Electric underfloor heating.

[large_ghostman]

A building i am looking at renting has electric underfloor heating. I wont say why i am asking at the moment but.....

Could a wrongly laid heating cable cause too much inductance and problems with tripping out consumer units? I dont want to say too much at the min, i am talking to these people about renting it.

I have seen part of the heating cable and its snaked all over the place! its sort of been zig zagged across the floor, i have only ever seen it done straight with bends at the end.

 

[gophert]

A building i am looking at renting has electric underfloor heating. I wont say why i am asking at the moment but.....

Could a wrongly laid heating cable cause too much inductance and problems with tripping out consumer units? I dont want to say too much at the min, i am talking to these people about renting it.

I have seen part of the heating cable and its snaked all over the place! its sort of been zig zagged across the floor, i have only ever seen it done straight with bends at the end.

Generally it is...
flat, not coiled.
50-60Hz
I have it snaked in my basement
I havent seen an issue.

 

[ronsimpson]

problems with tripping out consumer units?

Many people think electric blankets are bad. (all kinds of medical problems) You almost can't get a electric blanket around here. I have slept with an electric blanket to 50 years and it has made me old. So maybe there is something to it.

I think one turn of wire about the size of your hand, hocked to a scope, will not show much voltage. (uV) Maybe if the coil is touching the floor. Up one foot from the floor the signal will be very small. My thought is that a toaster will make more radiation. The big transformer in a micro wave will cause more trouble. (how about a wireless tooth brush charger)

I could get my tinfoil hat and come over and see. I could make a u-tube video. sorry, just thinking about "flat earth" and "cooling off earth" on another thread.

 

[KevinW]

It would only affect a single breaker within the apartment if something was wrong with it.

 

[AnalogKid]

problems with tripping out consumer units?

Not sure what this means. Tripping a circuit breaker?

There is no more inductance in the heater cable than in lamp cord. Whatever the potential problems might be, inductance ain't none of 'em.

ak

 

[Pommie]

If a breaker is tripping when it's turned on then I would suspect a current to earth. I have seen heaters that work fine over summer but trip breakers in winter due to moisture.

Mike.

 

[dr pepper]

I wouldnt have thought so ghostie, these things have carbon fibre conductors, the inductance around a room is only going to be nH.
If an Mcb is tripping then either the breaker is under rated or the circuit is overloaded - shorted somewhere.
Or if the Elcb is tripping thats bad as theres a break in the cable and a path to earth.
17th edition wiring reg's might tell you the guidelines, not my kind of thing.
Landlords have a duty to their tenants and have their properties & installations checked, gas, electric & heating, if they rent to you through a third party as far as I know they have to get this done, and if renting direct they'd be very naive not to.

 

[large_ghostman]

Thx guys, its a odd cable and underfloor heating i know about is water pipes not cable. I think Mikes got a point worth looking at, there is a leak in the girls bathroom that builds up slowly on the floor. The heating system is pretty old. I dunno but i think i am going to pass on renting this office space. Its cheap But cheap gets expensive when you got maintain and repair clauses in the contract.

At least i can stop wildly guessing with it .

 

[dr pepper]

Last time I rented a place the landlord told me that everything outside the property was his responsibility and everything inside was mine, that was 20 years ago though so I dont know if thats still in force.
Office properties have very little 'rights' with them, you can be kicked out on the spot unlike residential.