Can I install solid wood parquet on our underfloor heating?
We want to install solid wood parquet on our heated floors.
You always read on the internet that solid wood parquet is not suitable for underfloor heating? Is this true? Do either of them happen to have one at home? What would you say from your own experience?
Answers
There are some parquets that tolerate underfloor heating well. Not every type of installation is suitable; for example, full bonding works very well because there is almost no air trapped. In terms of efficiency, not much is lost, the system just gets slower, and the heating should be enough to warm the floor through, which really shouldn't be a problem, since you can include the distance between pipes as a parameter in addition to the flow temperature.
We currently have floating hardwood flooring, and the underfloor heating system works perfectly. However, I don't measure it in any way, I'm guided by how I feel, and that's fine.
I always recommend testing individual situations live somewhere to get a feel for it. There are also vendors who install solid wood planks in a floating method on a screed that is then stapled together, this is also a viable option.
I have tile in the hallway on FBH and multi-layered floating oak parquet in the kitchen and living room. In my socks or bare feet, I notice that tile is warmer than parquet. But only a little. And the thermostat depends on the room temperature, a cozy 20°C everywhere. I find wood very cozy.
How much extra energy it costs me, I don't know. Either way, it's great, and I'd do it again.
If you ask a hardwood flooring salesman, he'll probably tell you that underfloor heating isn't a problem. If you ask a heating engineer, he'll only tell you about tile or glued vinyl. The fact is that wood has a worse thermal conductivity than tile, for example. However, you will likely end up with a warm room anyway.
Gluing is certainly not a mistake as far as warm floors are concerned, the air gap in floating installation insulates again. However, some people find that a floating installation improves the feel when walking.
Ask three people and you'll get five opinions. The wood in this case has an insulating effect, and the thicker it is, the more energy it takes to heat the air above it. Because it is transmitted not only upward, but downward and to the sides as well.
