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Radiant heat beneath wood flooring involves installing tubing in concrete, or under plywood subfloors. For natural hardwood flooring, it is important that the wood be well seasoned, with a moisture content of less than eight percent. Your flooring supplier or contractor should be able to tell you the moisture level of the wood prior to installation. Moisture content in engineered and laminate flooring is less critical, while offering additional advantages when combined with radiant heating.
According to Jeff Young, owner of Climatec Advanced Heating Technologies, natural wood, engineered woods, and laminate floors are not a problem for installing over radiant heat. Climatec is a Lehigh Valley firm that exclusively specializes in radiant heating systems. "You need to have a contractor that knows what he is doing," explains Young. "And you should not be afraid of using either of these over a radiant heating system." Young points out three key components that lead to a problem-free radiant heat/wood flooring experience:
I. The system should be designed correctly: You need to have a properly designed and installed system. "Use a boiler that was designed for use with radiant heating," Young notes as an example.
2. Stay within the floor's recommended surface temperature: "Over radiant heating, natural wood flooring has a maximum surface temperature of 80 degrees," explains Young. "For engineered or laminate flooring, 85 degrees is the recommended maximum." Going beyond these maximums can have some effect on the flooring material.
3. Reset controls: Where set-point controls are used by some radiant heating contractors, Young recommends reset controls. "Where reset controls constantly modulate the water temperature running through the system, set point controls turn the system on and off to make adjustments," Young explains. "It's this sudden starting and stopping where potential problems can occur.
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