NuHeat vs SunTouch

[Aaron Fude]

Hi,

I have a regular ("standard") patch to heat the tile in my bathroom,

3'x8'.

Does anyone have an opinion on which soution is better? I understand that "better" is a matter of personal preference, but what are some of the things *you* look at.

ALSO, NuHeat requires "silicone modified mortar" layers above and below. Are there disadvantages? Is it weaker/less durable/harder to work with/etc?

Many thanks in advance.

Aaron

[Paul]

I'm not familiar with NuHeat, but I've done a couple SunTouch installations. On the first one I found that troweling thinset directly over the plastic mesh that holds the heating wires was a real PITA. The trowel gets hung up in the mesh, the mat doesn't lie perfectly flat, and it's hard to get an even distribution of thinset. If you are installing any small mosaic tiles in the field, it becomes a real mess as some up them float up and down in the thinset. You're also working against time as the thinset dries and you are correcting problems with the tile. On the second install for a friend, I poured self-leveling compound to fully embed the heating mesh and tile installation went much more smoothly. In both cases, the heating mat was installed on top of cement board over plywood subfloor.

-- Paul

[Aaron Fude]

Thanks, Paul. Was the floor heated equally well (and fast) in both cases?

Thanks

[Paul]

Yes, but speed really isn't an issue, since the floor thermostat is going to maintain a baseline temp in the floor at all times. We're both very happy with our heated floors. I would never do a bathroom again without it.

-- Paul