Hi, I'm currently designing a house and working out which areas we can do underfloor heating in. I've always assumed carpet and underfloor heating is not compatible. But seemingly if we keep the tog below 2.5 (including underlay) then it should work. Assuming the U Values are acceptable. Has anyone used underfloor heating with carpet and if so did it work ok? Thanks so much! Mary-Anne
hI I have completed successfully a few underfloor heating jobs now most Carpets will carry a TOG rating and will be easy to check with the supplier also an underlay like Heatflow is fine to use.
Carpet being a good insulator, is not the best candidate for radiant floor heating and efficiency. Add undercushion and it is not going to be cost effective for the BTU. Not to be confused with wool area rugs, on hard surface flooring. Over time, it can cause the carpet backing to become brittle, as the heat taken to make a difference.
Its a fine balance getting a low tog underlay, that actually does what a an underlay should do (make your carpet wear better!) Avoid PU underlays, the best ones are solid crumb rubber. I use Duralay Treadmore which has a tog of 1.03. Traditional jute and latex back carpets tend to have higher Tog ratings, so we recommend carpets that have Enviroback which is lighter. The main suppliers are Brockway and Victoria carpets, some of their carpets have a Tog of as low as .80
I have recently been looking into getting carpet tiles for my home office, the ones I´m looking at are from Schatex. It says that all of them are compatible with underfloor heating. They´re sold at this shop called Bricoflor, and they´re not too expensive either.
