Radiant floor heating..

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B4T

B4T

Senior Member
Location
Long Island, N.Y.
I have a customer who wants to heat his 10X10 bathroom with electric mats made by Nuheat..

He is spending many thousands on floor and wall tile.. I just have reservations about putting all the eggs in one basket with no other heat sourse..

Has anyone used this product before.. http://www.nuheat.com/products/electric-floor-heat/standard-mats.html?tab=description

That "little voice" is telling me to talk him out of it.. it is guaranteed for (25) years.. but what happens in year #26.. :eek:hmy:
 
25 yrs.......we may be dead.

As a thought.....a strategically placed box where a baseboard heat can be installed...... or a receptacle for one of them ceramic heaters.
 
ritelec said:
25 yrs.......we may be dead.

As a thought.....a strategically placed box where a baseboard heat can be installed...... or a receptacle for one of them ceramic heaters.
Click to expand...

That is true.. so how about the heat dies in (4) years.. still under guarantee.. what are the chances the manufacture will pick up the tab for new tile job.. :eek:
 
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B4T said:
still under guarantee.. what are the chances the manufacture will pick up the tab for new tile job.. :eek:
Click to expand...

I'd say slim to none.


Get in touch with the manufacture and get something in writing (which I doubt they'll pay for the replacement of the tile).

Talk to the home owner (as you stated) and make him understand you'll install it but................

If you can...maybe opt for a plumber with pvc hydronic floor heat.


Happy Heating....... :thumbsup:
 
ritelec said:
I'd say slim to none.


Get in touch with the manufacture and get something in writing (which I doubt they'll pay for the replacement of the tile).

Talk to the home owner (as you stated) and make him understand you'll install it but................

If you can...maybe opt for a plumber with pvc hydronic floor heat.


Happy Heating....... :thumbsup:
Click to expand...

I just checked.. they don't cover anything other than the product itself.. so it looks like I will just play devil's advocate with.. "what if".. :happyyes:
 
We'll See

We'll See

One of my office mates installed a similar product. Remind me in 4 years...or 25 ;) and we'll see how it did!
 
These products rarely fail when properly installed. What I refer to as properly installed is no damage by the tile installer during installation. I have not had issues. Don't install the mat unless the tiler is installing the floor and no one will be walking or dropping tools potentially damaging the floor. A good tile installer has a toner that he hooks to the leads as he mastics the mat, and installed the flooring.
 
Sierrasparky said:
These products rarely fail when properly installed. What I refer to as properly installed is no damage by the tile installer during installation. I have not had issues.
Click to expand...

Maybe Sierrasparky will sign off on it :thumbsup: May I also point out the word "rarely".





Just playing Sierrasparky.
 
ritelec said:
Maybe Sierrasparky will sign off on it :thumbsup: May I also point out the word "rarely".



Just playing Sierrasparky.
Click to expand...

I've done hundreds of them over the years and have had a handful of the digital thermostats go bad, and one temp sensor which ended up being an easy replacement. I have worked in bathrooms with very early electric radiant floor heat that still works just fine.

If the wiring is good when the tile goes down, and it can be tested throughout the stages, it will stay good for a long long time. If something chews through the wire to short it out or cut it, I'd say that there are much bigger problems.

Are you worried about wire ran in wall cavities going bad as well? I would hope that the answer is no....


For what it's worth, I use mainly what is now Warmly Yours floor heat, but I have used the nuheat as well.
 
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ritelec said:
25 yrs.......we may be dead.

As a thought.....a strategically placed box where a baseboard heat can be installed...... or a receptacle for one of them ceramic heaters.
Click to expand...

You should have a tstat with line a line voltage circuit on the wall, so adding an in wall recessed duct electric heat(like one of king electrics heater) wouldn't be an issue.
 
ritelec said:
25 yrs.......we may be dead.

As a thought.....a strategically placed box where a baseboard heat can be installed...... or a receptacle for one of them ceramic heaters.
Click to expand...

Speak for yourself! ha I'll be 34 in March hopefully in 25 years I'll be retired and sitting in front of the TV all day. If you don't eat that radioactive food in jersey you might live longer! haha By the way I lived half my life in jersey so i can talk smack:lol:
 
svh19044 said:
Are you worried about wire ran in wall cavities going bad as well? I would hope that the answer is no....


For what it's worth, I use mainly what is now Warmly Yours floor heat, but I have used the nuheat as well.
Click to expand...

Fixing a wire in a wall cavity cost a few hundred dollars to fix.. ripping up a mud floor will cost many thousands..

It is just not the floor tile but the first course around the walls that has to get demoolished..

Being GFI protected is another issue that doesn't float my boat very well.. I just hate being in a "box" with no easy way out..

I hope this guy changes his mind.. :rant:
 
B4T said:
I have a customer who wants to heat his 10X10 bathroom with electric mats made by Nuheat..
Click to expand...

Was thinking.............10X10? Not really that much area to rip out. Though you'd rather not.


Sierrasparky said:
A good tile installer has a toner that he hooks to the leads as he mastics the mat, and installed the flooring.
Click to expand...

Tiler with toner? Interesting. I've a bro in law that's been tiling for 25 to 30 yrs. (and I know a couple others). No toner's there.
Tiler with toner? Interesting.


Safe day all.
 
I've installed the mats for two customers. I don't like them. I prefer a product from Nexans. It's tougher than the Nuheat cables and because you buy it in different lengths, watts/ft etc., you can design it for warming or heating. Follow the instructions and run conduits down for the sensor (makes replacing it a whole lot easier than when it's embedded in the wet bed) and for the heater leads (for protection). I've been installing it for about five years without incident.

Take and record resistance measurements at each stage and get a LoudMouth or equivalent to leave on site till the wet bed is done. I go a little crazy and record ambient temp. as well, but you don't need to.
 
I installed NuHeat in my own bathroom in 2009. It is the only heat source for that room and I'm very happy with it. If it fails one day I imagine I would likely abandon it, but until that happens I'm not going to waste even a second worrying about it.
 
B4T said:
I have a customer who wants to heat his 10X10 bathroom with electric mats made by Nuheat..

He is spending many thousands on floor and wall tile.. I just have reservations about putting all the eggs in one basket with no other heat sourse..

Has anyone used this product before.. http://www.nuheat.com/products/electric-floor-heat/standard-mats.html?tab=description

That "little voice" is telling me to talk him out of it.. it is guaranteed for (25) years.. but what happens in year #26.. :eek:hmy:
Click to expand...

most likely the same thing that happened in the first 25 years. the floor gets warm.

now, nuheat makes a monitor that should be hooked up during the install, to verify that the mat neither goes open, or shorts.. it's like $30
and you can order it when you buy the nuheat. hook it up when you lay the mat, right after you megger the mat, and don't unhook it till you
set the controller. you need a separate monitor for each mat feed.

now.... when you put in the box for the controller, don't use it for a bunch of splices. just don't.
and use a 4s deep steel box, with a 1" deep 2 gang ring on it for volume. set the ring flush with
the finish wall.

that nuheat controller has a gfci built into it, and needs every bit of that box and ring. use a plastic box behind a tile wall, and your life will
become a black void when you realize fixing it for free is going to suck.
 
Why talk customer out of it? They want it, sell it!

If you don't want to worry about warrantying the install let the tile guys do it and just bring the circuit and make the connections this way any problems in the heating mat are on the tile guys.

Most systems have GFCI protection built into the thermostat, FWIW.
 
Fulthrotl said:
most likely the same thing that happened in the first 25 years. the floor gets warm.

now, nuheat makes a monitor that should be hooked up during the install, to verify that the mat neither goes open, or shorts.. it's like $30
and you can order it when you buy the nuheat. hook it up when you lay the mat, right after you megger the mat, and don't unhook it till you
set the controller. you need a separate monitor for each mat feed.

now.... when you put in the box for the controller, don't use it for a bunch of splices. just don't.
and use a 4s deep steel box, with a 1" deep 2 gang ring on it for volume. set the ring flush with
the finish wall.

that nuheat controller has a gfci built into it, and needs every bit of that box and ring. use a plastic box behind a tile wall, and your life will
become a black void when you realize fixing it for free is going to suck.
Click to expand...

So you need a 4" squire box with a 2 gang 1" mud ring..?

I just finished a rough walls at an addition i have going and they are going to use floor heat in the bath so i ran a 12/2 to a regular switch box in the bathroom but i still have time to change the box..

Is a normal install 120 volts for an 8'x8' room.?

If at 240 volts does it need a Neutral?
 
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