Parquet on floor heating

Parquet can be laid on floor heating. Not all types of wood are suited for floor heating however.  Parquet floors and the multi-plank are extremely suited for floor heating. This is because with floor heating the floors are ‘working’ more than average. (working is the shrinking and expansion of the wood) because of the temperature differences. With parquet floors the working is largely absorbed with the cross-gluing of the wood (also see parquet floors). With the solid parquet this won’t happen. The solid parquet often also has a R value m2. K/W that is too high.

The R value of parquet and the suitability for floor heating  

The R value (thermic resistance) of parquet is a value that indicates how well the parquet conducts heat. The lower the R value of the parquet the better the parquet conducts heat. With floor heating this number has to be as low as possible, to pass the heat to the room as quickly as possible.

We make a distinction in main and auxiliary heating. Floor heating as main heating is a system that only utilises floor heating to heat a room. Floor heating as auxiliary heating is a system with which radiators will also be present in the room.

With primary heating the maximum R value of the parquet and subfloor /glue must be lower than 0,13 m2.K/W

With auxiliary heating the maximum R value of the parquet and subfloor /glue must be lower than 0,18 m2.K/W

Our low-cost budget parquet floor has an R value of 0,084 m2. K/W and our other parquet floors 0,12  m2.K/W (so all our parquet floors are suitable for both main and auxiliary floor heating).

How to lay a parquet floor on floor heating

The parquet floor can be laid onto the floor heating both floating and glued onto it. When gluing, a type of glue that is suitable for floor heating has to be used though. With floating laying a special subfloor under the parquet floor must be laid down that has a low R value and is suitable for floor heating. For placing a floor in apartments there is Thermosound with perforation to let the heat through. Thermosound has a an R value of 0.038 m2. K/W and isolates contact sound with 12 dB. (minimum of 10dB is mandatory in apartments). When it isn’t necessary to isolate contact sound, you can also opt for a special subfloor of 1.2mm thick, this has a vapour barrier and an R value of 0.014 m2. K/W.

Which types of wood can be used with floor heating

The following parquet floor types of wood are suitable: Oak, red oak, ash, beech, maple, birch, cherry, jatoba, merbau, tali, walnut (nuts), palo rosa, and iroko.

To qualify for warrantee, reminder systems must be installed under the wooden floor. One reminder system must be placed every 10m2. The purpose of these reminder systems is to ensure that the floor does not exceed 26 degrees Celsius. If the heat does exceed 26 degrees Celsius, the warrantee expires. Ensure that the floor hearing is properly adjusted by your plumber.