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Underfloor heating and speakers

boneman

pfm Member
We've just installed underfloor heating throughout the house and as part of the planning I asked that there be a space along the hiFi wall with no mat. I trusted that our instructions were followed so forgot about it. The testing did not happen until many weeks later and of course, with the exception of a corner, they went right to the wall. Grrrrr. So now one of my speakers and the hiFi rack sit over a heated part.

The hiFi is off the floor on the rack enough that it doesn't really concern me. The speakers are Obs so of course are on rollers and are off the floor but not a lot. Should I be looking into a heat sheilding mat or a stand to get them higher up? Obvs the best solution would be to make my builder put it right but at this piont would be a major undertaking.
 
In part it will depend on the ufh flow temperature. If in the 30 to 40C range I would not be too concerned. I had a pair of speakers adjacent to a radiator in our old house for years and saw no impact. Our current house has ufh that runs around 25 to 30C and I have my subs on the floor, and also my floorstanders (though now have standmounts).

I guess might also depend on age or condition of the speakers, thinking perishing gaskets for instance.
 
We had under floor heating in the last house (under a tiled floor). In my experience the level of heating per unit area was quite low. Not enough to worry about damaging hifi gear.
 
'Speaker drivers typically turn more than 99% of the audio power you put into them into heat and less than 1% into audio. Played loud they and the insides of a 'speaker cabinet get warm. They are designed to cope with this even if you never go loud in practice. Driver degradation temperatures are remarkably high.

If you can stand on the heated floor comfortably in bare feet then I don't think the 'speakers will have a problem at all. Perhaps the lower cabinet surface veneer and its glue might age more quickly but I suspect that's it.
 
I think you are unduly worrying about this, the floor temperature will be much lower than your average radiator and will have no measurable effect upon the speaker, unless your floor was previously damp. Just sit back and bask in the luxurious warmth and enjoy your music.
 
I've had the same pair of floor standing speakers on underfloor heated carpet for 10 years with no problem and I currently have a Sugden sitting on the bottom shelf of the rack.
 
Having explored floor temperatures at someone else's house with an infra-red thermometer recently, I've observed that with the UFH room thermostat set to 20 degrees, the floor itself (either real wood or laminate) was varying between 21 and 23 degrees.

Back at my home, and I was curious to see what our standard CH radiators were, with a similar room temperature. With walls and floor varying between 18 and 23, and a target temp on the thermostat of 21.5, the only radiator in the room was at a too-hot-to-touch 54 degrees....

I really don't think OP has anything to worry about.
 
We’re assuming you’ve got water pipes under floor?

If it’s electric you need to be careful not to insulate an area that might build up excessive heat?

I’m not an expert - but worth clarifying what you have so that those more familiar with under floor heating can advise.
 
That can indeed be an issue, at least according to the manufactures, speaker stands or speakers on feet aren't. However spikes on speakers on a carpet with heating cables or ribbons under probably are.
 
The more annoying question is why are tradesmen almost universally incapable of following basic instructions, or generally giving a feck?

I have a friend who had underfloor heating installed as part of the barn conversion he did. Shortly after it was finished, water starting coming up through the middle of the livingroom floor. They had to smash the concrete to get to the pipe and it turned out they'd been short of the correct T-piece so they just used the wrong push-on plastic fitting instead. Thankfully, it leaked before the wood floor went down but does this bodge have friends we don't know about?

In the same house, the wet-room was installed with a floor which has a run to the door. So when the shower is used some of the water runs out of the door to the hall, where the floor is not sealed, and through the floor to the ceiling downstairs.

And this was not a cheap job. And the builder is the guy's brother in law!
 
We’re assuming you’ve got water pipes under floor?

If it’s electric you need to be careful not to insulate an area that might build up excessive heat?

I’m not an expert - but worth clarifying what you have so that those more familiar with under floor heating can advise.
^^^ This
 
The more annoying question is why are tradesmen almost universally incapable of following basic instructions, or generally giving a feck?

I have a friend who had underfloor heating installed as part of the barn conversion he did. Shortly after it was finished, water starting coming up through the middle of the livingroom floor. They had to smash the concrete to get to the pipe and it turned out they'd been short of the correct T-piece so they just used the wrong push-on plastic fitting instead. Thankfully, it leaked before the wood floor went down but does this bodge have friends we don't know about?

In the same house, the wet-room was installed with a floor which has a run to the door. So when the shower is used some of the water runs out of the door to the hall, where the floor is not sealed, and through the floor to the ceiling downstairs.

And this was not a cheap job. And the builder is the guy's brother in law!

I think that's a bit strong, I'll go for 93% of tradesman.
 
Our underfloor heating runs at 28º C, which is cooler than the summer ambient temperature where we live, and an awful lot cooler than the amp packs on my ATC actives. The o/p has Shahinians which are made from multi-ply wood, which should be very stable, and are American so should be expected to work in the much wider range of conditions likely in the States. But if you still worry, a bit of silver foil on the underside of the speaker might make you less anxious.
 
I think that's a bit strong, I'll go for 93% of tradesman.

No chance! Get the job done as fast as possible, get the money and move on to the next job is the general rule of play. Some of the cost cutting and shoddiness I've seen was almost beyond belief. The subject is a thread in itself but no, I don't think 93% of tradesmen are good. Not these days. Finding a decent tradesman is hard.
 
No chance! Get the job done as fast as possible, get the money and move on to the next job is the general rule of play. Some of the cost cutting and shoddiness I've seen was almost beyond belief. The subject is a thread in itself but no, I don't think 93% of tradesmen are good. Not these days. Finding a decent tradesman is hard.

Lol, I agree, I was meaning 93% are crap
 
Lol, I agree, I was meaning 93% are crap

Ha ha, got you :0) Although I think you may still be underestimating! ;0)

It's terrible. It's one of the reasons I started doing things myself. I got really sick of paying a professional to do a job only for them to feck it up.
 


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