Underfloor heating and natural floor coverings

Underfloor heating in the UK is now widely accepted as the most desirable way to transfer heat into your home or workplace. This was not always the case and as little as ten years ago the industry very much had to "sell" the concept and benefits to prospective customers. The benefits still apply today and are listed below.

• Efficency - It has been proven that energy savings of 15-50% can be achieved with underfloor heating depending on the application. Energy efficiency is now everyone’s major concern and with the upsurge in use of low temperature heat sources (heat pumps), underfloor heating is the obvious choice.
• Space saving – Unlike radiators, underfloor heating does not take up any wall space, nor does it make any of your valuable floor space unusable. In effect it gives you 15% more usable floor space compared to radiators. This fact alone pays for choosing underfloor heating several times over.
• Complete Comfort - Underfloor heating is the most comfortable form of heating because it is largely radiant, it provides a near perfect temperature profile throughout each room with no hot or cold spots and eliminates dust laden draughts.

It all sounds too good to be true? Well the good news is that all of the above is true and this is why the use of underfloor heating in the UK continues to grow.

So what's the catch? There is the issue of being able to successfully control an underfloor heating system, primarily because of its slow response time. Similarly there are numerous horror stories of floors being overheated with damage being caused to natural floor coverings such as stone tiles and even engineered timber. These problems can be overcome with careful design of the under floor heating system by the supplier/installer of the heating equipment and from the supplier/installer of the stone tiles or engineered timber. Our design solution includes careful application of the relevant British Standards, the Underfloor Heating Manufacturers Association Guidelines and the installation guide issued by the Domestic Building Services Panel of the Chartered Institution of Building Service Engineers.

When commissioned to install our products we will undertake to carry out a thorough survey of the heated floor to ensure that all the relevant guides have been considered during the installation of the heating system – we are happy to speak to the heating engineers responsible for this work even prior to installation to ensure that all appropriate control measures are in place prior to fitting the floor coverings. We will issue installation guidelines, whenever appropriate, when our own craftsmen are not responsible for the fitting work to ensure that your floor covering performs as expected.

All our products, except solid oak flooring, are suitable for use with underfloor heating systems and have had the benefit of many years of proven performance to back up this claim. Please call to discuss your needs or visit our showroom in Perthshire in the heart of Scotland – we are here to help!