Floor heating is widely used across households. However, this is still a new technology, which raises new questions, for example, if heating is applicable to wood floors. Let's find out.

The short answer is yes. However, there are specific rules and cautions you need to know. If you don't follow them, it can result in wood warping or even cracks.

Wood types

Engineered hardwood is a standard staple for radiant heat. Its layered structure is perfect for dealing with temperature and humidity changes.

Solid wood is worse, as it can warp or even develop gaps due to its homogeneous structure.

Between soft and dense wood species, choose the latter. Dense wood such as oak is one of the most popular options for a reason. It's great at withstanding heat without warping.

Temperature

The thing with wood is that it is very susceptible to heat and moisture. Because of that, you need to be extremely careful with it. One of the most important generally accepted recommendations is the 27°C (80°F) temperature limit. Higher than that and the wood will dry out and crack. In modern floor heating systems, this can easily be adjusted through the controls.

Another important temperature rule is if you raise it, do it gradually, 1-2 degrees a day. You shouldn't turn the heat more than that, because of the risk of wood "shock". Raise the temperature slowly and steadily, no more than a couple of degrees a day to keep the wood in good condition.

To check the temperature of the wood floor, the radiant system has a temperature sensor. This is important because wood can overheat easily, and you won't notice it because of the difference between the wood and air temperature.

Humidity

Another important thing is humidity. The general consensus is that it must stay between 30% and 50%. This ensures that the parts of the wooden floor close to the heating elements don’t dry out too much.

The bottom line

To answer the question in the title - yes, you can put radiant heat under wood floors. But you need to be careful. Professional installation and serious preparation will save you a lot of nerves and money.