Which floor covering for underfloor heating?
Choice of underfloor heating: renovation or new build?
When renovating, people often opt for electric underfloor heating systems, which can be easily retrofitted and serve as ideal additional heating, especially in older buildings with high operating costs for a complete heating system.
In new builds, hot water underfloor heating is usually the first choice, whereas it is not often considered in older buildings due to its space requirements. Here, hot water flows through plastic or copper pipes on insulating panels in the screed and requires a storage tank and a heating system to bring the water up to the required flow temperature.
Advantages of hot water underfloor heating
But which floor covering is best suited to underfloor heating? Electric heating systems reach high temperatures more quickly, which not every floor covering can tolerate. Design floors, linoleum and many other floor coverings cannot cope with these rapid temperature fluctuations. The heaters are better suited to wood , cork and parquet , but of course also tiles and natural stone.
In contrast, hot water underfloor heating is better suited to a wide variety of floor coverings due to its slow warm-up and cool-down phase and a maximum surface temperature of 29 °C. Any floor that is to be used in conjunction with hot water heating must be resistant to temperature fluctuations and have good thermal conductivity.
Due to its optimum conductivity, parquet is very suitable for laying over underfloor heating. With laminate flooring , it does take longer for the rooms to warm up. However, the heat is stored over a longer period of time. Wooden floorboards and cork floors have a relatively high thermal resistance. Unlike wood, the PVC floor surface warms up relatively quickly, but cools down just as quickly. Carpet is generally suitable for laying over underfloor heating, provided that the material of the carpet or underlay does not act as insulation, otherwise the heat will be blocked.
The type of installation, whether floating or glued down, also influences the underfloor heating and its performance. Floating installation creates an air space between the covering and screed, which further increases the thermal resistance.
JOKA specialist advisors help
The information on our JOKA products such as design flooring, parquet, wooden floorboards, laminate, PVC and carpet tells you which products are suitable for hot water underfloor heating. For example, our design floors are also suitable for electric Lofec underfloor heating, which is a further advantage for renovation projects. If in doubt: Always consult your JOKA specialist advisor. They know the JOKA products inside out and know which ones are suitable for your living space.
