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“Carbon heating”: one name, four products.
A film at €20 per square metre and a heating system fitted for a whole house carry the same name. They have neither the same heating surface nor the same use. Here is how to tell them apart.
What we are talking about
Carbon heating is electric surface heating: a conductive layer of carbon acts as a resistor, and gives off its heat as infrared radiation. Four products fit this definition.
The table comes from the manufacturer of the system we fit. It compares its own product with the three others: keep that in mind as you read it. For the other families, these are market ranges, with no brand names.
| Striped film | Heating fleece | Carbon paint | Full-surface film, fitted as a system | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| What heats | the carbon stripes; between them, the film stays cold | the fleece, full-surface or in lengths depending on the product | painted areas, most often 60 cm wide | the whole strip, 85% coated |
| Voltage | 230 V, or 24 V with a transformer | 24 to 36 V, with a transformer | 24 to 36 V, with a transformer | 230 V, with no transformer |
| What is underneath | nothing, or a thin underlay | nothing, most often | the wall or the floor | a reflective layer and an insulating layer |
| Usual use | taking the chill off a floor, supplementary heating | supplementary heating, partial heating | wall heating by zones | main heating of a home |
| Design | sold by the metre | sold in lengths | area to be painted | calculation and laying plan for each room |
| Warranty | 2 to 10 years | 2 to 10 years | depending on the manufacturer | 20 years |
The same source adds that, in a very energy-efficient new building, the first three can sometimes provide all the heating, with a cost and a consumption that it then considers higher.
What makes the difference: the surface that heats
On a striped film, only the carbon heats. The actual heating surface is therefore smaller than the surface laid. To deliver the same heat, the film has to run longer.
On a film with a full-surface coating, the whole strip heats. Large surface, low temperature, short running time: that is the manufacturer’s argument, and it is what the thermal camera lets you see.
The second difference is under the film. With no reflective layer and no insulating layer, part of the heat goes into the subfloor. The system we fit has one of each.
What the price of a film covers
A film sold at €15 to €60 per square metre is a material price, for supplementary heating: with no reflective layer and no insulating layer, no room-by-room calculation, no fitting, no electrical design, and most often with a warranty of two to ten years. A fitted system is an installation price: design, supply, fitting, connection, check.
Comparing the two is comparing a roll with a heating installation.
When a simple film is enough
- Taking the chill off a floor under laminate, in a room that another heating system already keeps warm.
- Supplementary heating on the wall, where the floor cannot be touched.
- A small area, with no ambition to be the main heating.
As soon as the aim is to heat a room or a home fully, or the floor has to be redone anyway, or height is limited, a designed system is what is needed.
What about the infrared panel?
A panel on the wall or the ceiling radiates too, but from a small, very hot surface: according to the manufacturer, 0.5 to 1 m² at 80 to 120 °C, against the whole clear floor area at 20 to 24 °C. The hotter a surface is, the more it sets the air moving: part of the heat rises to the ceiling.
A panel still has its uses for the in-between seasons in an office, for a rented home whose floor cannot be touched, or for a room heated for a few hours.
What this page does not say
It does not rank brands, and we have not measured any of these products ourselves. If you are hesitating between a film and a system, ask each seller for three things: the share of the surface that heats, what is laid underneath, and a consumption figure read at the meter in a home comparable to yours. The readings for the system we fit are on the measured consumption page.
Frequently asked questions
Your questions on this subject.
Is a carbon heating film the same thing as the system you fit?
No. A film is a component, often striped, of which only the stripes heat. The system we fit is a film coated over its whole surface, laid on a reflective layer and an insulating layer, with a design and a thermostat for each room.
How do you recognise a full-surface film?
By eye: the coating covers the whole strip, not stripes. Through a thermal camera: the whole strip heats, with no lines.
Can a striped film heat a house?
According to the manufacturer of the system we fit, sometimes, in a very energy-efficient new building. But these films are made first of all to take the chill off a floor or to serve as supplementary heating.
What about an infrared panel on the wall?
It is a different product: a small, very hot surface, where the floor is a large warm one. A panel suits supplementary heating, or a home whose floor cannot be touched.
Read next
- The carbon systemA 0.45 mm carbon film that heats across its whole surface, under your floor covering. Build-up, outputs, temperatures and limits, according to the manufacturer.
- Measured consumption15 to 50 kWh per m² per year according to the manufacturer, median 24. Its eleven meter readings, building by building: what they prove, what they do not prove.
- Heat pump or carbonA heat pump uses two to three times less electricity, but costs more to buy and to maintain. Independent measurements, the manufacturer's calculation, case by case.
- Thermal cameraEvery Carbosol fitting ends with a thermal camera check: what the image shows, why carbon heats with no coil to be seen, and what we look for.
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