Underfloor Heating With Wooden Floor Now Possible

Press, Volume CV, Issue 31057, 12 May 1966, Page 11

Underfloor Heating With Wooden Floor Now Possible

Underfloor heating without concrete is possible for the ordinary New Zealand house by the development of a new electric heating cable sheathed in high-temperature P.V.C.

The cable can be incorporated into a suspended wooden floor. Various New Zealand timbers have been tested and the most suitable has been found to be red beech outside the Buller area. The installation cost of underfloor heating of this type is about 5s 6d a square foot, which includes the price of the timber. Denser The beech is denser than that from the Buller area. It has a lower moisture content increase than other New Zealand timbers and its tangential swelling is less. Since the electrical contractor must supervise the

laying of the cable, the architect or owner must make an arrangement early in the building programme for the co-operation of the electrician and the carpenter who is laying the timber. Insulation The method would probably require some underfloor insulation to make the heating economical and the heat can be controlled by either a thermostat in the

floor timbers or a wall mounted one which relies on the temperature of the room. A thermostat to go in the timber is, however, very expensive and although a wall thermostat, which is governed by the temperature of the air in the room, and might not give a true indication of a comfortable heat, is cheaper for those who like their heat automatic. For those who do not. care a manual switch can be provided.

The underfloor cable gives a well-diffused warmth, has no maintenance, and if controlled by thermostats, can be relied on to act automatically. Before this cable was introduced, the only satisfactory underfloor heating was in concrete slabs.

in the world for the purpose, equalling muninga, and surpassing afrormosia and teak, all of which are tropical hardwoods and used in Britain. Red beech requires periods of up to two years of air-drying to bring it to an equilibrium moisture content. When it is to be used for underfloor heating it has to be kiln-dried further and is then best wrapped in a waterproof container until it is laid.

Comparisons of the red beech from outside the Buller area with hard timbers used overseas for this type of flooring have shown that the red beech is one of the most suitable timbers