It's fair to say that your employees aren't going to work at their best if they're shivering under their coats, so an adequate heating system is a must for almost any place of business. However, there's an enormous amount of heating types and configurations to choose from, and making a concrete choice can be challenging.
One of the most commonly chosen heating systems for commercial use is underfloor heating, which places the heating elements of your system at key points underneath the floors of your business space. These systems are popular for good reason, and choosing them comes with a number of attractive advantages over other heating types—however, there are also some distinct disadvantages to bear in mind, so weigh the pros and cons of an underfloor heating system before deciding if installing one is right for your business.
What are the advantages of using underfloor heating?
- Total coverage: Underfloor heating provides more consistent, even heating across rooms and floors than conventional radiators, which tend to heat the air around them at a quicker rate than they heat a whole room. The heat radiated from an underfloor system is also less likely to be blocked by walls, cubicles and other bulky objects, ensuring an even rate of temperature increase.
- Unobtrusive: Since the heating elements and pipes of an underfloor system are (unsurprisingly) under the floor, an underfloor system takes up very little floor space, a particular concern for businesses in urban centres where space is at a constant premium.
- High efficiency: Building a heating system under your floor also means that piping lengths and safety insulation can be kept to a minimum, making them highly energy efficient with very little heat wasted—a boon for both the environment and your business's energy bills.
What about the disadvantages?
- Installation costs: While an underfloor system may be comparable with a conventional above-ground system in terms of purchase cost, they tend to cost much more to install, especially when retrofitted to rooms that previously used other heating systems. You will also have to deal with large sections of your floor being removed to allow installation services access, and whole sections of your business space may be unusable until work is completed.
- Furniture damage: Some furniture materials, such as tropical hardwoods and delicate leathers, can be damaged by heat radiating from the floors beneath them. Make sure you have an idea of furniture placement before the heating system is installed, especially if your more fragile furniture is heavy or immobile.
- Heating times: Placing a heating system under your floors also means that heat has to penetrate your floor before it can start to heat the room above. As a consequence, underfloor heaters may be slower to adequately heat a room, especially if you have thick, insulating floor coverings such as heavy carpeting.
