. In the event that it wishes to grace us with its full charms and the temperature drops well below zero for weeks on end, a reserve of heating power in a cozy apartment will come in handy.
How much heating mat power per 1m2?
When choosing a larger heating power, select it according to the material with which it will be finished and read the manufacturer's guidelines on whether the carpet is designed for underfloor heating.
- Know that, for example, wood floors, laminate flooring, linoleum, vinyl flooring can be heated at a power of no more than 90 - 100 W/m² - see QuickNet-90 mats
- The situation is different with ceramic tiles, natural stone or concrete flooring. In this case, we can confidently use heating systems with a power of 160 W/m² - see QuickNet-160 mats
- What power of heating mat for the bathroom? Choose 160 W/m² QuickNet-160 mat