Underfloor heating insulation with Styrofoam

Styrofoam, supplied by Panel Systems, is an increasingly popular option for insulating underfloor heating systems, due to its high compressive strength and excellent thermal performance.

The material's durability and ease of handling makes it suitable for use in both water and electrical matting UFH systems and Panel System's bespoke design service means it can be tailor-made to meet the requirements of specific floor plans.

Danny Phelan, Sales Manager of Panel Systems, explains:"Styrofoam's excellent thermal qualities make it the ideal material to be placed beneath water or electric underfloor heating systems".

"This significantly improves the performance of the system and means it contributes to a home's energy efficiency, for the benefit of the customer.

As floor thickness is a vital consideration in the construction of a building, Panel Systems can hot-wire cut Styrofoam slabs to a thickness of just 6mm and by 0.5mm increments up to 150mm.

This means they take up minimal space within the flooring layers, allowing for increased thickness of screed, floor tiles and UFH systems.

The density of Styrofoam means that high quality and consistent grooving is achieved to ensure a good fit for the water pipes.

For electric matting systems, where there is an existing un-insulated floor slab, sheets can be readily cut and fitted by hand.

Floor tiles can be laid using any water based tile adhesive.

Wood laminates can be laid in direct contact with the Styrofoam.

Using the very latest CNC technology, Panel Systems can router Styrofoam to meet bespoke requirements, which allows for UFH waterpipes to be precisely fitted to sit on the top layer of the slabs.

In addition, the company's CAD/CAM facilities mean it has the ability to offer rapid prototyping as well as undertaking both large and small production runs.

Styrofoam is an extruded polystyrene insulation material, which has excellent thermal qualities and plays an ever more important role in ensuring that UFH systems are operating to maximum efficiency, without the risk of heat escaping into the underlying ground structures.

As energy prices increase and homeowners are looking for maximum energy efficiency and minimum heat wastage, a well insulated UFH system is vital.

The material has typically been used to insulate floors, wall and ceilings for over 25 years and has a proven track-record in ensuring excellent insulation performance for residential and commercial buildings.

Styrofoam is waterproof, rot and mould resistant, as well as being extremely lightweight, making it an ideal material for both electric matting and wet UFH systems.

Panel Systems is one of the leading suppliers of Styrofoam products in the UK and technical information and more details of the company's unique range of services are available at the website.

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