Radiant Heat For Wood Floors

The ability inability of a wood flooring material to transfer heat will directly affect the radiant heating system design.

Radiant heat for wood floors.

Quartersawn is a method of cutting the boards from the log so that the direction of the. Since humidity affects wood so much and the heating in your home affects humidity you ll have to take care not to install your radiant heating. Under wood floors nailed right to the subfloor and tubing below radiant heat temperatures are typically at the middle of our 85 135 f. Can 3 4 solid wood flooring be used over radiant heat systems.

Installing radiant heat under hardwood floors. Launstein r value testing results. Hydronic radiant heating systems are usually designed to heat an entire house. But that said even a wood floor will warm up and heat you and the room quite well.

It is also the responsibility of the general contractor plumber and hvac systems professional to put care into the installation of a radiant heat system so that all flooring substrates perform well and look great for years. Which is why the most efficent way to use radiant heat under your wood floors is to use a hardwood with a low r value. If a solid 3 4 thick wood floor is desired it is recommended to use quartersawn flooring not usually available factory prefinished. With the right experience moisture testing understanding of the radiant heat system and knowledge about the wood flooring being used contractors can make wood flooring over radiant heat work even.

While radiant heat is not in the realm of a novice wood flooring contractor wood floors are installed over radiant heat with success every day. The ability of the radiant heating system to either adequately heat the facility or to simply warm the floor without damaging the wood must be taken into account when specifying a radiant heating system within any facility. The challenge when installing radiant heat under hardwood floors comes from the fact that wood naturally expands when there is moisture in the air. For more information about engineered flooring see our article all about engineered wood floors.

A good compromise is to install the hydronic system right in a concrete slab and install the wood on the concrete. The radiant heated wood floor shown in our photo left was installed in a new york home. It is also important to consider the heat transfer qualities of the sub flooring used the sub floor and wood floor should be within 2 3 degrees of each other. Typical radiant heat temperatures under finished wood flooring.

Temperature range or about 105 115 f. Water is heated to between 100 and 120 degrees fahrenheit by a boiler and circulated through tubing under floors.