Surface Heating - The Best Heating for Sloped Ceilings

Are you converting your attic or renovating it? Are you also considering the best way to heat and especially cool the attic? We show you here why radiators are not a good choice for this and why you should instead opt for surface heating.

Why Radiators for Sloped Ceilings Are Not a Good Choice

Anyone looking to convert or renovate an attic also faces the question of how the new living or working area should be heated and cooled in the future. Depending on the structural conditions, conventional radiators are often not an option purely for space reasons. After all, under slanted walls, there is not always enough space to place a radiator due to a very low or even non-existent knee wall. For many people, radiators are also not the best choice for other reasons. When in operation, they stir up dust and are also not particularly energy efficient. Thus, they not only consume a lot of energy but are also very costly to operate. If you also want to cool your attic, you would have to accommodate air conditioning units in addition to radiators, which in many cases cause unpleasant drafts. This further limits your design freedom.

The good news is that there are alternatives to classic heating with radiators and conventional air conditioning units. The best choice for your attic, regardless of your structural possibilities, is surface heating. This includes underfloor, wall, or ceiling heating. Unlike radiators or air conditioning units, these are invisibly installed in the respective surfaces. The additional advantage here: With surface heating, you can also cool – a special extra for your attic.

Underfloor Heating – The Alternative for the Attic

A very good alternative for providing pleasant heating during a renovation of an attic with slanted walls is underfloor heating. As a surface heating system that is invisibly integrated into the floor, this heating system ensures absolute living comfort and coziness. Underfloor heating can be planned for newly constructed attics as well as retrofitted in existing attics, for example, during a renovation. With very good providers of underfloor heating, it has only a low installation height and thus changes the room height only minimally.

However, if underfloor heating is not an option, for example, because it cannot be installed due to structural reasons or a protected floor, there are very good other solutions to bring cozy warmth to your attic. After all, there are other surfaces that can be activated with surface heating – and these include not only ceilings but also walls or slanted roofs.

Place surface heating in the sloping roof

Expanding an attic not only opens up new living or working spaces but also offers additional possibilities for heating the rooms. Surface heating systems are the perfect solution for your attic – especially heating systems placed in sloped ceilings. The surface heating systems that can be used for sloped ceilings are not ceiling heating but wall heating. These operate on the same principle as all other surface heating systems. There is a distinction between electric, infrared, and the particularly sustainable and energy-efficient water-based surface heating systems, which Variotherm, as an innovation leader for surface heating and cooling systems, also relies on. In water-based heating systems, heated water flows through pipes, usually pre-integrated into panels, in winter and cold water in summer. The warmth or cooling radiates into the room. This principle is called radiation exchange or radiant heat and is comparable to the pleasant warmth of sunlight.

With the well-thought-out wall heating systems from Variotherm, even sloped ceilings can be easily heated and cooled with wall heating or wall cooling. The flexible surface heating system perfectly adapts to even the most complex roof constructions. The wall heating and cooling from Variotherm is flexible and can be used for both drywall construction and plastered expansion. The plastered variant is also available in two different versions. This way, every individual need for the heating and cooling system can be met. The drywall construction variant is particularly suitable for listed buildings where, for example, floors should remain untouched. Whether in drywall construction or for the plastered variant: A comfortably warm feeling in winter and a pleasantly cool room climate in summer is guaranteed in every attic apartment with sloped ceilings.

More about the different wall heating systems

Drywall Construction Wall Heating
Plastered Wall Heating

Frequently Asked Questions about Heating and Sloping Ceilings

The best choice for an attic as well as for slanted walls is surface heating. Here, floors, ceilings, and walls can be used. While radiators are unsuitable for slanted walls, wall heating is an optimal option. The big advantage: With water-based surface heating, you can also ensure pleasant cooling at the same time: Two advantages in just one system.

Surface heating systems are heating systems that emit heat through various surfaces of a building. This usually occurs through floors, walls, or ceilings. Pipes are laid either in the screed or in prefabricated panels, through which heated water flows in winter. With lower flow temperatures, surface heating systems are more energy efficient than conventional heating systems. Surface heating systems are considered heating systems that offer the greatest possible comfort.

Yes, surface heating can be easily and straightforwardly installed in a sloped roof. Wall heating, which can be attached to slanted walls, is perfect for this. Make sure to choose water-based wall surface heating, as these can also be used as surface cooling, unlike electric surface heating.