When it comes to radiant floor heating, there are a lot of numbers to be aware of. Wattage, voltage, amperage, kilowatt hours (kWh), square footage (or square meters), cost of materials — these are just a few of the main offenders. So why add “kilowatt load usage” to the list?
If you have one of WarmlyYours Radiant Heating’s new touchscreen thermostats, you’ve already noticed that there’s a step during the setup process that asks for the floor load. This information is used to help the programmable thermostat track usage statistics, which are then reported out via the built-in Energy Log that comes with both the nSpire Touch and nSpire Touch WiFi thermostats. Ultimately, this will help you track energy consumption which can in turn help you make adjustments to save on your electricity bill. If you purchased the floor-heating system yourself, you’ll already have this floor load number in your order documentation. But if your floor-heating system came with the house or you just got a new thermostat and don’t have the kilowatt load usage information on hand, here’s how to find out what it is.
If your floor-heating system is located under tile or stone, its wattage should be 15 watts per square foot. Therefore, you should multiply 15 by the square footage of heated area in the room (not the entire square footage of the room). This gives you the total wattage of the room. Divide this number by 1,000 to get the kilowatts.
If your floor-heating system is located under carpet or laminate, its wattage should be 12 watts per square foot. In this case, multiply 12 by the square footage of the heated area in the room and divide by 1,000 to get the kilowatt load usage.
For example, the above bathroom floorplan shows an 86 square-foot room with about 49 square-feet of TempZone™ Cable installed under tile or stone. Using the formula above, the kilowatt load usage would be 0.735.
15 x 49 = 735
735 ÷ 1,000 = 0.735 kilowatts
This kitchen floorplan shows a 169 square-foot room with about 67 square-feet of Environ™ Flex Rolls installed under laminate. Using the formula above, the kilowatt load usage would be 0.804.
12 x 67 = 804
804 ÷ 1,000 = 0.804 kilowatts
If you've just ordered or received your floor-heating system, you can find the kilowatt load usage along with the product's wattage, amperage and more on the floor plan section of your SmartPlan custom installation and electrical plan.
With this information in hand, you can quickly and easily get through the thermostat setup process and have your floor-heating system connected in no time at all.
To see how the setup process works for WarmlyYours Radiant Heating’s nSpire Touch WiFi thermostat, check out this video. You can also learn more about our touchscreen thermostats and electric floor-heating systems by visiting www.warmlyyours.com.