How hardwood and radiant floor heating work together.

Hardwood floors make a room feel cosy. With a properly varnished, or silkily oiled, natural flooring invites going barefoot. All you need to make that comfort complete is radiant floor heating to keep it at just the right temperature.

Comfy warmth underfoot is in. More and more homeowners are employing radiant floor heating, both in new construction as well as when rennovating. According to the findings of the Bundesverband Flächenheizungen e.V. (National Surface Heating Association) 50% of one or two family homes utilize this kind of heating system. Floor heating not only makes for a pleasant living, but is economical, and giving you a freer hand at interior design.
In general most hardwood is suitable for installation over sub-floor radiant heating. In order to keep heat resistance to a minimum, the wood should not be too thick, but thicknesses up to 15mm can be used without any trouble.

Heat resistance must be as slight as possible, so the heat from the subfloor can be passed on through the wood readily. According to the Initiative pik (Association for Adhesive Bonded Parquet), the classic full surface, glue down wood flooring installation is especially well suited to radiant floor heating. The way the wood is glued down in direct contact, means there is no insulating air pocket between the wood and the subflooring so that keeps heat resistance to a minimum. The warmth can be passed on unhindered and efficiently.

Keep in mind: thick carpets should not be placed on wood flooring with floor heating. There is the risk of holding heat in. Since the heat doesn't not get into the room, the room temperature remains low so the thermostat keeps raising the water temperature in the heating system. That feedback can be costly. That means heating costs rise, and in the worst of cases the wood flooring itself or even the subflooring may be damaged.

For optimal heating comfort scrupulous planning and professional help in setting up the heating system, embedding it in the subflooring, as well as laying the hardwood flooring itself are imperative. That's the only way to avoid later complications in running the floor heating: consult your floor installation professional - he knows his job and will be able to give you all the sound advice you need.

Premium hardwood flooring is in: hardwood is just the thing for floor heating.

Since the mid 1980's more and more home owners and rennovators have preferred bare floors for their homes. In particular hardwood has become standard in much of more recent construction: while in 1985 there were 4,900,000 m2 such floors installed in Germany, that figure had reached around 24,000,000 m2 by the end of the year 2000. What's more since 2001 there has been an ever growing demand for premium quality sorts of hardwood. More than any other kind of flooring, what could be more suited to the demand for prestige flooring than the stylish uniqueness of hardwood? Even better when the hardwood flooring is combined with the warmth of radiant heating.
What could be nicer than hardwood with radiant floor heating? For best results scrupulous planning, as well as professional help in installing the heating system, the subfloor, and the laying of the hardwood are all a must with this kind of comfort flooring.
Homeowners are well aware of the advantages of radiant floor heating: they are economical to operate, sanitary, easy to clean, and out of the way, giving you a freer hand in the interior design of the rooms. The European Parkett Industries FEP assures us there is no problem with this kind of flooring combination. According to studies by the Fraunhofer Institute for Research on Wood, in Braunschweig, hardwood is completely compatible with radiant heating systems. The important thing is to keep the eventual hardwood flooring in mind already in the planning stages of the system, especially considering the thicknesses required. The critical factor is the resistance to heat conductivity in the flooring, since the temperature of the heat source depends on that, and it should be no higher than 55°C. Then too the heating pipes should be spaced no more than 30cm apart. The utmost care must be taken in embedding them in the subflooring as well as in laying the wood.

Another thing to keep in mind is the moisture level of the flooring. There are standard average norms, which should by no means be exceeded. Then too care must be taken when the heating is on, to maintain healthy room conditions: at a temperature of 20° to 22° C the ideal air humidity is between 50 and 60%, ensuring both the well being of people in the room and proper condition of the floor.

Only a professional installation of the heating system, as well as the proper construction of the subflooring can ensure the proven compatability of hardwood with radiant heating. Keeping strictly to the required technical standards is a necessary condition for laying hardwood on heating embedded in concrete, as well as for mortarless construction. The hardwood is glued down over the full surface utlizing a special extremely elastic adhesive (after a primer has been applied to the concrete subflooring), but floating installation can also done (however this not really to be recommended, since the weight of heavy furniture can cause warping in the floor).
Ideal for radiant heating purposes, and well as use in rooms exposed to dampness (bathrooms, outdoors) are doussi, golden acacia, iroko, cabrueva, afromasia, oak, merbau, and teak.