UFH with engineered wood floor - does it work?!

[GeneralMelchetsMoustache]

We're doing a massive renovation on a 1930s house and fitting an ASHP. I want to do UFH throughout, with engineered wood flooring (except bathroom and kitchen, obviously, these would be tile). The UFH company says it works fine but my builder says it's a terrible idea because wood is an insulator and the heat won't come through. I really want to hear from someone who has actually done it what it's like! Anybody?

It works fine. Your builder is wrong.

I love you @geneticsbunny! Is this personal experience? Can you say a bit more?

It depends - some engineered floors work ok , but if they are thicker then that doesn't help. It's also may depending on its make up
Not be suitable as it will get too much movement due to the heat which may cause cracking or warping make sure the manufacturer has ok'd it specifically for use with UFH. You also need to leave the required expansion gaps when laying it.

From experience clients say that tiles feel best with UFH, not sure how much this is psychological though but engineered floor does work well with it too. I think it does require more expertise and care to lay it with it.

Good overview of the options by one of the UFH suppliers I specify a lot

www.nu-heat.co.uk/underfloor-heating/floor-coverings/

We have UFH and engineered wood flooring and it’s brilliant. Lovely and toasty. We inherited this heating and floor from previous owners didn’t lay it ourselves but it looks and feels great.

Your builder is wrong, engineered wood flooring (thickness up to about 22mm) works perfectly fine with water UFH (but not electric UFH, afaik).

We have 2 rooms with wet underfloor heating with normal, non engineered wood floor and they are both lovely and warm. One even has a rug. You can infact install underfloor heating under carpet if you want.

Wood is more insulating that tiles but only a bit and all that means is that the hot water circulating will be warmer when it gets back to the boiler and need less energy to heat it up again before it is sent round the loop again so won't be any more expensive. It might take a lightly longer to get up to temperature but as ufh is supposed to be on all the time, that doesn't actually matter.

We’ve just done this and it’s fine. Like PP said you have to make sure there’s expansion gaps on the edges but it’s no big worries. It doesn’t feel as warm as the tiles in the kitchen but if you compare the area that doesn’t have UFH with the one that does it’s more obvious.

THanks everyone, this is really reassuring. I can go ahead with my dream heating and floor combination woo hoooo!

I've had it for 14 years and love it!

If there is enough insulation underneath it should work

For those who have it, do you know what temperature your room gets to?

I have UFH with tiles in kitchen, utility and conservatory and engineered wood in hallway and living rooms.

While it works fine with both, the tiles definitely warm up quicker.

I set my thermostat around 18C - 20C - that's constant 24 hours

Thanks @POrseb - although they take longer, do you find that ultimately the rooms reach the same temperature? i.e. it's not colder in the wood floor rooms?

We have this combination and it works fine. Best set to a lower temperature and on all the time as it takes ages to heat up. Once warm it is lovely though.

They will reach the temperature you set on your thermostat but say you set it at 20C in your kitchen with tiles and 20C in your living room with engineered wood, you'll find the kitchen gets to that temperature quicker

At least that's what I found

We have engineered wooden floors with plumbed in UFH. One big kitchen living space. It has been fine for 13 years. I wouldn't say the room heats up very quickly but once it's warm it's absolutely fine and definitely as effective as the traditional radiators in the rest of the house. We have a tado so we can turn the heating on to warm up the house if we've been away which is great.

I have UFH underneath engineered wooden flooring in the kitchen. It definitely works, although I certainly wouldn't rely on it as a sole source of heating.

Maybe, though, that's because I still can't fathom how to work it properly!

OK, brilliant. Thanks everyone. This has been so helpful.

We have UFH and one room has tiles and one room has engineered wood (10mm thickness only so the best possible from a UFH perspective).

The wood floor room does heat fine. However it definitely takes a lot longer to heat up when the heating comes on compared to the tiled room, so we tend to leave the heating on all the time in winter but turned a bit lower at night, as if we turn it off at night it takes till the afternoon to warm up. Also we have noticed that if we have a larger / thicker rug in the wood room, the room is less warm, whereas the tiled room seems to heat fine even with rugs. All of this would be exacerbated with a thicker wood floor.

One other thing to mention which is that the wood floor has changed colour a LOT since we laid it (yellowed). It’s not due to UV as it’s changed everywhere including under furniture. I suspect it may be due to the heat from the UFH. But no proof of course.

Works fine here…

I know it's two years on now - what did you do in the end and how's it working out? We are installing an ASHP and trying to work out the best flooring! We have a new extension with UFH and that room will flow into the existing dining room which won't have UFH and currently has wooden floors.
So it needs to be the same flooring for both, which means I've discounted tiles as they'll be too cold for the room without UFH!

I'd planned for luxury vinyl tiles then discovered they're supposed to be limited to 27 degrees for the UFH, which may not be enough with a heat pump in winter. Would love to hear how it's gone for you! Thanks :-)