Liquid-electric underfloor heating: combined heating system X-L PIPE

Recommendation points

• Advantages and problems of traditional technologies
• Energy content of the water floor
• Fast heating and cheap electric floor
• Ease of installation of infrared (IR) TP
• X-L PIPE – solving problems by combining views
• DIY X-L PIPE installation
• X-L PIPE pipe price

From the article you will learn about the innovative product of the Korean company Daewoo Enertec – the X-L PIPE underfloor heating system. We will tell you about what this system consists of, in which cases it is recommended, and we will also carry out a comparative analysis with conventional types of underfloor heating – water and electric.

Heating continues to be the most tangible item of utility costs, so engineers are constantly looking for new cheap heat sources and the result of their work is both new unique developments and successful combinations of proven technologies. This happened with an innovation from South Korea called X-L PIPE..

Advantages and problems of traditional technologies

A lot has been said about warm floors (TP) and today almost everyone knows what types they are. In this section, we will mention the best that the currently known types of TP give the consumer. The problems of these systems, which are solved in X-L PIPE technology, will also be presented..

Energy content of the water floor

Water is an excellent heat carrier, additives are added to improve its qualities, and this product is called a “thermal agent”. The mass of liquid transfers temperature to all points of the system and at the same time retains it for a rather long time.

Problem.Equipment is required to constantly pump the agent through the system. Usually this is a boiler that requires a separate room and expensive qualified services..

Fast heating and cheap electric floor

The electric cable warms up much faster than water, since metal is several times denser than liquid. The cost of the system is the lowest (from 5 USD / m²).

Problem.It also cools down many times faster – it requires frequent restarting for heating. At the same time, electricity consumption increases and a powerful stable power grid is required..

Ease of installation of infrared (IR) TP

It is enough just to roll out the mat and connect it to the mains (socket) through the regulator. It can be covered with carpet or laminate and can be reused. Ceiling and wall mounting is also acceptable.

Problem. High electricity consumption, comparable to wired TP. The relatively high cost of the film itself (about 30 USD / m²).

Conclusion – with obvious advantages, all known types of TP have problems in three areas:

1. Complex or expensive installation, a lot of equipment.
2. High operating costs (electricity costs).
3. Rapid temperature loss.

X-L PIPE – solving problems by combining views

Korean engineers decided to combine literally all known types of TP in one product, simultaneously getting rid of the shortcomings of each type. As a result, a sealed system in the form of a polyethylene pipe (O 20–30 mm) filled with a heat-retaining agent (liquid) and heating elements laid inside it saw the light. These elements – anode and cathode – consist of 7 chromium-nickel threads and provide instant heating when voltage is applied.

To compensate for the expansion of the liquid during heating, a compartment filled with soft balls is provided at the end of the pipe – no voltage is transmitted to the walls. This increases the service life of the pipe in the TP system up to 60 years..

X-L PIPE structure: 1 – cold cable end; 2 – insulating material; 3 – heat-conducting liquid; 4 – voltage absorption device; 5 – 7 stretched double-coated chromium-nickel threads; 6 – plug made of silicone rubber; 7 – silicone cover

Distinctive features of the X-L PIPE system:

1. To warm up the agent, it is not required to pump it through the system. No boiler, pumps and manifold needed.
2. Pause time between heating – 4 hours for +23 С ° (for electric TP – 2 hours).
3. Simple system maintenance and repair.
4. The system does not require calculations, fitting for furniture, problems of equipment incompatibility, leaks, poor-quality installation are excluded.

Another property that can be attributed to problematic is the mandatory screed from 40 mm. At the same time, work without a screed is offered only by expensive infrared heated floors, the rest also require laying a layer of mortar.

DIY X-L PIPE installation

The installation procedure for this system is 80% similar to laying a water transformer substation from a flexible pipe.

Operating procedure

1. On the base (screed made of foam concrete or PPR), lay a heat-reflecting material – a foil substrate.

2. Then follows a welded reinforcing mesh 100×100 with a rod of 3 mm. If the reinforcement was applied in a rough screed, the mesh is laid only on top of the pipes.

3. Lay the pipe “snail” or “zig-zag” on special fasteners (included in the kit). The main requirement is a pipe spacing of 250-300 mm.

Attention! Do not kink, kink, cut or otherwise distort the pipe.

4. Route both ends of the pipe into a sealed junction box (supplied). It will be required for maintenance or repair and must be covered with waterproofing tape..

5. Next, a wire is connected to the ends of the anode and cathode, which goes to the regulator and the power source.

6. After installation and testing, install beacons and lay the screed from a special mortar for TP, or cement mortar with additives.

7. At low room temperatures, the system can be turned on at 15–20 ° C to accelerate the hardening of the screed..

The location of the junction box must be determined in advance in such a way that a minimum of floor covering must be dismantled to access it. You should also provide for a convenient place for the regulator – the wires from it will go to the box.

Editing X-L PIPE on video

Maintenance of such a system is carried out by specialists, since a special pump is needed to pump fluid. The repair procedure is reduced to pumping out the agent, replacing the heating filament (you just need to pull it through the pipe) and re-injecting the fluid. Such prophylaxis is recommended once every 12-15 years, that is, 4-5 times over the entire period of operation..

X-L PIPE pipe price

At the moment, there is no competition in the Russian market for closed non-activator systems, and the entire model range is represented by the products of one company – Daewoo Enertec.

Daewoo Enertec systems O 20 mm

Model	Peak power, W	Average daily power, W	Heating area, m2	Length, m	Working current, A	Kit price, cu e.
X-L PIPE DW-010	560	25	3.5-4.5	fourteen	2.55	130
X-L PIPE DW-015	840	25	5.3-6.3	21	3.82	190
X-L PIPE DW-020	1120	25	7.0-8.5	28	5.09	250
X-L PIPE DW-025	1400	25	8.8-10.5	35	6.36	300
X-L PIPE DW-030	1680	25	10.5-12.5	42	7.64	360

Installation services – from 6 USD e. for 1 m² excluding the screed. At the same time, as can be seen from the table, installation of a screed with a turnkey TP pipe in a room of 20 m² will cost about 45 USD e. for 1 m² along with all materials.

This type of TP system can be used both as auxiliary and main heating. At home, X-L PIPE pipe technologies are actively used in new construction and reconstruction, including in hospitals and child care facilities. The operational advantages of the combined product are the complete absence of noise and more than modest electricity costs. Installation of this system does not require approval from the supervisory authorities.