Underfloor heating to a tiled floor finish on to timber/plywood base

All timber floors whether floor boards, chipboard or plywood must be assessed to confirm structural integrity and suitability for tiling prior to installation of electric underfloor heating. Advice in this matter should be sought from a suitable flooring specialist, however as a rule of thumb, good quality plywood such as marine ply of a thickness in the region of 10mm is regarded as being the minimum to ensure a satisfactory finish.

Floor boards will always require provision of insulated tile backing boards before heating can be installed. Mats and cables can be fitted directly on to ply-wood and moisture proof chipboard, providing that the floor is treated with a suitable priming solution. The heat output required will depend upon the room but this would vary from 100w/m² to 150w/m² dependent on floor base specification.

For both of the above installations, under tile cables offer a far more flexible heating solution in terms of area coverage and heat output. However, for rooms of a regular shape, underfloor tile mats provide a quick solution for these areas. It is important to note that your electrician must ensure that all underfloor heating installations must be connected via an RCD (earth trip) protected circuit. All underfloor heating applications in bathrooms, wet rooms and shower rooms must use heating cables with an earth screen.