Srinagar: For years, the story of Electric Hamam in Kashmir has largely been about how an unfamiliar heating technology became a part of everyday life. Less visible has been the engineering work behind the systems being installed beneath floors across the Valley.
At The Heating Store, a Srinagar based business associated with the early development of Kashmir’s Electric Hamam market, that work now extends to cable testing, materials research, product development and collaborations with universities abroad.
The shift reflects a broader ambition: to move beyond importing heating products towards developing technology suited to local conditions.
Behind much of this work is the company’s founder, Taham Mubashar, whose interest in electric underfloor heating developed during his years in the United Kingdom.
Between 2007–08 and 2011, Mubashar studied at City University London while also gaining professional experience in the UK. His exposure to European heating technology and its established manufacturing industry eventually shaped the business he launched in Srinagar in 2011.
The Heating Store initially concentrated on making underfloor heating accessible to Kashmiri households. It was during those early years that the technology came to be marketed locally as Electric Hamam, a name that connected modern electrical heating with Kashmir’s long-established tradition of heated floors.
The company’s more recent work has increasingly focused on what happens inside the heating cable itself.
Research beyond the showroom
Unlike conventional retail businesses that depend entirely on finished products supplied by manufacturers, The Heating Store has established its own laboratory facilities for testing heating cables and related components.
The facility is used to examine cable characteristics, electrical performance and the behaviour of materials under different operating conditions.
Alongside this in-house testing, the company has entered into formal research arrangements with universities in the United Kingdom and Europe.
Under these collaborations, academic researchers undertake development work supported by funding from The Heating Store. The arrangements also include smaller research grants that allow students to investigate engineering problems connected with heating technology.
The approach gives the Srinagar business access to specialised research expertise without having to reproduce the resources of a large international research institution.
One of the principal areas of development has been a technology the company describes as variable-wattage heating.
Rethinking the heating cable
A conventional electric underfloor-heating system is generally designed around a specified power rating. Variable-wattage technology takes a different approach by allowing electrical output to change in response to temperature conditions.
At the centre of the development is the behaviour of conductor materials.
Different metals have different electrical resistance characteristics, and their resistance can change with temperature. By selecting and combining conductor materials with particular properties, researchers can develop heating cables whose power output varies as thermal conditions change.
The aim is to make the heating element itself more responsive rather than depending entirely on external temperature controls.
The Heating Store has supported research into this approach through its academic collaborations, with laboratory testing forming part of the development process.
The technology is now being used in ProWarm underfloor-heating systems supplied through the company’s Indian market arrangements.
The research and commercial development are linked through an agreement under which ProWarm is authorised to use the university-developed variable-wattage configuration for the Indian market.
It is an example of how technical work supported by a business in Kashmir can eventually find its way into commercially available heating products.
The company’s wider product portfolio also includes Fastwarm, which uses a different heating-cable configuration. The distinction reflects the fact that electric underfloor heating is not a single, uniform technology; different cable constructions and control arrangements can be developed for different applications.
Why cable construction matters
The engineering of an underfloor-heating system is particularly important because its heating element is normally concealed beneath a finished floor.
Once the system is covered by screed, stone or tile, the cable is expected to perform for years without regular physical access.
That makes conductor construction, insulation, manufacturing precision and testing important parts of product development.
One construction method receiving attention in the industry is cross-hatching, in which conductor elements are interwoven within the cable assembly.
The method is not a new invention, but it illustrates the importance of physical cable construction alongside electrical performance. The arrangement of internal conductors can influence how a cable responds to mechanical stresses during manufacture, handling and installation.
Manufacturing such specialised cables requires machinery and production capabilities that are not readily available in India, making international manufacturing relationships an important part of the supply chain.
For The Heating Store, the process involves combining overseas manufacturing capabilities with technical evaluation, testing and local installation experience.
A Kashmiri approach to heating control
Not all innovations involve changing the cable itself.
Some emerge from understanding how people use heating in their homes.
One example is the dual-zone Electric Hamam arrangement introduced by The Heating Store in Kashmir.
Instead of treating an entire room as one heating area, the floor can be divided into separately controlled sections.
In a room measuring 10 by 10 feet, for instance, the 100-square-foot floor can be divided into two heating zones of approximately 50 square feet each.
During relatively mild weather, a household may choose to operate one section. During the severe cold of Chillai Kalan, both sections can be used.
The arrangement gives occupants greater control over the heated area and offers opportunities to reduce electricity consumption when full-floor heating is unnecessary.
Although zoning is an established principle in heating engineering, adapting it to smaller Kashmiri rooms helped introduce a different way of thinking about Electric Hamam operation locally.
Similar dual-zone arrangements have subsequently become available through other suppliers in the Valley.
It is an example of innovation driven less by laboratory complexity than by everyday customer requirements.
Training technicians for a specialised trade
The development of new products has also required changes in technical training.
The Heating Store’s senior technical personnel have received training in the United Kingdom through programmes associated with universities and heating manufacturers.
For the wider installation workforce, training includes online technical courses conducted by specialist institutes, followed by assessments and examinations.
Around 30 to 50 people associated with the company’s technical and installation network have undergone training across India.
This matters because underfloor heating leaves little room for improvisation after construction is complete.
Cable layouts, electrical protection, floor preparation, insulation and temperature controls must be considered before the finished surface is installed.
As the Electric Hamam market grows, the availability of trained installers becomes as important as access to heating materials.
Developing technology at different price points
Another aspect of the company’s technical work is the development of private-label heating products.
These systems are manufactured through international production arrangements, with attention given to material selection, specifications and testing.
The objective is to make heating products with comparable technical specifications available without all the costs associated with large consumer-brand marketing operations.
It represents a different model from conventional distribution, where a company simply purchases finished branded products and resells them.
The Heating Store’s work now spans several parts of the industry, from established international names such as ProWarm and Fastwarm to its own private-label product development.
That combination also creates opportunities for engineering specifications and research findings to be applied across different product ranges.
From importing technology to contributing to it
When The Heating Store began operating in 2011, the immediate challenge was introducing electric underfloor heating to a market that knew relatively little about it.
The priorities have since expanded.
Kashmir’s severe winters, differences in building construction and variations in local electricity supply have all shaped the company’s interest in testing and adapting heating systems rather than relying entirely on standard imported configurations.
The combination of laboratory facilities in Srinagar, research collaborations abroad, internationally trained technical personnel and specialised manufacturing arrangements points towards a more research-oriented stage in the industry’s development.
The distinction is significant.
Importing a technology allows a business to introduce it to a new market. Participating in its research and development gives that business a role in determining how the technology evolves.
For an industry that began with the challenge of explaining what Electric Hamam meant, that represents a substantial change.
