PowerSwitch

Hi.

I saw a D.Tel article about heat pumps.

Overall it was pretty useful.

However one poster said that you should avoid thick flooring if you have a heat pump.

Any idea what this is supposed to mean?

Underfloor heating? Don't know.

If the heat pump is used for underfloor heating, then thick floor coverings will retard the escape of the heat into the room. The heap pump will then have to raise the floor temperature a little higher and this reduces the COP.

If the heat pump heats oversized radiators or supplies warmed air, then it depends on the type of floor. In the case of a solid floor then avoiding thick floor coverings will allow any temporary surplus of heat to slightly warm the floor slab, releasing this heat later.

In the case of a suspended timber floor, then thick floor coverings are an advantage in reducing heat loss.

Ah, many thanks.

We have a wooden floor sitting on girders, with insulation below, so i think we will go for insulated flooring.

I would agree.
The thermal mass of the wooden floor is negligible, so no gain in exposing it to the room air.
Despite insulation, there must be some heat loss through the floor and extra insulation can only help.

I have seen underfloor heating plans in Australia where the timber floor is suspended and the underfloor heating is emitted by loops of pipes attached to the underside of the timber floor level. A layer of insulation is put under the heating loops to prevent the heat escaping to the outside in a downwards direction.

An alternative plan is with a concrete floor and then a layer of insulation is put on top, then a series of loops of heating pipes is added which are screeded in with concrete. Then wooden planks are put on top.

One would presume that wood is a fairly good insulator and has only a slow transmission of heat so the thinner the wooden floor the better heat transfer to the room and the less heat wasted transferring to the ground or outside/underside of the house.

Checkout this site as it explains it better than I ever could.