ᐅ Is Engineered Hardwood Flooring Suitable for Bedrooms?

Dear forum members,

We are currently building a house and visited a flooring studio yesterday to look at floor coverings for the upper floor.
On the ground floor, we want to use tiles and have already chosen everything.

For the upper floor, we are deciding between engineered hardwood flooring (14mm thickness, 4mm wear layer) or a better-quality laminate (12mm thickness).
We prefer the feel and appearance of the engineered hardwood.

The salesperson mentioned that since we have underfloor heating, the room temperature does not drop as quickly in the evening or at night with engineered hardwood if it was heated during the day. This is because the wood stores heat for a longer time compared to laminate.
We also have children’s rooms upstairs, where it will be quite warm during the day, but of course it should cool down at night for sleeping.

Has anyone had experience with how well the room temperature can actually be regulated with engineered hardwood?

Thanks in advance.

What nonsense. The heat is a) stored in the screed and the walls, and b) you can’t really say that underfloor heating heats up quickly anyway. (I assume you will have one installed – but even with radiators, it’s not really any different.)

The floor covering doesn’t matter.

Oh dear, why are such people allowed to advise customers? It is obviously complete nonsense, as my predecessor already correctly pointed out.

Maybe that was a reason 40 years ago, but back then the underfloor heating supply temperature was 40°C (104°F) and your feet would get too hot. That no longer happens today.

Hello,

chrisw81 schrieb:

The seller said that since we have underfloor heating, the room temperature with engineered wood flooring won’t drop quickly in the evening/night if it was heated during the day, because the wood stores heat much longer compared to laminate flooring.
We also have children’s rooms upstairs where it will be quite warm during the day, but at night it should naturally be cool for sleeping.

What nonsense… I would completely dismiss that store due to the seller’s utter incompetence.

• The heat storage capacity of the wood flooring is completely irrelevant compared to that of the screed and the walls.
• What matters is the thermal resistance, meaning the flooring should not insulate too much. There is a limit for this, which you should definitely comply with. However, if the manufacturer has approved the flooring for underfloor heating, it should be fine. With a thickness of 14 mm (0.55 inches) for the wood flooring, you should double-check this, as it might be borderline.
• Forget the idea that you will have a big temperature difference between day and night. If you turn off the heating in the evening, the temperature might drop by about 1 degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) until the next day—no more. Having it cozy during the day and cool at night is not possible in a new build. Unless you keep the windows open, but then you don’t really need a new building and might as well live in a drafty old house.

A tip from my own experience: I would always glue engineered wood flooring, whereas laminate can be nicely installed as a floating floor. Wood flooring simply reacts more to changes in humidity and will start to creak, which can be really annoying and can only be fixed by gluing it down. Laminate reacts less, so you won’t have this problem.

Best regards,
Andreas

andimann schrieb:

The heat storage capacity of the parquet flooring is completely irrelevant compared to that of the screed and the walls.

Good to know! Maybe the salesperson exaggerated a bit.

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

• What matters is the thermal resistance, meaning the parquet should not insulate too much. There is a limit value you should adhere to. But if the manufacturer has approved the parquet for use with underfloor heating, it should be fine. At a thickness of 14 mm (0.55 inches), you should double-check as this might be borderline.

We will check again. However, 14 mm (0.55 inches) was already the thinnest thickness for engineered parquet at that store.

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

• Forget the idea that you will have large temperature differences between day and night. If you turn off the heating in the evening, the temperature might drop by about 1 degree Celsius (2 degrees Fahrenheit) by the next day. Not more. It’s normal to feel warm during the day and cool at night for sleeping in an older building, but this does not apply in a new build. Unless you leave the windows open, but then you wouldn’t need to build new — it would be better to choose an old drafty building instead.

Yes, I’ve heard that too. But we prefer to sleep cooler at night. Looks like there’s no other option than to leave the window open.

andimann schrieb:

A tip from my own experience: I would always glue engineered parquet, but laminate flooring can be easily installed as a floating floor. Parquet expands and contracts much more with changes in humidity, which causes creaking. That can get really annoying and can only be fixed by gluing the floor. Laminate reacts less, so you won't have this problem there.

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

andimann schrieb:

Yes, that’s what we were recommended too. If we go for parquet, we would definitely glue it down.

A floating floor installation with underfloor heating consumes more energy because a large amount of air acts as an insulator. Therefore, it is not ideal.