Railway station as dream home

The venerable station building in Lower Austria used to be an important coal loading station in the post-war period. What was then a reception building, a waiting room and a staff room for station and points guards is now a spacious living-dining room, a bedroom, a bathroom, a utility room and a children's room.

End of the line for Langau station

Given that railway stations are not necessarily associated with a comfortable interior climate, a contemporary heating system had to be retrofitted. As the residents wanted to be creative in their planning and decorating, they opted for underfloor heating, which could easily be installed on the existing floor and be perfectly adapted to the specific conditions of the building.

Low supply temperature = low heating costs

In terms of heating costs, this decision was also “very wise”, says Aaron Watzek, a Variotherm team engineer. “Underfloor heating is a low-temperature system. The heating pipes are installed across the entire floor area. Depending on the outside temperature, the system can work with lower flow temperatures than conventional radiators – and the residents still feel very cosy,” Watzek continues.

This is due to the fact that heat is delivered evenly across the entire floor and over a large area. Every degree of room temperature you lower saves around 6% in heating costs per year.

Super slim and ultra light

In conjunction with local installer Gangl, a decision was taken in favour of compact underfloor heating using dry construction, with a low weight of 25 kg/m2 and a structural height of only 20mm:"This low height is essential to ensure that doors, for example, can still be opened after the low-impact renovation. In principle, retrofitting is possible in almost all structural situations, as long as you have a level and load-bearing substrate,” says engineer Mario Baumgartner, the Variotherm consultant in charge of the project.

For the installer, the fitting is extremely simple: The VarioProFil pipe is fitted individually in pre-milled gypsum fibre boards. At the end, the compact filling mass is poured on and sanded down. After a drying time of 24 hours, the floor covering can be applied.