Installing Electric Radiant Floor Heating Under Hardwood

Radiant heating works well with ceramic tile and vinyl but not with wood floors.

Installing electric radiant floor heating under hardwood.

Thermofloor is a 4 in 1 heating insulating noise reducing moisture abating radiant floor heating underlayment specifically designed for laminate glue down and floating hardwood and engineered wood floors. There are some limitations on the type of wood flooring that can be used with radiant heat. Some manufactures would recommend that you maintain a consistent temperature ideally between 78 and 80 degrees. It isn t recommended to use radiant floor heating under plank flooring wider than 3.

How it works radiant heat systems use a three stage process to convey heated water to its destination. Its success with carpeted floors depends on the length of the weave thick carpets or those with thick pads won t work well as heat generated by the system will stay trapped in the floor. The heating element should be embedded within a sleeper system subfloor under a traditional subfloor or embedded within concrete. Despite all your precautions there is a high probability the user will not be satisfied.

So if you have open access to your floor joists now you can add the comfort and efficiency of radiant floor heat to your home. Unlike most other systems this laminate radiant floor heating system installs. It is also the responsibility of the general contractor plumber and hvac systems professional to put care into the installation of a radiant heat system so that all flooring substrates perform well and look great for years. But if you do wish to put radiant heating under solid hardwood use quarter sawn wood flooring instead of plain sawn wood flooring.

The type of wood flooring that you install over the radiant heat mechanism will ultimately determine your temperature guidelines. With radiant heat systems it s not just the responsibility of the hardwood floor professional to be on top of their game. The retroheat system can be installed to heat tile hardwood laminates. Engineered wood flooring works better for radiant heating than under solid hardwood.

Electric radiant underfloor heating systems can be installed under wood floors by working from the basement or from a basement crawlspace. This is the easiest and most cost effective way of. These are strips of wood or plywood typically 3 8 to 1 2 thick and are 1 2 wide which are installed between in parallel to the heating cable runs to create a surface for nailing the hardwood flooring onto. Retroheat radiant floor heating system.

Since wood flooring cannot be nailed to the cement floors the solution is to install so called wood sleepers. Thermofloor radiant floor heating installation.