Best type of flooring for underfloor heating

[tomtomato]

Hi,

I am purchasing a flat with a Devi electric UFH (part of the concrete floor, was installed when built), and white carpets are currently fitted everywhere (not great for maintenance!).

What would be the best replacement?

1) Thin engineered wood flooring with special underlay. Wooden floors would be my preference.

2) Carpets, but what types? Would they create more isolation than wood floor, and therefore worse heating

Thanks!
Tom

 

[mointainwalker]

Heat transfer will be better with engineered wood and for the same reason it is recommended that it is glued to the sub-floor so there wouldn't be any underlay in this case.

 

[tomtomato]

Heat transfer will be better with engineered wood and for the same reason it is recommended that it is glued to the sub-floor so there wouldn't be any underlay in this case.

What about some special underlays designed for wood floors on top of UFH? I am just concerned about noise isolation with no underlays.

Tuplex example: http://www.ukflooringdirect.co.uk/Accessories/Tuplex_Wood_Laminate_Underlay.html

Thanks,
tom

 

[mointainwalker]

You can of course do what you like, but obviously an underlay increases the insulation between heat source and emitter ( surface floor) as does the air between underlay and surface floor.

What you do will be determined whether heat-efficiency vs noise-transfer is more important to you.

Unfortunately you can't try it out in advance but just have to make your decision.