ᐅ Concrete slab with integrated underfloor heating. Disadvantages? Costs?
Created on: 15 Apr 2013 12:06
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Baustelle2016B
Baustelle201615 Apr 2013 12:06Hello everyone, does anyone have experience with a concrete slab foundation for a single-family house that includes an integrated underfloor heating system? Providers online naturally promote this as a perfect all-in-one solution. Besides the possible price difference compared to a conventional concrete slab with screed and underfloor heating, are there any serious disadvantages to this system?
Thank you for your replies
Best regards
Till
Thank you for your replies
Best regards
Till
blockhauspower15 Apr 2013 20:37Hello Till,
Apart from the advantage of saving time, I see mainly two disadvantages.
1. The heating is even less responsive than a conventional underfloor heating system embedded in screed, because a significantly larger amount of material (concrete) has to be heated.
2. Since the insulation layer below the screed is omitted, there is no option to run cables or water pipes over the slab that would then be covered by the screed.
I believe both systems have their justification and come with their own pros and cons.
Regards,
Stefan
Apart from the advantage of saving time, I see mainly two disadvantages.
1. The heating is even less responsive than a conventional underfloor heating system embedded in screed, because a significantly larger amount of material (concrete) has to be heated.
2. Since the insulation layer below the screed is omitted, there is no option to run cables or water pipes over the slab that would then be covered by the screed.
I believe both systems have their justification and come with their own pros and cons.
Regards,
Stefan
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Baustelle201615 Apr 2013 21:44Hello Stefan,
Thank you for your assessment. I also suspected the inertia issue, and the point about the pipes makes a lot of sense to me. One thing I’m still wondering about: are the insulation boards used able to withstand the long-term pressure from the materials placed on top?
Best regards
Till
Thank you for your assessment. I also suspected the inertia issue, and the point about the pipes makes a lot of sense to me. One thing I’m still wondering about: are the insulation boards used able to withstand the long-term pressure from the materials placed on top?
Best regards
Till
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Philiboy8318 Apr 2013 09:18We have one of those so-called climate slab foundations, and it’s fantastic!
At first, we had planned a conventional slab foundation, but the builder said he had worked a few times with the company Futura, which specializes in climate slabs. I then researched extensively and gathered a lot of information. We ended up going with a different provider who was 4,000 euros cheaper and also works a lot with Futura since he comes from the industrial flooring sector.
It is very important that the excavator works very precisely during the groundwork—meaning the fine grading must be perfect. Just being able to operate an excavator is not enough. The insulation panels were prefabricated in the workshop for the perimeter formwork, which results in fewer joints than most others who order finished edge panels. Our heating installer then laid the underfloor heating, installed the distribution cabinet, set up the shower channel for the level-access shower, and positioned the drainage points. It’s crucial to know exactly where the internal walls will go at this stage, because there’s no going back. You don’t want to drill into heating pipes later when anchoring something to the floor, and having a wall built on top of the heating pipes makes no sense. We marked the internal walls on the insulation panels with spray paint to ensure good planning.
After that came the reinforcement and concrete, which was then smoothed out—done in no time...
What was important for us was that we didn’t need a screed afterward, to introduce as little water as possible into the building.
Floor tiles or laminate could be installed directly on the slab indoors.
We need a lower heating temperature than our neighbor with a conventional slab because ours stores heat better and releases it in a more targeted way. There is no difference in thermal inertia compared to a normal slab or our old apartment from the 1980s. On the contrary, the floor no longer cools down as quickly as before, and no heat is lost unnecessarily downwards.
All in all, we’re very satisfied, and the cost was about the same as a conventional slab when considering the screed that would have been needed afterward.
However, be careful with the provider—there are many “wannabes” who think anyone can just spread some insulation panels and smooth a bit of concrete. A professional execution is essential, for example, for the installation of exterior doors and floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as minimizing joints in the fiber cement edges (with conventional slabs, joints usually occur every 50cm (20 inches)).
Another advantage is the load distribution, which is no longer point-specific but nicely spread out.
For our next house, we will definitely use it again—no doubt about that =)
At first, we had planned a conventional slab foundation, but the builder said he had worked a few times with the company Futura, which specializes in climate slabs. I then researched extensively and gathered a lot of information. We ended up going with a different provider who was 4,000 euros cheaper and also works a lot with Futura since he comes from the industrial flooring sector.
It is very important that the excavator works very precisely during the groundwork—meaning the fine grading must be perfect. Just being able to operate an excavator is not enough. The insulation panels were prefabricated in the workshop for the perimeter formwork, which results in fewer joints than most others who order finished edge panels. Our heating installer then laid the underfloor heating, installed the distribution cabinet, set up the shower channel for the level-access shower, and positioned the drainage points. It’s crucial to know exactly where the internal walls will go at this stage, because there’s no going back. You don’t want to drill into heating pipes later when anchoring something to the floor, and having a wall built on top of the heating pipes makes no sense. We marked the internal walls on the insulation panels with spray paint to ensure good planning.
After that came the reinforcement and concrete, which was then smoothed out—done in no time...
What was important for us was that we didn’t need a screed afterward, to introduce as little water as possible into the building.
Floor tiles or laminate could be installed directly on the slab indoors.
We need a lower heating temperature than our neighbor with a conventional slab because ours stores heat better and releases it in a more targeted way. There is no difference in thermal inertia compared to a normal slab or our old apartment from the 1980s. On the contrary, the floor no longer cools down as quickly as before, and no heat is lost unnecessarily downwards.
All in all, we’re very satisfied, and the cost was about the same as a conventional slab when considering the screed that would have been needed afterward.
However, be careful with the provider—there are many “wannabes” who think anyone can just spread some insulation panels and smooth a bit of concrete. A professional execution is essential, for example, for the installation of exterior doors and floor-to-ceiling windows, as well as minimizing joints in the fiber cement edges (with conventional slabs, joints usually occur every 50cm (20 inches)).
Another advantage is the load distribution, which is no longer point-specific but nicely spread out.
For our next house, we will definitely use it again—no doubt about that =)
Since May 2012, we have been using a Futura energy-saving concrete slab on the ground floor and a standard underfloor heating system under 7 cm (3 inches) of screed on the upper floor in our new build. We have been living in the house since October 2012 and have gained the following experience:
When setting all room thermostats to the same temperature and the heating system to a room temperature of 23°C (73°F), the rooms on the ground floor with the Futura slab warm up very slowly and do not deliver the required heat output. You can set a higher temperature on the heating system (for example, from 23°C to 25°C), but this causes higher energy costs since the flow temperature must be increased. I assume this is due to heat loss from the approximately 20 cm (8 inches) of extra concrete between the heating pipes and the top surface of the floor, which also needs to be heated.
Another disadvantage:
The Futura energy-saving slab heats very slowly. It is not possible to quickly increase the temperature in the bathroom, for example. In contrast, the "standard" screed underfloor heating on the upper floor shows a noticeable temperature increase within 30 minutes. On the ground floor (Futura), it takes about 6 hours to feel the warmth at the floor surface. This disadvantage also affects children’s rooms negatively, as it is not practical to lower the temperature by 1-2°C (2-4°F) quickly in the evening at bedtime.
I cannot recommend the Futura slab for living areas.
When setting all room thermostats to the same temperature and the heating system to a room temperature of 23°C (73°F), the rooms on the ground floor with the Futura slab warm up very slowly and do not deliver the required heat output. You can set a higher temperature on the heating system (for example, from 23°C to 25°C), but this causes higher energy costs since the flow temperature must be increased. I assume this is due to heat loss from the approximately 20 cm (8 inches) of extra concrete between the heating pipes and the top surface of the floor, which also needs to be heated.
Another disadvantage:
The Futura energy-saving slab heats very slowly. It is not possible to quickly increase the temperature in the bathroom, for example. In contrast, the "standard" screed underfloor heating on the upper floor shows a noticeable temperature increase within 30 minutes. On the ground floor (Futura), it takes about 6 hours to feel the warmth at the floor surface. This disadvantage also affects children’s rooms negatively, as it is not practical to lower the temperature by 1-2°C (2-4°F) quickly in the evening at bedtime.
I cannot recommend the Futura slab for living areas.
Dear Hauke,
Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the heating performance of the FUTURA energy-saving floor slab. Unfortunately, we did not discover your post in this forum earlier.
As we could not find your name in our records, I would appreciate it if you could contact Ms. Dipl.-Ing. Carolin Schneider (Quality Assurance) at our company. You can find her contact details on our website. I am confident that we can assist you in resolving your issues as quickly as possible, as our commitment is always to the highest possible quality.
Kind regards
Dipl. Ing. BDB Sven Foht (Managing Director FUTURA Foundation Systems GmbH)
Thank you for your feedback. I am sorry to hear that you are not satisfied with the heating performance of the FUTURA energy-saving floor slab. Unfortunately, we did not discover your post in this forum earlier.
As we could not find your name in our records, I would appreciate it if you could contact Ms. Dipl.-Ing. Carolin Schneider (Quality Assurance) at our company. You can find her contact details on our website. I am confident that we can assist you in resolving your issues as quickly as possible, as our commitment is always to the highest possible quality.
Kind regards
Dipl. Ing. BDB Sven Foht (Managing Director FUTURA Foundation Systems GmbH)
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