Installing Electric Radiant Floor Heating Under Hardwood

Radiant heating works well with ceramic tile and vinyl but not with wood floors.

Installing electric radiant floor heating under hardwood.

Installing underfloor electric radiant heat. But if you do wish to put radiant heating under solid hardwood use quarter sawn wood flooring instead of plain sawn wood flooring. It isn t recommended to use radiant floor heating under plank flooring wider than 3. The heating element should be embedded within a sleeper system subfloor under a traditional subfloor or embedded within concrete.

How it works radiant heat systems use a three stage process to convey heated water to its destination. So if you have open access to your floor joists now you can add the comfort and efficiency of radiant floor heat to your home. Thermofloor is a 4 in 1 heating insulating noise reducing moisture abating radiant floor heating underlayment specifically designed for laminate glue down and floating hardwood and engineered wood floors. Unlike most other systems this laminate radiant floor heating system installs.

The retroheat floor heating system was designed specifically for providing electric radiant heat to existing floors by accessing the floor joists below. Its success with carpeted floors depends on the length of the weave thick carpets or those with thick pads won t work well as heat generated by the system will stay trapped in the floor. Some manufactures would recommend that you maintain a consistent temperature ideally between 78 and 80 degrees. The retroheat system can be installed to heat tile hardwood laminates.

The type of wood flooring that you install over the radiant heat mechanism will ultimately determine your temperature guidelines. This is the easiest and most cost effective way of. Since wood flooring cannot be nailed to the cement floors the solution is to install so called wood sleepers. Installing electric radiant heat under nailed hardwood can seem like a daunting task but if you know the right way to install it there s nothing to fear.

These are strips of wood or plywood typically 3 8 to 1 2 thick and are 1 2 wide which are installed between in parallel to the heating cable runs to create a surface for nailing the hardwood flooring onto. Engineered wood flooring works better for radiant heating than under solid hardwood. Electric radiant underfloor heating systems can be installed under wood floors by working from the basement or from a basement crawlspace. With radiant heat systems it s not just the responsibility of the hardwood floor professional to be on top of their game.

Thermofloor radiant floor heating installation. Retroheat radiant floor heating system.