Coldbuster floor heating

Updated 4th November 2009

For many people, the thought of electric floor heating is associated with words like expensive, posh, environmentally wasteful and complicated. Fortunately, Coldbuster floor heating is a novel form of DIY heating that is none of these. 

Conventional underfloor heating has its origins in the Northern hemisphere in areas like Europe and the UK. These areas have solid winters and houses with very well insulated designs. As such heating tends to be ‘always on’ during winter and benefit from an in-slab or in screed ‘storage’ type electric floor heating element.  

Having the elements in the cement slab means a higher thermal sink surrounding it. This requires elements of higher Wattage/m2 output (between 150-200 W/m²). The floor takes longer to warm up (up to 6 hours), and similarly takes longer to cool down. This suits large areas of a well insulated European house in the thick of winter. The net effect is the slab and structure acts as a heat sink. 

Coldbuster floor heating systems sit above slab, above screed. The elements are essentially an electric blanket for the floor finish. Because it does not need to warm the entire slab before the heat transfers to the room, Coldbuster floor heating is classified as an ‘on demand’ floor heating system. As such Coldbuster floor heating has a much lower design parameter (80 W/m²), is much quicker to respond (30 min) and can be zoned for individual room control, unlike in slab heaters (which warm the entire house slab). 

Coldbuster floor heating systems were designed in South Africa (a similar climate to New Zealand). They are suited to Southern hemisphere temperatures in which winters can be variable (some warm days in between) and the insulation design of houses (larger windows etc).  

The Coldbuster floor heating system, unlike conventional floor heating, has a lower wattage output, can be zoned to heat only the areas you are using and react fast enough to heat only in the times you need heating. The Coldbuster floor heating system has the nimble advantage over the more inert conventional floor heating, allowing users to tailor their floor heating to their needs and reduce energy consumption, greenhouse gas emissions and running costs.