Hello all. I am looking at an aluminium bonded floor panel to use with or as part of a subfloor in a new build for a house in South East Victoria - near Melbourne. This is not a product used much locally although popularity of in slab hydronic heating is increasing here. I can source Warmboard from South Australia via their Australian agent for high $$$ and am looking a shipping out from the US either ecowarm or thermal board. If anyone can share good or bad experiences or knowledge about ecowarm or thermal board that would be appreciated. Cheers

Gday MickR, How did you go? Have also looked at both these products and have settled on Ecowarm. Also live in the Dandenongs in Melbourne. Cheers.

FYI, heated floors aren't as useful anymore with high efficient houses. The floor wont be warm because it takes little energy to maintain the house temp.

Wouldnt have thought that included floor panels with bonded aluminium. They heat up and distribute the heat very effectively and efficiently. What do you use?

In my last 2 houses I have laid a 1.5 inch layer of concrete over the floors with pex tied to the OSB. I then use tile or glue down wood. My first house was R19 walls R38 ceiling and the floors were toasty warm. Next house was complete icf R30 walls, and R80 ceiling and the floors aren't warm and wonder if it was worth doing heated floors. House stays nice and temperate just don't get the warm floor feeling I used to get for the cost. Just my opinion.

Yes, it is true that heated floors in high efficiency houses don't need to get very warm to supply the small amount of heat gain that is needed in these houses. However, if this is for new construction in a house where you are pouring concrete slabs for your finished floors (i.e., polished or stamped), the heated floor approach is likely the lowest cost heating option and certainly the most comfortable and least intrusive option. And while the floor won't be very warm, it won't ever be cold either. We don't recommend the sandwiched aluminum plate heated floor approach and especially with floors finished with wood. It's not that this can't be made to work, it's just that the cost is prohibitive and the performance is suboptimal compared to other non- heated floor heating options.

@newbostonconst and sailawayrb, Thanks for your input. We live in the foothills in Australia down in the South east of our state of Victoria. We dont get snow here and the lowest winter temperature where we live is around 40 d F. Our summers conversely hover around an average of 85 d F. Totally agree with the (seemingly) exorbitant cost of the alu bonded panels. However (since my first post above) have sourced Italian panels that (from here in Australia) are not only a quarter of the cost (they are not structural) but are bonded to an insulated foam panel thus reducing the cost and improving the efficiency. They will sit on a manufactured chipboard panel (similar to OSB). Concrete slab wasnt an option here. Have concluded (with your input) that it's not worth putting heated floors in areas where you wish a timber finish (radiators will be plumbed in) so based on that, have changed the floor in our open plan living to tiles and slate ie creating a thermal mass. So looking forward to barefoot trips in winter to raid the fridge.

@newbostonconst and sailawayrb, Thanks for your input. We live in the foothills in Australia down in the South east of our state of Victoria. We dont get snow here and the lowest winter temperature where we live is around 40 d F. Our summers conversely hover around an average of 85 d F. Totally agree with the (seemingly) exorbitant cost of the alu bonded panels. However (since my first post above) have sourced Italian panels that (from here in Australia) are not only a quarter of the cost (they are not structural) but are bonded to an insulated foam panel thus reducing the cost and improving the efficiency. They will sit on a manufactured chipboard panel (similar to OSB). Concrete slab wasnt an option here. Have concluded (with your input) that it's not worth putting heated floors in areas where you wish a timber finish (radiators will be plumbed in) so based on that, have changed the floor in our open plan living to tiles and slate ie creating a thermal mass. So looking forward to barefoot trips in winter to raid the fridge.

You sound like you are on the right track....Heated floor and AC are like having double of everything. Double the cost, double the work, double to maintain.

Some type of HVAC will be best. Normal furnace with AC, or a air to air split systems, Geo based is an option....

Your location lends itself well to solar so you could go all electric. Having a large thermal mass will help keep the house temp constant without constantly running the heat or AC....

Good Luck...

You might want to consider passive solar cooling/heating so as to reduce your cooling/heating requirements. In our diurnal southern Oregon climate, our passive solar design reduced our cooling requirement to zero and our heating requirement by 40%. Passive solar requires having interior thermal mass, but it sounds like you are going in that direction already. There is lots of info about passive solar on our website and on the Internet.

Once again thanks to you gentlemen for, not only your excellent informed and astute knowledge, but also for your time, input and your unselfishness to share(on this and a lot of the other forums). Much appreciated. Once we finish this project (in about 18 months) will let you know how we went. In the meantime, our hopes are with you that the Covid-19 situation in your country blows over and things return to a better version of normal.
Ps Yes we have looked at the Borst website.....Wow! Very comprehensive. FYI WE have intergrated passive solar for cooling and heating.
Pps. Whilst we arent going to use ICFs on this project (basically a large addition to match existing structure, we will be building our final house in Queensland (a much warmer State) and this will most definitely be using ICFs.

Happy to help, appreciate the positive feedback and good luck with your projects!