Will underfloor heat harm wooden floors?
• If the building is reasonably energy efficient, underfloor heat will not harm wooden floors. Much of the engineering data about underfloor heat was generated years ago when buildings were poorly insulated. As a result, floors needed to be maintained at temperatures of 90 degrees F or higher to keep the building comfortable, a temperature which caused wooden floors to split and crack. In an energy efficient building of today with R-19 insulation in the walls and quality thermopane windows, the floor need only be four degrees warmer than room temperature to heat the building to the mid-seventies when it is zero degrees F outside. The more stable humidity in an energy efficient building and the even temperatures that radiant heating maintains are actually good for wooden floors. • Before installing radiant heat in an energy-inefficient building with wooden floors, please consult our technical specialists.
