Add warmth to your oak floor with underfloor heating
As a finishing touch of luxury to your oak floor, install underfloor heating, to warm your feet on cold mornings and evenings. Oak floors thermally conduct to keep your house warm and cosy. Underfloor heating is popular as the ultimate indulgence. Here’s what you need to know.
Underfloor heating can be fitted under engineered oak floors.
For some, the aesthetic quality of uninterrupted walls is reason enough to choose underfloor heating. Installing underfloor heating means you can lose unsightly radiators that might spoil the lines of the room. For others it’s simply a pleasurable, tactile option that makes home all the more cosy and comfortable. With families that have children, it’s a lovely experience for the younger ones to walk on warm wooden floorboards with bare feet.
Essentials of underfloor heating
Most of the UFH systems out there are compatible but not every single one, so do talk to us early in the planning of your systems and subfloors.
In practical terms, you can install wet systems or dry systems. Wet systems use hot water in the same way as a central heating system, whilst dry systems are electric. Wet systems are generally thought to be the more efficient option.
Wet systems use hot water in the same way as a central heating system. Boiler temperature is important, it should be approximately 50 degrees centigrade and the surface temperature should never rise above 27 degrees centigrade on the floor.
In a mountain lodge in France we had a commission to provide underfloor heating beneath our oak floors, to make it a cosy extra luxury for visitors.
For underfloor heating it really does pay off to have engineered oak floor boards, as opposed to solid wood. Our quality wooden boards consist of a layer of oak over birch ply. Engineered wood does not retain moisture in the same way as solid wood and that means there is less expansion and contraction. Engineered flooring is much better at coping with temperature fluctuations. We also do bespoke engineered flooring, giving you a great range of choice.
Engineered oak is much more suitable for UFH compared with solid.
Benefits of underfloor heating
Underfloor heating is also very efficient because it distributes heat more evenly and maintenance cost savings of up to 40% are not unheard of. It needs water at a lower temperature than a radiator. This makes UFH good in combination with biomass boilers for lower temperature hot water, if that is a consideration.
The air quality in the home will likely be better because convection currents created by radiators disrupt dust and swirl it about the house. If any of your family do suffer from respiratory illnesses then dust mites, a common cause for asthma, can be reduced by up to 80% as there is less floor moisture for dust mites to survive on. Underfloor heating could also offer a means of making life more comfortable for people with arthritis in their legs, ankles and feet.
For families UFH is a real luxury for everyone to enjoy and there are also health benefits.
Whatever the reason you decide to include underfloor heating in your floor refurbishment, you will not be disappointed with the result. It really is an extra special addition of luxury in your home and one that the whole family can enjoy.