Electric Heated floor in Tile Shower

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Dennis Alwon

Dennis Alwon

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I have a customer who wants electrically heated floor in a tiled shower. It is an unusual situation because the shower also contains an air jet tub in it.

The entire room is tiled and the shower area is open to the room. No curb, no curtains etc.

The floor will be sloped to where the shower drain is. You walk right into the shower area from the door entry (shower door). The tub is to the right. The tub is 36" wide and the entire room is only 6' x 6'.

The mat will be placed at the door entry and extend 3' in to where the drain for the shower will be. It will be 18" wide.

The manufacturer says that they have a 24 volt system for wet location. It is a class 2 wire system and is UL approved.

Anyone ever hear of such a thing? I cannot find anything in the NEC that says I can't do this. The mfg. of course says it is class 2 wire and the nec doesn't cover it-- I laughed. Any input?
 
I generally use Warm Tiles (product of EasyHeat) and they say this :

Can Warm Tiles cables be installed in showers?

Generally, Warm Tiles cables can be installed in tiled shower areas by installing the cables in a scratch coat using the standard method noted in the installation instructions. Then, a waterproofing membrane is installed over the cables to ensure that all water from the shower is directed to the drain and does not come in contact with the cables.


I personally have never had the chance to do this install (shower area) but most manufactures recommend GFI protection... go figure...
 
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I have installed the floor tile before but not in a shower. The company is called "Warmly Yours". All the floor heat that I have used requires GFCI protection--I guess they figure barefoot and naked must be dangerous. I know I am in that situation.:grin:
 
Off topic a little but I thought they only needed to be gfi protected in bathrooms, laundry rooms and the such. We recently did a house that had every piece of floor heated and I was planning on insatlling faceless gfi's only in the wet locations?
 
kjw444 said:
Off topic a little but I thought they only needed to be gfi protected in bathrooms, laundry rooms and the such. We recently did a house that had every piece of floor heated and I was planning on insatlling faceless gfi's only in the wet locations?
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Typically the thermostats already have built-in GFCI protection. I Installed Warmly-Yours and Nu-heat products in my kitchen, bath under tile, and 2 bedrooms with floating laminate floors. Each manufacturer's t-stats had the GFCI built in.
 
I agree all the units I have installed have the GFCI built into the Tstats. That's to protect you from being "barefoot, naked and as George reminds me, WET"
 
If it's listed for the use, Class 2, and GFCI protected, I don't see an issue.

I share your nerves, as I've never done it myself, but if it shows it on the back of the box... :)
 
Dennis Alwon said:
Does anyone know why the 110 volt system cannot be use in the shower??
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what difference is there if it is in a bathroom floor. You are still wet with bare feet. There is GFCI protection.

What I want to know is there a code reference that only allows class 2 wiring in this situation-- that's what the tech guy says.
 
georgestolz said:
If it's listed for the use, Class 2, and GFCI protected,
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Just a note here.

If it is 'low voltage' and / or a Class 2 circuit a GFCI device on the line side of the power supply will do nothing to increase protection on the load side of the power supply.

Essentially the power supply is a type of separately derived system. A GFCI on the line side of an SDS will not recognize a ground fault on the load side of an SDS. To the GFCI it will just appear to be a line to line increase in current.
 
stickboy1375 said:
Nope, but I would make sure its listed as "Not to be installed in shower areas"....
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That was my thought as well. :)

However I think we should be careful about calling this space under the tile 'shower area'

IMO as far as the NEC concerned this underfloor heat is not in the 'tub or shower space'.
 
IMO you better make sure the installation allows that use, iwire is the underfloor heat, heating the space in the shower?
 
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mpd said:
iwire is the underfloor heat, heating the space in the shower?
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Yes.

Is the pumping / heating system in a hydro tub pumping and heating the water in the tub?

Does that mean the pump under the tub is in the NEC tub and shower space?

IMO the tub and shower space stops at the level of finish that stops / holds the water.
 
The entire room, technically is a shower since there is a tile floor that slopes to a drain in the floor. The jet tub is on the opposite end of the shower-- no doors except where you enter-- no curb either.

The shower will get the tub wet so the tub is in the shower also. As Bob says, the wire for the tub is in the floor. My confusion is that according to the company's tech support, which I don't blindly accept, it is required to be 24 volts not 120 volt. They said it is in a wet location. This would give credence that it is in the shower also even tho it is in the floor. Where in the code does it say it cannot be 120 volt but can be 24 volt??? I don't know but they insisted it is listed to be in wet locations.
 
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