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TCT240-3W-055 Frequently Asked Questions

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Frequently Asked Questions

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While WarmlyYours electric radiant floor heating systems are typically installed by your floor covering contractor, a licensed electrician is recommended for the final thermostat hook-up. With every quote, we provide an Installation Plan layout, together with an electrical plan that has all the info required for the electrician.

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Our electric radiant floor heating systems have withstood rigorous safety testing and earned the UL listing. They produce much less EMF than common household appliances like your TV or vacuum cleaner. The EPRI (Electric Power Research Institute) tests all electrical devices and publishes the data. Many common household appliances are tested at a distance of 6 inches. The test results indicate that on average, the EMF emitted for the following appliances, measured in Milligauss (mG) units, is:

Vacuum Cleaner: 300 mG

Microwave: 200 mG

Portable Heater: 100 mG

Dishwasher: 20 mG

Washing Machine: 20 mG

WarmlyYours TempZone™ (Twin): 1.8 mG

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WarmlyYours’ TempZone™ product is most commonly installed under tile, stone, and marble flooring, but can also be installed under many other popular floor covering options such as hardwood, vinyl and linoleum. We also have our Environ system, which is an electric floor heating product as well and is specially designed for installation under carpet (in the U.S. only), laminate and floating wood. WarmlyYours can accommodate any flooring type with either of the electric radiant floor heating products that we offer. If your flooring type isn't listed here, just give us a call at (800) 875-5285 and we will be happy to discuss it with you.

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Yes. Unlike the heating cable for electric floor heating, the cold lead wires can be trimmed.

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Electric radiant floor heating should not be installed under permanent fixtures that may trap heat. However, if the vanity or cabinets are "floating" or are on legs, then a floor heating system may be installed under it.

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Electric-resistance heating cables and systems have no polarity. This includes all current WarmlyYours heating elements.

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The perfect room or floor temperature is always going to be a personal preference. However, we do see that our customers will usually set their floor temperature to somewhere in the 80°F to 84°F range.

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Yes, the drying effects of electric radiant floor heating will reduce the humidity coming from the slab, which is the largest source of moisture.

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A typical bathroom floor can be heated for about a quarter a day with electric radiant floor heating.

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Supplemental heat can be addressed by changing the spacing on cable installs. Floor location in the house is very important when considering adding supplemental heating to a floor. For example: If heating a second story floor, over a heated space, cable at 4" spacing can be used. The same type of heating over an unheated space would probably be done with TempZone Flex Rolls or TempZone Cable at 3" spacing. All heating is considered supplemental unless a heat loss calculation is done.

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A floor heating system can work as a supplemental heating source and make the basement warmer. If more heat needs to be added to the room, you can experiment with setting the floor heating thermostat to higher temperatures.

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The breaker and wire sizes are selected based on the total amperage of the WarmlyYours heating system connected to a single thermostat. This information is on the WarmlyYours heating system's installation plan, electrical plan, or UL label. Based on guidelines from the National Electrical Code: loads up to 16 Amps may utilize 12 gauge wire with a 20-Amp breaker, and loads up to 12 Amps - 14 gauge wire with a 15-Amp breaker. Local code and/or other factors may change these guidelines.

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Always check with the flooring manufacturer to see what they will cover when it comes to floor heating. In most cases there will be a floor temperature limit - this can be programmed into a programmable or smart thermostat. Check for installation instructions and requirements before adding floor heating.

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Yes, using a square-notch trowel (1/4” x 1/4” or larger), apply a layer of thinset to the subfloor area which will later be covered by the WarmlyYours TempZone™ Flex Roll, Easy Mat or Custom Mat.

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Yes. The WarmlyYours TempZone™ floor heating system has withstood rigorous safety testing by the Underwriter's Laboratory and has received UL listing for the U.S. as well cUL certification for Canada. WarmlyYours offers thermostats that carry the CSA Mark and the UL listing, which certifies that the product has been tested under extreme conditions and meets applicable standards for safety and/or performance in the U.S. and Canada. All WarmlyYours thermostats contain a Ground Fault Circuit Interrupter (GFCI) which provides fail-safe protection against an electrical shock.

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No. Never cut the heating cable. The floor heating cable is designed with a very specific resistance in order to consistently maintain heating at the chosen wattage per square foot. Trimming the heating cable would lower the resistance of the cable causing the system to overheat. Adding heating cable to the system would raise the resistance and the system would not heat properly.

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Waterproofing for the room is in the layer above the floor heating system. The layers for waterproofing this type of floor are:

  • subfloor
  • thinset
  • uncoupling membrane
  • tempzone heating cable
  • waterproofing tape for seams and corners
  • thinset or self leveling cement
  • tile floor
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Bathrooms designed with shower and floor heating will include only one thermostat by default. But it is possible to design with a thermostat for each zone if desired. Installing a separate thermostat for the shower area can help reduce cost and energy usage. This also allows you to heat the bathroom floor alone for everyday use and only heat the shower area when needed.

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Yes, with our programmable thermostats, you can choose which days and times the floor heating turns on for your comfort. With a Smart thermostat, you can also control these options from your phone while away from home.

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Make sure any cracks or raised edges are sanded down before installation. Seal and patch cracks where possible. If needed, pour a layer of self-leveling cement to make sure surface is level and flat. Then proceed with instructions to install desired floor heating system and flooring.


It is strongly recommended that an insulating underlayment be installed between the slab and heating element to prevent heat loss.

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TempZone™ is an electric floor heating system that operates like an electric blanket for your floors. TempZone™ is covered in thin-set or Self-Leveling Underlayment, and is installed over the top of your subfloor and beneath your flooring. The system provides a warm, even temperature across your floor, generating floor-to-ceiling radiant warmth to transform these naturally cold surfaces into warm floors. Ideal for kitchens, bathrooms or any room in your home where you would enjoy radiant warmth and comfort, the TempZone™ floor heating system is easy to install, operate and maintain.

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The most important factor for the wood floor chosen is structural stability.

According to the USDA Forest Service, this list shows most dimensionally stable to least: 

  • Mesquite 
  • Australian Cypress 
  • Teak 
  • Santos Mahogany
  • American Cherry
  • South Yellow Pine 
  • Douglas Fir 
  • American Walnut 
  • Brazilian Cherry 
  • Hard Maple 
  • Red Oak 
  • True Hickory
  • American Beech

Engineered is the most structurally stable compared to natural hardwood, so it will work the best with floor heating.
If you do want to go with Hardwood, quartersawn or riftsawn narrow planks are the most structurally stable and would work best for this application.

Overall the most important factor for the room is relative humidity. Keeping a consistent humidity and temperature in the home will help wood floors last for many years to come.

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    The ground wire in the floor mat must be connected directly to the ground wire of the supply or to the house ground wire.

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    Cork flooring can be used with floor heating if the r-value is under 1. You will need to find the r-value of the flooring you choose and let your account manager know during the design stage. Cork flooring should have a low r-value to minimize trapped heat.

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    The TempZone™ Flex Rolls, Easy Mats and Shower Mats are designed to deliver 15 watts per square foot (maximum allowed by the National Electrical Code), with the heating element positioned 3” apart on a serpentine loop attached to a fiber mesh. The TempZone™ Cable yields between 8-12 watts per square foot, variable, based on the cable spacing. TempZone™ Custom Mats are made to order, so the spacing of the heating element throughout the mat varies according to each specific design. The TempZone™ Custom Mats can yield from 12 to 15 watts per square foot.

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    The TempZone™ twin conductor cable present in our TempZone™ products is comprised of a double-insulated, coaxial heating cable. The total thickness of the system can be between ⅛” and 5/32” thick and will not noticeably affect the height of your installed flooring.

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    An electric underfloor heating system doesn't need to be left on all the time. The system can be completely turned off or set back to a lower temperature when not in use. If you have a programmable floor heating thermostat, then the system can also be set to operate only during specific times.

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    We usually recommend that you have an individual thermostat for each room. However, if it's an open floor plan and your local electrical code allows you to have one controller for the whole area, then it's definitely possible to have it all controlled from one thermostat.

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    Reflective insulation is not effective with conductive heating, which is how embedded floor heating and snow-melting systems transfer heat. To be effective, the reflective insulation surface needs to face an air space (air gap), which allows the reflected heat to be redirected.

    An effective solution considers the insulating material's R-Value. This is the rating of a material's insulating properties. The "R" stands for "resistance" and refers to the material's resistance to heat flow, or temperature conduction.

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    Yes, we offer several options to help make your floor heating system water resistant or waterproof. Our TempZone product line is designed for wet areas - making it completely safe for rooms that will have water on the floor at times or may experience leaks or flooding. We also offer waterproofing bands for our TempZone Cable + Prodeso Uncoupling Membrane system. Allowing you to waterproof all seams and the perimeters of the wall - guaranteeing that your floor heating system stays safe and prevents water from leaking to areas below.

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    Having floor heating installed and set to a higher temperature during particularly cold days will help to maintain a comfortable temperature level by providing supplemental heat.

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    Simply set your floor heating thermostat to a comfortable temperature to maintain a nice warm floor. Your room will feel warmer and, typically, your furnace will cycle less often.

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    For Tempzone it is 51 BTU’s per square foot per hour and for Environ, it is 41. Take the wattage of the product (shown on the product’s label) and multiply that by 3.41. That is the BTU value for that product.

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    Yes. The finish layer needs to be 1/2" thick. This can be done if the brand of Self-Leveling Cement (SLC) is engineered to be a final flooring surface.  Most SLC products aren't designed to be the finish surface.

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    Yes, you can install multiple sensors while installing the floor heating system. Only one of these sensors should be connected to the floor heating thermostat. Any secondary sensors can be run through conduit up to the thermostat area to be connected in the future should anything happen to the original sensor. The sensor is low voltage and may not need conduit. If conduit is required, it will need to be separate from the return power leads.

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    In some cases it is possible to install embedded electric floor heating over existing tile floor. You will need to check with your flooring manufacturer to see what requirements they have for the subfloor. Once you have that information, we can make a recommendation on whether floor heating will work for your project. A specific type of thinset may be needed for this application. In most cases you will need to repair or replace damaged existing tiles. They should then be scuffed or sanded, and then cleaned. After these steps have been completed, the new tile could be installed using the appropriate thinset.

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    Do not wear spiked shoes when installing SLC. When installing, you can walk on the wires, but not the factory splices. Minimize traffic on exposed wires and wear soft-soled shoes when working over the wire.

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    A Warmly Yours indoor floor heating system should not be installed with a GFCI breaker because GFCI protection is built into the thermostat and power module.  And while it's not always required, we strongly recommend a dedicated circuit for each thermostat and power module to limit the occurrence of ground fault nuisance tripping caused by multiple GFCI devices on a circuit. The amperage of a breaker would depend on the amp draw of the heating system. For example, a TempZone Flex Roll (which provides approximately 15 watts of energy output per square foot) that is providing 15 square feet of heating coverage will draw only 225 watts ( 1.9 Amps), so a 15 Amp circuit would suffice.  Always size breakers according to your local Electrical Code requirements. 

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    An area where large furniture will cover the floor should have enough clearance underneath to allow air to circulate. Any areas where floor heat may be trapped (rugs, box bottom furniture), let your sales rep know so we can design an installation plan around these areas.

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    For best results, we recommend a 1”- 1.5” maximum distance between the heating cable and the top of the floor. Depending on your thinset or self-leveling cement thickness, this will leave roughly an inch or less for maximum tile thickness.

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    There is a way to install floor heating that makes it suitable for any type of floor. By embedding our TempZone systems in self-leveling cement (SLC), you have created a heated subfloor. Almost any low r-value flooring can be installed directly over this for heated floors.

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