DIY Home Improvement Forum banner

removable insulation from unwanted underfloor heating

904 views 6 replies 4 participants last post by  supers05 
#1 ·
Hello, for many people underfloor heating is a luxury, when you have leg circulation issues it's a torture and it brings to crippling pains - we moved to a nearly perfect apartment, but we discovered that in spite of plenty of radiators around the floor is warm, so either there is underfloor heating too (it's warm everywhere) or the apartment is over the whole building's hot water pipes which is the same. It is also going to be a problem in the summer. Is there any way to do some works to make the floor cool, at least in one room, maybe by putting something over the existing floor? It's a rental, so it must be something removable - it took forever to find this apartment, so looking for another one is not really an option... Thank you
 
#2 ·
It would be unusual to have both radiant heat in/under the floor along with baseboard heaters on the walls? What is below your unit, another unit or are you at ground level. If ground level, then crawlspace or basement?

What type of flooring? A carpet would help to isolate your feet from whatever is down there.

Take some temperature readings right at the floor level. An in floor heating system would be much warmer than room temperature, but less than the baseboards.

How many thermostats do you have and what zones do the control?

Bud
 
#3 ·
Thank you for your answer, the room below is a storage space with all the hot water pipes for the whole condo running on the ceiling, that is below the apartment's floor - the floor is made of concrete, covered with laminate, I am not sure there is underfloor heating but it feels so because it's warm everywhere, not just one spot. A carpet is definitely not enough, floor should be really cool, I am asking about really strong thick thermal isolation materials. In the apt there are only regulation handles for each single heater, I haven't seen a thermostat on the wall. I don't know if it is so unusual to have both underfloor and normal heating, I have seen another apartment like that last month.
Do you know of any effective insulation materials to create a floor over the existing floor? Do you think that could help with this problem?
 
#4 ·
Not a typical problem for sure. My best guess without seeing the setup is that a foil faced foam panel could isolate some of the heat, then you could put a floor on that, but it's not going to be cheap and it will raise the floor height which will cause all sorts of issues with the doors.
I suppose a better solution would be to put those foil faced foam panels downstairs between the hot water pipes and the ceiling. Have you talked to your property manager?
 
#6 ·
The temperature readings I asked for are still important. If the floor is above 75° or 80° then the landlord may need to do something. Note I said "may" because I don't know what temp is acceptable in a rental. Also don't know where you are to judge what regulations might apply.

Adding insulation only helps if the heat that ultimately passes through has a place to go.

Try placing a fan where it blows across the floor. That should equalize the floor temp to match the room air temp. If that isn't cool enough then the insulation would do no better.

Bud
 
#7 ·
Buildings always overheat, especially older buildings in warmer days. (poor turn down on the older systems, no less then 130*F return)

There's typically no insulation between interior walls or floors so
On a rental, you'll mostly up a creek.

Opening windows or using portable AC units might be the only option you have. The building will have to insulate the pipes, not you. They are probably already insulated adequately, but it wouldn't hurt up ask. Maybe the storage room exhaust fan isn't working right. Maybe it doesn't have one. All questions that are reasonable to ask, but unfortunately, may not yield much.

Good luck.

Cheers!
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top