Retrofit: underfloor heating saves energy costs

  • 3 years ago

Underfloor heating not only provides a comfortably warm living feeling on cold days, but also saves energy costs. Since the entire floor serves as a heating surface, the heat is distributed throughout the room or house in the form of radiation. Compared to conventional radiators, underfloor heating has a higher proportion of radiation and thus provides sufficient heat even when the air in the room is a little cooler. Anyone who does not yet have underfloor heating in their house or apartment can retrofit it during renovation. There are several systems to choose from.

For example, in a wet system, specialists replace the old floor structure and lay thin heating pipes and insulation boards under the new floor. The screed helps distribute the loads evenly and also serves as a heat accumulator. If the floor is too high with the usual five centimeters, a thin-layer system is particularly suitable. This is characterized by the fact that the carrier plate is only covered with a thin levelling layer and is applied directly to the top floor. The installation height of the thin-layer system is only two centimeters.

Another option is to mill small channels in the screed of the floor and in this way embed the heating pipes. The prerequisite for this method of installing underfloor heating is that the screed is still in good condition. If the floor consists of old wooden joist ceilings, a drywall system should be applied. This is because a floor made of wooden beams often cannot withstand the heavy screed. Therefore, in the drywall system, lightweight dry screed panels are placed on top of the heating pipes. No matter what system is applied to the home, it is important that the underfloor heating system is regularly vented to ensure smooth operation.

Source: effizienzhaus-online
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