What are the disadvantages of expanded clay as a heater

Expanded clay - one of the most common heaters of residential buildings. Wall blocks are also made on its basis. In them, expanded clay also performs the tasks of a heater. How effective he is in his role and whether he has any shortcomings will be dealt with in detail.

What is expanded clay

Expanded clay is a clay burnt in a special way. The output is a porous brown granule. The resulting building material has certain properties:

• Environmentally friendly and 100% natural material. Non toxic
• It is not interesting to rodents, such as polystyrene, mineral wool;
• It has a low weight of 250 kg / m^3;
• Low thermal conductivity of expanded clay due to its porous structure - M500 has a coefficient of thermal conductivity of 0.12-0.15 W / m * K;
• Not subject to destruction by chemically aggressive environments;
• It is characterized by a relatively low price tag;
• It is recommended for installing floors using floating technology (relevant in homes that have not yet completed a full shrink cycle or for other technical reasons).

Therefore, claydite is increasingly used for leveling floors in apartment buildings, abandoning the classic concrete screed with a weight of 2500 kg / m³. In addition, simple concrete for screeds without a special aggregate and insulation is very cold.

Cons expanded clay as a heater

When working with expanded clay, one should not forget about its negative properties:

• If you use expanded clay as a floor insulation, then it is simply impossible to operate it without a special damper tape. This is due to the fact that when walking on this floor, expanded clay granules emit a characteristic rattle. Therefore, before backfilling the floor thoroughly soundproof the floor through a special tape;
• Expanded clay is unstable to constant effects of moisture. In this case, it is recommended to use a reliable waterproofing film. Or to refuse to use expanded clay in wet rooms;
• It is effective as a heater only if the layer is filled with at least 30 cm.

But, all these negative qualities do not matter if you use expanded clay as a filler in concrete for screeding. In this case, expanded clay can distinguish only positive qualities. Keep in mind, since expanded clay is a porous material and has a low density, its strength is also low. Therefore, a layer of such expanded clay concrete screed must be made at least 10 cm.