What should you pay attention to when choosing your type of underfloor heating for installing a Floorify floor?
Conventional systems
Conventional systems refers to underfloor heating and cooling based on water and/or with thermostat-regulated electric floor heating integrated into the subfloor or with a minimum 9 mm levelling. These are ideally suited to Floorify floors. However, we recommend a maximum surface temperature on the subfloor of 28°C. In view of the low R value of the floor, this is clearly more than sufficient.
With hidden underfloor heating, low levelling is needed in order to ensure good heat distribution across the entire surface, to seal the grooves and to prevent direct contact between the heating pipes and the floor.
Drying or electrical systems
These systems are relatively new and have the main advantage of having very low installation heights, allowing them to be installed above the existing subfloor. We discourage use of these systems. We see a number of drawbacks of this type of heating.
Warm-up time:
These systems heat up very quickly, so the floor cannot adjust to the temperature difference fast enough. Consider infrared heating, which gets red-hot in seconds.
Direct contact with the floor:
Often the systems are also in direct contact with the subfloor, creating potential hotspots. A traditional screed is going to spread the heat more in its mass.
Flatness:
A system laid on top of the screed can also affect flatness tolerances and not support the floor adequately.
Extra points for attention for underfloor heating:
Ensure that the new subfloor has dried out sufficiently before Floorify is installed. Always measure the residual moisture content.
The room temperature must remain constant at between 18°C and 25°C before, during and for at least 24 hours after installation. It is best to keep the underfloor heating at this temperature.
We recommend a maximum heat-up and cool-down of 5°C per 24 hours. In the event of a lengthy period of absence, it’s best to leave the underfloor heating at a minimum temperature.
Don’t forget the 5 mm expansion joint on all sides, particularly when there is underfloor heating.
If another room does not have underfloor heating, the floor will need to be discontinued with a transition profile.
Always check the suitability of the underfloor heating or cooling system in the manufacturer’s instructions.
Use a Floorify underlay. The Performance underlay has thermal resistance (R-value) of 0.009 m2K/W and is therefore extremely suitable for underfloor heating.