ᐅ Climate Ceiling vs. Underfloor Heating

Hello everyone,

As the title says, we are undecided between these two options.

Some background information:
Single-family house
1.5 stories
Fully basemented
About 170sqm (1,830 sq ft) of living space
Pellet heating with solar support

We have already heard quite a few opinions, but they seem to differ greatly.

What do you think?

Any experiences?

Best regards and thanks in advance

Yes, I have experience with the climate ceiling. What do you want to know?

hello karliseppel,

I’m really interested in the topic of radiant cooling/heating ceilings as well!

I’m currently planning a single-family house and considering options like underfloor heating, radiant cooling/heating ceilings, or possibly infrared heating.

Could you share your experience with your radiant ceiling?

I often hear about “cold feet, hot head” with these systems. Is there any truth to that?
Do tiles get fairly warm, or do they stay cool?
Do you also have a radiant ceiling in the bathroom, meaning heating from above?
Is the radiant heat actually more comfortable than regular convection heating, or don’t you notice much difference?
Which manufacturer is your radiant ceiling from?
Would you choose a radiant ceiling again?
What type of heating system do you have—gas or heat pump?

So many questions 🙂

Thanks very much in advance!
Best regards from Austria
graebsch

oh, one more thing ...

do you also have experience with the cooling? Is it any good?

thanks again for your answers.

graebsch schrieb:

hello karliseppel,
they often say cold feet, hot head. is there any truth to that?

Nonsense. It’s almost entirely radiant heat. The whole room is warm.
When I scan the room with a digital thermometer, there isn’t much difference
in temperature between head height and foot height...

graebsch schrieb:

are tiles also relatively warm or do they stay cool?

The tiles won’t get quite as warm as they would with your underfloor heating
if it were designed the same way. Ultimately, it comes down to your
house’s energy consumption or the heating demand of the room and the desired temperature.
The heating system and its supply temperature are designed accordingly.
Underfloor heating nowadays is designed for a maximum supply temperature of 35°C (95°F).
This is below your—and my—body temperature, so it always “feels cold.”
If it feels warm, something is wrong. That’s why underfloor heating doesn’t cause swollen legs,
just as heat from above doesn’t cause a hot head!

graebsch schrieb:

do you also have a climate ceiling heating in the bathroom, heating from above?

Yes. Of course—everywhere. Our upper floor has a solid brick ceiling with heating pipes embedded.
However, in all rooms with tiled floors, we decided to additionally install underfloor heating
(bathrooms/kitchen/hallway on the ground floor).
Not because we weren’t convinced by the system—well, we checked it on a cold winter day
in a newly built house. It was comfortable, but walking on tiles “warmed only from above”
in socks felt a few degrees too cold. Around 20/21°C (68/70°F) surface temperature
is different from when the tiled floor gets the “full” supply temperature. Also, bathrooms often have large gaps in the underfloor heating layout,
so you usually need an additional electric heater anyway because otherwise the often targeted 24°C (75°F) couldn’t be reached.
So we just took the underfloor heating as an “addition.”

graebsch schrieb:

is radiant heat really more comfortable than normal convection, or don’t you notice a difference?

Definitely yes, it’s more comfortable.
But it’s not an advantage of ceiling heating specifically, rather of surface heating in general,
no matter if it’s installed in the ceiling, on the wall, or in the floor.

graebsch schrieb:

which manufacturer is your climate ceiling from?

That’s not really important; basically, there are four systems:
1.) Concrete core activation. Pipes are embedded within a concrete slab.
Advantage: good structural properties.
Disadvantage: this building activation is very slow. You can’t just turn it off quickly.
2.) Brick ceiling with heating elements inside the bricks.
Advantage: typical benefits related to bricks...
Disadvantage: just like system 1, it’s slow.
3.) Brick ceiling with heating elements in bricks plus overlay concrete.
Advantage: I don’t know any.
Disadvantage: same as system 1, plus the installation effort is high because the heating connections
must be made during the shell construction phase, when you might not even know which heating system you will use—needs a specialized soldering skill… hard to coordinate, in my opinion.
4.) Brick ceiling with heating elements in the lower plaster layer.
Advantage: a very fast system, heats up quickly and radiates its energy fast.
Disadvantage: limited structural possibilities. Maximum spans, etc.

(5th and almost forgotten: there is also a solution in drywall construction that is installed on the finished ceiling. But that still requires proper planning since the connections need to go somewhere.)

graebsch schrieb:

would you install a climate ceiling again?

I think so, yes. Definitely yes, the more I think about it... yes.

graebsch schrieb:

what kind of heating do you have, gas, heat pump?

Air-to-water heat pump.
But the more important question is how much energy your house consumes.
This system works well only if you manage to heat your house at very low supply temperatures.
According to current energy saving regulations, I would recommend at least the KfW70 standard, preferably even lower. Mine is still energy saving regulation 2007 / KfW70.
Still, last winter, at -25°C (-13°F) outside temperature, my maximum supply temperature was just 27°C (81°F)!
Only on one day did the thermostat needle come close to 28°C (82°F)...
Underfloor heating could also achieve that, assuming proper insulation and small pipe spacing.

I don’t want to start a new doctrine here, but when I hear things like
“warm head and cold feet”... it makes me cringe, and I’m happy to share the opposite from practical experience.

This also has nothing to do with infrared panels from industrial buildings,
nor with ceiling heaters from the 1950s that were operated at 60°C (140°F) supply temperature.

It is nice, comfortable, and very discreet heating—just like underfloor or wall heating.
Although when hanging lights, you sometimes sweat a bit...
but in time, you get used to the procedure.

Oh, you mentioned cooling as well.
That’s a whole different topic. Where do I start...
I don’t have automated cooling in operation. The heat pump can do it but can’t automatically switch between modes. Well, not so bad,
but for full luxury, next time I would probably pay attention to that.
So I manually switch on the cooling function when I need it, during hot summer periods when the house starts to get warm after 3-5 days of the hottest weather, partly because sometimes we forget to lower the blinds in time. (Shading is essential! You can’t cool out what you don’t shade!!!)
But normally, you notice at around 25°C (77°F) indoor temperature that you don’t want it any warmer,
and while neighbors’ houses keep heating up, the cooling function lowers our indoor temperature nicely to a steady 23°C (73°F). Lower temperatures aren’t possible because the cooling load was not calculated for that. The heat pump pumps 16°C (61°F) cool water through the ceiling and the house just feels cool! Done. No drafts. No cold spots. No shivers like with convection cooling systems.
The system runs completely silently and unnoticed.
It’s really amazing to come into a 23°C (73°F) cool house when it’s 36°C (97°F) outside
and not feel like the air humidity is only 20%.

The extra cost for cooling when buying the heat pump wasn’t very high—around 500-600 euros. That was totally worth it.
The electricity consumption isn’t significant and comparable to the heating electricity used on a mild day in autumn. Our house is a bit larger and uses about 10 kWh (electric)/day, so about $1.80. That’s worth it to me to be able to sleep without sweating.

I can only recommend controlled residential ventilation. I would NEVER build without it again!!!
Hope this helps a bit with your decision.
If you have questions, just ask.

Karliseppel

Hello,
I just noticed that my thread has not been forgotten... I must have missed the emails...
Thank you very much for your replies!!!

You mention option 5 regarding the drywall installation. Do you have any experience with this? We are building with bricks but want to keep the wooden roof structure exposed because of the visible beams, etc.
We are planning to install underfloor heating in the bathroom. In the other rooms, we would like to have fan coil units (FCUs).
Does the feeling of warmth differ when the rooms have especially high ceilings? It is often said that warm air rises, and since we will not be building any walls above the first floor, some rooms will have ceiling heights of almost 4 meters (13 feet)...
Is it possible to install the FCUs yourself, or is it as easy as installing underfloor heating?
What differentiates the various suppliers? Are there any specific features to look out for?
What material should the pipes be made of? Plastic? Aluminum?
We will not have a heat pump. Is there still any way to use the cooling function? Is the system even cost-effective without cooling, or are there additional costs compared to underfloor heating?

Best regards and thanks