Over Insulated Subfloor
Applying radiant panels over a raised floor subfloor provides a dry, low-profile, lightweight, fast-responding, and efficient integrated hydronic panel underlayment system that is finished-flooring friendly. This radiant heat subfloor installation is easy, with panels applied near the completion of the building project.
Radiant Heat Subfloors with Built-In Insulation: A Smarter Heating Solution
A radiant heat subfloor with integrated insulation combines comfort and energy efficiency in one powerful system. Rather than treating insulation and radiant heating as separate layers, modern panel systems, like those from WBI Warm, allow you to install everything in a streamlined, high-performance configuration.
Whether your subfloor is plywood, concrete, or OSB, using a radiant heat subfloor that includes insulation ensures faster heat-up times, less energy loss, and more even temperature distribution across your space.
Compatible Subfloor Types for Radiant Heating with Insulation
1. Plywood & OSB
Wood-based subfloors pair perfectly with radiant panels that feature built-in insulation. They’re easy to work with and offer excellent thermal performance when paired with under-panel insulation or radiant systems that include thermal breaks.
2. Concrete
Concrete is a natural fit for radiant floor heating, and when combined with insulating layers (such as rigid foam or reflective foil beneath the panels), it becomes a highly efficient, thermal-retaining foundation.
3. Existing Flooring
In retrofit scenarios, radiant panels with low-profile insulation layers can be laid over existing flooring like tile or vinyl. This approach avoids full floor replacement while still upgrading comfort.
The Smart Alternative To:
Underfloor Radiant Heat: Stapling radiant heat with aluminum plates under a subfloor significantly increases the resistance to heat transfer resulting in higher water temperatures, low system efficiency, and slower response time, with challenging insulation application conditions. We recommend using this type of system only if the chief design criteria are maintaining existing flooring goods, such as hardwood in a remodel.
Gypsum Cement Pour: Gypsum pours over a subfloor are a type of radiant heat subfloor system characterized by a wet and heavy underlayment medium mass assembly installed by a specialty contractor. Curing for finished flooring goods can delay the construction flow, particularly in cold climates. Double plating all walls is required as gypsum concrete floor pours are 1 ¼” thick with a surface unsuitable for nailed hardwood floors without expensive modification. Gypsum concrete floors respond at about half the rate of WBI radiant panels, something that is possibly not so important to contractors but of very real concern to end users.
