Rec. for heat transfer under wood-retrofit

9 years ago

Hi all,
New to this forum, usually found over in Kitchens. We will be replacing ancient forced air system with radiant floor heat this summer and have a few questions. In our last house we put on a two story addition and used two different types heat transfer. Warm board under hardwood on ground floor and ultra-fin on second. 1st floor - loved. 2nd floor - meh, under thick carpet and pad which probably didn't help. This time around we will have to use all heat transfer plates because we'll be installing under existing hardwood from underneath. I have been looking at Thermofin and Ultrafin. Are there any strong opinions out there for either? House is 1912 and, for a lack of a better word, drafty. We'll be tackling a lot of those issues, but want to get the heat done first. 1942 furnace that is just a bit inefficient...We'll remove stucco ceiling, install tubing, insulate, then sheetrock. Thanks in advance for any info.
I'll Xpost in Flooring as well, not sure correct place to post!

Comments (2)

jjvantol
9 years ago
Ultrafin is too thin to work well, and doesn't have solid contact with the subfloor. Thermofin, and other thick extruded plate products work much better, and require much lower water temperatures to transfer heat. The thick extruded plate heat transfer plates are much more expensive, but will perform fairly similarly to the warmboard you had. Carpet or other insulating floor coverings will have an effect. You will also need to put at least some insulation under the heat transfer plates so that most of the heat goes upwards. If the floor being heated is over conditioned space, you can use less, as the heat won't be wasted, but it could cause the space below to overheat.
cluelessincolorado
Original Author
9 years ago
Thank you josh_v! The basement is not insulated currently, but will be, at least nominally. We were going to put a couple radiators in the basement. We already use the space as living space even though it only has 6'4" ceilings. Part of changing out HVAC is to rid ourselves of ducting and potential head whacks.
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