Advice on underfloor heating with engineered wood

7 years ago

Help please! I'm getting really confused with UFH and engineered wood boards - I've been looking at forums and advice places and seem to get that it should be less than 18mm thick and you don't put thick rugs on it. Then I saw that you never turn it off - really? We're renovating an old cottage and putting in an Aga - with the amount of insulation the builder is incorporating, we're going to COOK! Can somebody reassure me that we can turn off the UFH for several months through the summer?

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PRO

Nu-Heat UK Ltd

7 years ago

Hi Sarah,

Almost any floor covering can work well with underfloor heating. Each floor covering
will provide a different level of thermal conductivity, making it easier or
harder for your underfloor heating to meet the desired floor surface temperature. It's a good idea to choose an underfloor heating system that has been designed with your choice of floor covering in mind, as this will provide the most efficient heating for your home, as well as ensuring that sensitive floor coverings are protected.

Engineered wood is an excellent choice for pairing with underfloor heating, as it is effective in transferring heat from the underfloor heating tube to the surface of the floor. It can also generally be laid directly over the underfloor heating without the need for an additional, structural floor deck - your underfloor heating supplier will be able to advise if this is the case.

We would always recommend that you ask your flooring supplier if there are any special care conditions (such as maximum temperatures) for your flooring. If needed, your underfloor heating supplier should be able to provide a floor temperature sensor which limits the heat output from the floor to protect the floor coverings, whilst still ensuring that the desired room temperature is met.

We will be more than happy to answer any questions you might have about pairing floor coverings with underfloor heating. Please feel free to give us a call on 01404 540650 if we can be of any help.

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Comments (6)

PRO
Catherine Lepreux Interiors
7 years ago
We have UFH throughout our house, under a mixture of bamboo flooring and fitted carpets. I think it's fab, it gives out a really gentle, even heat.
To reassure you, we do turn ours off during the summer! When you read "don't turn it off", it's more about programming the thermostats to regulate the temperature during the day. Rooms with UFH probably take a bit longer to warm up than with a conventional radiator, but they cool down more slowly too, as the heat percolates through the floor. If you're used to planning your cooking in advance with an Aga, you'll be fine.
Sarah Bowden thanked Catherine Lepreux Interiors
obobble
7 years ago
We have it too and technically it is never off, but we have the thermostat on the frost setting in the summer so it would only come on if the temp dropped below 5C which is effectively off. You can also turn the water temp in the pipes down a bit in the spring and autumn so when it is on it is milder.
Sarah Bowden thanked obobble
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Hi Brian, In our experience, engineered wood is a perfectly suitable floor covering to use with warm water underfloor heating. It is the 2nd most conductive floor covering, coming a close second to tiles or stone, but still less resistant than carpet. There are, however, a few things you need to bear in mind: Talk to your flooring manufacturer to see if there is a heat restriction applied to the engineered wood. Most engineered woods have a restriction in place to limit the heat output of the floor to around 75w/m², due to the sensitive nature of these products. This could therefore limit the floor temperature within that room, and potentially affect the desired room temperature. The above point can be eliminated, as long as your underfloor heating supplier is providing you with a design. This will take into account the floor coverings you are proposing to use, and therefore ensure the UFH can achieve the desired room temperature. This should put your mind at rest! The thickness of the floor covering will have an impact on the response time of the UFH system - the thicker the engineered wood, the longer it will take the heat to transfer through. Bear this in mind and run it past your UFH supplier to ensure it hasn’t exceed a recommended thickness. I hope this helps! Thanks, Holly Nu-Heat
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Hi Minipie, Great question - you're right to be concerned about the surface temperature being affected when using rugs with engineered flooring and UFH. We would advise against using a rug in this instance, especially a thick rug as the surface temperature will increase in that section and cause a 'heat spot' which may cause issues. If the surface temperature will still remain no higher than 27C then you should be fine but it's hard to guarantee that with a rug. In addition to this, your flooring underneath the rug would be a different colour to the rest of your floor due to lack of sunlight exposure (although this would even out over months). We hope this helps! www.kahrs.com/gb
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PRO
Woodpecker Flooring
7 years ago
Hi Sarah, any thickness of engineered wood flooring is suitable for underfloor heating - we just advise that the thinner the wear layer, then the better the heat output you'll get. We also advise that underfloor heating is increased or decreased very gradually - no more than 1 degree celcius per day. You can lower this gradually to accomodate for the Summer season.

We also recommend that the floor is left to acclimatise for two to three days after fitting before the underfloor heating is turned on. This will allow it to settle in. When turning it on, set at at 1 degree above the ambient temperature and then increase gradually as explained above.

Hope this helps. There's more info on our FAQs page too: https://woodpeckerflooring.co.uk/resources/faqs/
Sarah Bowden thanked Woodpecker Flooring
User
7 years ago
We are installing 21mm thick engineered oak (6mm wear layer) over ufh and have been in a house with a slightly thicker 22mm floor and it was lovely and toasty. Don't worry too much about sticking with 18mm and just pick a floor you love :)

I've read the same advice about rugs and I'm not sure I would risk it but I have to say that in the only 2 houses I've been in with ufh, they both had rugs!
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User
7 years ago
Also I meant to add that although you are told never to turn it off, the only reason for this is because of the time it takes to heat up and cool down, it's not instantaneous so they recommend leaving it on at a low temp so that it has less work to do to get back up to heat. You can definitely turn it off though. We love a cool bedroom all year round and will probably never have it on in that room!
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Advice on underfloor heating with engineered wood

Nu-Heat UK Ltd

Comments (6)

Catherine Lepreux Interiors

obobble

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