Best Type of Flooring for UFH

Hi,

I am interested to know what is the best type of flooring to install for UFH.

I understand that tiles are the best but is there anything I should look out for; thickness of tile, type of tile, type of adhesive etc.

I'll also want to install wooden floors. What is the best option; solid, semi-solid (engineered) or laminate. Should the floors be glued or floated?

Can solid wood floors be floated or do they need to be nailed/glued?

Any advice appreciated

Tiles are definitely best with UFH for thermal reasons. Wood is a natural insulator where ceramic is a natural conductor.

I have UFH with a mixture of porcelain tiles and 22mm thick solid oak. The heat through the tiles is far better than the oak. I laid 2" x 2" battens into the floor screed when pouring so that I could Portanail (secret nail) the oak to the battens, however, I am still happy with the heat through the oak flooring. I am not a lover of floating wooden floors (they all seem to have that hollow sound when walked upon).

Each manufacturer/supplier should be able to provide you with a datasheet on their product in relation to the suitability and heat transfer rates for UFH.

Some carpets are suitable and equally some are not, so you should check the datasheets with your supplier and not what the salesperson says, i.e. "shur it will be grand!"

Also your UFH designer should also be able to provide you with more information, as they should have been provided this information at the time of specification/design. Different floor coverings may require varying UFH pipe centres, flow rates, flow temperatures, etc.

Electric UFH

smyths said:

I'm considering electric UFH for the entire floor. Has anyone any views re cost effectiveness and ease of installation with ceramic tiles.

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Ouch! Disaster. Poor heat transfer rates and very expensive to run. Really only suitable for small areas such as an ensuite bathroom, walk-in wardrobe, etc. Go with a wet system.

+1 What Shane 007 has posted and I'll add the following: -

Be careful about using UFH as a sole means of heating a house.
It reacts slowly to temperature changes and IMO should be background only.
Ideally needs supplemental heating in the form of radiators to increase supply as required.

All of this has or be viewed in terms of house insulation and orientation.
Its possible to design a medium sized house so that all you need is a 1 bar electric fire.
Consider putting your money into good design as opposed to component selection, for maximum returns.

ONQ.

[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

I would agree with insulating a house to the maximum you can afford, however, UFH does not require supplement heating in any form. A well designed and controlled UFH will heat any house of any size as long as certain parameters are strictly adhered to. It will also do it economically. A bad one is a nightmare and very expensive to correct. A good one is a pleasure to operate and run.

We recently corrected a very badly installed UFH system that was using 6 fills of oil per annum. The client informed me a couple of weeks ago he will be now using under 2 by his calculations.

If installing UFH to the required standard and levels of heat loss are outside your budget, then certainly do not attempt to install UFH as a half-hearted installation. Install rads or another form of heating.

Thanks ONQ and Shane007. I was hoping for better news as the electric system seems to offer ease of installation. Currently there is a gas CH radiator system but it is old and the pipes are gun barrel and are above ground (clipped to skirting) in places. Real ugly! I was going to use the recommended insulation board for the UFH. Would that make it any more cost efficient?

smyths said:

Currently there is a gas CH radiator system but it is old and the pipes are gun barrel and are above ground (clipped to skirting) in places. Real ugly!

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If you have gun barrel, do not install UFH connected to this. The sludge that you will have in your system will destroy the actuator valves in the UFH manifolds. Before you do anything, I would definitely consider removing the gun barrel and replacing with copper. You could then bury the new pipework under floor boards or chase out concrete floors and insulate new pipework. Once all the gun barrel is removed, I would also Powerflush the complete system to remove any sludge from radiators and boiler and then leave with a good quality System Inhibitor such as Fernox or Sentinel. Do not Powerflush the gunbarrel with chemicals.

smyths said:

I was going to use the recommended insulation board for the UFH. Would that make it any more cost efficient?

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If you are still going to install UFH, you MUST insulate for the UFH, otherwise the heat loss will be far too great and you will end up with a very poor system.

Thanks Shane007. I think I will be going for putting in a new system with Rads. You have convinced me. I will close up the gunbarrel and remove it where possible and then put in a copper pipe system. Thanks

ONQ.

smyths,

I'm seeing a piecemeal approach to something into which you're going to sink a lot of money.
You should really have your house assessed by a Mechanical and Electrical Consulting Engineer like Johnston Reid.
My connection is that we have worked together as colleagues, but any competent M&E who has done the BER assessor course and has a HVAC system should be able to advise.

Also you seem to be concentrating on your piped heating system.
What about your Mechanical Ventilation and Heat Recover System - are you fitting one of those?

Heating a building isn't just about "heat-in" its also about conservation of fuel and energy = insulating the building.
Also heating and insulating a building without sealing it means infiltration gains and losses cost you proportionally more to heat.

I accept that with a renovation you might be dealing with a listed building (you don't say) but 1950-s on unlisted buildings can usually be made quite air-tight.


[broken link removed]

All advice on AAM is remote from the situation and cannot be relied upon as a defence or support - in and of itself - should legal action be taken.
Competent legal and building professionals should be asked to advise in Real Life with rights to inspect and issue reports on the matters at hand.

Thanks ONQ. I will think about that. Sorry for delay in replying. Enjoying some R and R before getting stuck in.