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Heating Film for a Prefabricated House?

Author: Tóth Tamás · 3 min read

Can heating film be installed in a large-panel prefabricated house? The 2022 article presented the experience of a prefab house manufacturer; we summarise it and explain what to watch out for when planning electric heating for a quickly built house.

Heating Film for a Prefabricated House?

Yes, heating film suits quickly built, large-panel prefabricated houses well: it goes into the floor or ceiling, needs no boiler, chimney or pipe network, so building the heating does not slow construction down. When this article was published in 2022, a prefab house manufacturer also concluded that heating film would make its own work easier.

Why do so many people choose a prefabricated house?

Many families look for quick and modern construction when building a house, so prefab houses become more popular year by year. This decision can spare you a drawn-out build and some of the hidden costs. The structure of a large-panel prefab house goes together especially quickly: according to information from Berger Házak Zrt. at the time, apart from the roof structure the construction time was a day and a half, and one to two weeks was more than enough to build the roof structure and lay the tiles. The company then took on work throughout Hungary, and alongside fast construction it emphasised its environmentally conscious, low-energy-use operation.

Heating film for a prefabricated house - building a large-panel house

Image: Shutterstock

How does heating film get into a prefabricated house?

Because of growing interest, the manufacturer too was thinking about development options: many future buyers would have chosen the combination of heating film and a prefab house. The company's specialists then saw that replacing the heat pumps installed up to then with heating film could be a good solution from both an economic and an environmental point of view, and would simplify their own work too.

Depending on the situation, the heating film goes into the floor or the ceiling. With ceiling heating it goes above the plasterboard suspended ceiling, with underfloor heating under the floor covering, so no heater is visible in the living space. Thanks to modern technology fitting is quick: when the article was published we wrote that it could be done in just a few hours - the exact time depends on the size of the house and the number of rooms.

What to consider when planning heating film for a prefabricated house?

  • Sizing: the required output is determined by the heat loss of the house, which it is worth calculating at the design stage. The process is described on our on-site survey and consultation page.
  • Scheduling: the installation of the heating film has to be given a place in the manufacturer's or contractor's schedule before the flooring and the closing of the suspended ceiling.
  • Electrical connection: electric heating increases the house's power demand, which has to be taken into account when planning the grid connection. The connection is made by a qualified electrician.
  • Control: with a thermostat in each room, the system heats only where and when it is needed.

Air conditioning and solar panels alongside heating film

Air conditioning and solar panels can also be planned alongside heating film. Solar panels really are no small investment, though installing them does not significantly prolong construction. How much they save also depends on the billing method. In Hungary, gross billing has applied to new household systems since 1 January 2024, meaning that electricity fed into the grid and electricity drawn from it are accounted for separately. Net metering could remain only for those - for a maximum of 10 years - who applied by September 2023 and put their system into operation by 1 January 2026. Your own generation can therefore reduce the electricity cost of heating film; the extent is decided by the generation and consumption of the given household. Details are on our solar panel page.

Building a prefab house and planning electric heating? Request a quote and, based on the plans of the house, we will prepare the technical proposal (installation is available in Hungary).

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