TempZone™ Custom Mat Review and Install by AConcordCarpenter

Hi, I'm Rob Robillard of AConcordcarpenter.com. Today's installation we're going to install a WarmlyYours radiant heat mat. It's different from the heat mats that we've installed before. The stuff we've installed before is the cut and turn system. It's more of a customized nooks and crannies. This is a custom mat that WarmlyYours sells, and it comes in a couple of different custom sizes. It's great for blanket coverage. It's got 12 watts of heat. There's no stapling. There's no cutting needed. You just thin set it, and glue it right to the floor. Apply your tiles after everything is dried.

I'm going to show you how we install this. It's super easy. You're not going to believe how easy this is. Let's get started. This is the heat mat here. It's a predetermined size by WarmlyYours. Like I said, it has 12 watts per square feet of heat. You can run this mat for 16 cents a day. There's no cutting needed. You don't have to cut and turn it. You just glue it right to the floor. It's got a 25-year no nonsense warranty, and we'll talk more about that later.

The beauty of the TempZone radiant heat mat is that there is no cutting, no stapling, or gluing required. All you really do is just apply it and lay it down into a layer of thinset. What we did is we tested the mat in this room. We basically dry fit it to make sure it fit. Once we were satisfied, we oriented the mat on the floor and then folded it back half onto itself. We then applied a modified latex thin set to the floor using a quarter inch trowel. Once the thin set was applied, we just simply folded the mat into the thin set and used a rubber float to press the mat into the thin set insuring a good quality adhesion between the two. Once we were satisfied, we then folded the other side of the mat back onto itself and repeated the process. The point here is to insure that the mat has quality adhesion and is secure and smooth and uniform before applying the second layer of thin set on top of the mat.

One thing I wanted to mention is that WarmlyYours has what's called smart installation plan with every project. So not only do they just sell you a system, but during the planning stage they actively get involved. Basically, the most important tool that you need as an installer is good information and good communication. With the smart plan, understanding and knowing … positioning of the heating controls and the best use and the best positioning of your radiant heat mat that always leads to a good installation and leads to success.

WarmlyYours also has what's called a SmartFit measuring service. Basically, they have a licensed and bonded team come and measure any room size with precision. That pays off because then you get error free results, an accurate plan with no surprises and no delays. That's real nice. However, if you do run into a delay or a surprise, the beauty is that WarmlyYours offers 24/7/365 customer service. I've used it a couple of times, and there's really somebody there. They're really knowledgeable, and they really solve my problem. That's good to know that you're teaming with a company that's going to see the project through no matter what time you're working, and that's important to me as a contractor.

It's easy to talk about all the cool features of these radiant heat mats. But one thing that's often overlooked is the warranty. WarmlyYours offers a 25-year no nonsense warranty for this TempZone heating system. That's real nice. They're not going to pay for labor or materials for the floor, to replace the floor or rip the floor up, but they will pay for their product. That's nice.

One installation tip I want to share with you is where the cold wire leads…the thermostat leads connected to the mat. There are 2 connection points there that are a little bit thicker than everything else. So oftentimes we'll take a chisel or a putty knife, and with a hammer just dig out a little groove in the subfloor so that the mat will flush out at those 2 points. Sometimes I might use a roofing nail to hold down the mat in a rough area or a utility knife to score a bubble. It all depends on the installation. The final coat of thin set is applied to the top of the mat. Basically, you want to insure that the entire mat is covered and embedded between the two layers of thin set.

One thing we did not show was the installation of a thermostat sensor wire, which was installed 6 inches underneath the mat and in between the coil wires. That, by the way, is closer towards the camera and off to the left-hand side, which is where the thermostat will be as well.

This is the WarmlyYours SmartStat. It's a dual voltage programmable thermostat. The control includes an in-floor sensor and digital display that indicates the exact floor temperature. The programmable function allows you up to 4 setting changes for each day of the week. That's convenience. WarmlyYours offers a pretty cool service I want to tell you about. It's called their SMARTSET programming service. It's an easy, convenient thermostat programming service that basically when you purchase a floor heating system in a SmartStat thermostat, they send a professionally bonded thermostat programmer to your house and basically program your thermostat.

Think about how convenient that is. You can have your thermostat turn on before you wake up in the morning, warm up your floor. You get out of the shower, it's nice and warm. Then maybe it lowers. It turns off while you're at work and turns back on. Maybe you have 4 different settings every single day. They do it for you for free. That's a nice service.

As a contractor, nobody wants a call back. Using WarmlyYours products gives me peace of mind. For more tool and product reviews, visit AConcordCarpenter.com.