Yes, you can. The EkoBuild Ribbon is 1.8mm thick and is installed as a dry system beneath compatible carpet and underlay, with no screed, no self-levelling compound and no overboard. The one rule that decides it is tog: a combined carpet and underlay tog of 2.8, no higher.
Why most underfloor heating cannot go under carpet
One of the biggest misconceptions about underfloor heating is that every system is installed the same way. It is not.
Traditional water underfloor heating runs pipes carrying warm water beneath the floor. Those pipes normally sit inside screed, or in a routed overlay panel system, which creates a much deeper floor construction than the heating element on its own. Many electric cable systems are also embedded in screed, tile adhesive or self-levelling compound, depending on the system and the flooring.
Those systems can heat a room perfectly well when they are designed and installed properly. The problem is what they do to your floor height, and what they cost to run.
The difficulty comes when you want underfloor heating beneath carpet in a house that already exists, and you do not want to dig up the floor, lose a significant amount of height, or bring wet trades into the room.
How the Ribbon is different
The EkoBuild Ribbon is 1.8mm thick. It is taped down with EkoBuild's own high-tech tape, over suitable insulation. We use Therm-All, which is 6mm Therm-All, which is acoustic, thermal and a 1000-gauge DPM in one.
Over the Ribbon goes a 0.8 tog rubber underlay rated for underfloor heating, and then your carpet.
There is no screed. There is no self-levelling compound. There is no overboard. And there is no waiting for a wet layer to dry before the carpet can be fitted. Once the system has been installed, connected and tested, the flooring goes down.
That is what makes it useful in a renovation, or in a room that is already finished, where you do not want to raise the floor or turn a heating upgrade into a building project.
What the finished floor build-up comes to
| Subfloor | Levelled, clean and dry |
| Insulation | 6mm Therm-All, which is acoustic, thermal and a 1000-gauge DPM in one |
| Heating | The Ribbon at 1.8mm, taped down with EkoBuild's own high-tech tape |
| Protection | A 0.8 tog rubber underlay rated for underfloor heating |
| Floor finish | Compatible carpet |
| Total added height | About 15mm with a 9mm laminate |
| Screed or self-leveller | None |
| Certified to | Certified to EN 60335-2-96, the safety standard for flexible sheet heating elements for room heating, plus EN 60335-1 and EN 62233. Class II, double insulated. UL Listed for the US and Canada under UL 1693 and CSA C22.2 No. 217 for radiant space heating, certificate 20130417-E349312, and certified by Nemko under certificate P15220551 |
The tog rule, and the thing people get wrong
The carpet and the underlay both have to let enough heat through. Both have a tog rating, which is simply how strongly a material resists the movement of heat. Stack up too much of it and the warmth stays under the carpet instead of coming into the room.
The rule is a combined carpet and underlay tog of 2.8, no higher.
Here is the part most people get wrong. They assume a thick carpet is the problem. It is the weave of the carpet that sets the tog, not the thickness, so ask for the tog certificate before you buy
A compatible carpet over a heating rated underlay lets the warmth travel into the room far more effectively than a thick, spongy build-up ever will.
Can it be the room's main heating, or is it just a warm floor?
This is the real question, and it is the one that separates the Ribbon from a comfort product.
The Ribbon runs at 150W per m². When it is being designed as the primary heating for a room it needs to cover at least 70% of the available floor area, and 80% or more is better.
That means you are not putting one small warm section beneath your feet. You are using the available floor to create a large heat source capable of warming the room above it.
Below 70% it is a supplementary heat source, and we spec an infrared panel to make up the gap
The property, the insulation and the flooring still have to be suitable. But the system itself is designed to do more than take the chill off.
How quickly warmth comes through carpet
The Ribbon itself starts producing heat in about 3 minutes. Through carpet you will normally start to feel it in about 5 minutes.
Those are observations from our own installations, not guaranteed times. The insulation, the subfloor, the carpet you chose and the starting room temperature all make a difference.
It is also worth being clear about what that figure means. It is when warmth begins coming through the floor. It does not mean the whole room has come up to temperature in five minutes.
Getting the controls right
A room thermostat controls the temperature you want in the room. A floor sensor watches the floor itself and keeps it inside its permitted range. The floor sensor sits between two Ribbon runs, never on top of one
The thermostat goes 1.2 to 1.5m above the subfloor, in the room it controls.
The final 240V connection must be made by a Part P qualified electrician and certified to BS 7671. Everything up to that point is genuinely DIY friendly.
What actually goes wrong under carpet
From the installations we have seen, problems beneath carpet almost always trace back to one of these. They are not evidence that carpet and underfloor heating are incompatible.
- An unsuitable carpet or underlay, so the heat never reaches the room.
- Too little floor covered, so the system is fighting the room instead of heating it.
- Gripper rods nailed through the heating. Plan the Ribbon to stop short of the gripper line on every wall, and tell your carpet fitter the floor is heated.
- Controls installed in the wrong place, or the floor sensor sitting on top of a run rather than between two.
- Never put additional insulation, Kingspan, foam, beanbags or a mattress on top of the Ribbon. The heat has to escape upward. Trap it and the element keeps climbing
Full transcript
This is what Russell says in the video, in full. It is published so you can read it rather than watch it, and so search engines and AI assistants can read it too.
Can you install underfloor heating directly beneath carpet without using screed?
Yes, you can, but you need the correct type of underfloor heating.
The Eko Build ribbon system is only 1.8 millimetres thick. It is installed as a dry system beneath compatible carpet and rubber underlay with a combined tog of 2.8 and no higher without screed, self-levelling compound or overboard.
More importantly, it can be designed to heat the room as its primary heating, rather than simply making the carpet feel warm.
I'm Russell White from Eko Build. I've spent 30 years working in contract flooring, 25 years specialising in underfloor heating and 20 years working with renewable energy.
I've installed and assessed water, cable and ribbon underfloor heating, as well as solar panels, heat pumps, biomass boilers and wind turbines. I've also helped develop products, rather than simply fitting what was already available.
Twenty years ago, I brought that experience together when I built my own eco home using waste pallet blocks, solar power, wind turbines, heat recovery, biomass heating and electric underfloor heating.
Living with and maintaining these technologies taught me that making something work is only half the job. It also needs to be practical to install, control, service and repair.
That experience ultimately led me to ribbon underfloor heating, and I'm now sharing what I've learned to help homeowners make a properly informed decision.
One of the biggest misconceptions about underfloor heating is that every system is installed in the same way.
It isn't.
Traditional water underfloor heating uses pipes carrying warm water beneath the floor.
Those pipes are commonly installed within screed or a routed overlay-panel system. That creates a much deeper floor construction than the heating element alone.
Many traditional electric cable systems are also embedded within screed, tile adhesive or self-levelling compound, depending on the particular system and flooring.
These systems can provide effective heating when they are designed and installed properly, but their running costs are a lot higher.
The difficulty comes when you want underfloor heating beneath carpet in an existing home without digging up the floor, adding a significant amount of height or bringing wet trades into the room.
That is where ribbon heating is different.
The Eko Build ribbon is 1.8 millimetres thick.
It tapes down to the subfloor, with suitable insulation beneath it. A product that we also offer called ThermAll which is 6mm thick.
A 0.8 tog underlay is placed over the ribbon, followed by compatible carpet.
There is no screed.
There is no self-levelling compound.
There is no overboard.
And there is no waiting for a wet layer to dry before the carpet can be fitted.
Once the system has been installed, connected and tested correctly, the flooring can be completed.
That makes it particularly useful in renovations and existing rooms where homeowners do not want to raise the floor significantly or turn the installation into a major building project.
The other advantage is the amount of heated coverage.
Ribbon produces heat across the width of the element, which is up to 300% more than alternative underfloor heating systems. This allows the system to create broad, consistent coverage beneath the carpet.
The Eko Build ribbon operates at 150 watts per square metre.
When we are designing it as the primary heating for a room, the ribbon needs to cover a minimum of 70 per cent of the available floor area.
That means we are not simply putting one small warm section beneath your feet.
We are using the available floor to create a large heat source capable of warming the room above it.
The property, insulation and flooring still need to be suitable, but the system itself is designed to do more than provide background warmth.
The carpet and underlay need to allow enough heat to pass through them.
Both materials have a tog rating, which tells us how strongly they resist the movement of heat.
The combined tog rating of the carpet and underlay must remain within 2.8.
A lot of people think a very thick carpet determines the tog value. But it is not the thickness that is the issue, it is the weave of the carpet that determines the tog value.
Before choosing the carpet make sure you have seen the tog certificate.
A compatible carpet and heating-rated underlay allow the warmth to travel into the room much more effectively.
We can demonstrate that here.
In the video Russell measures the carpet surface temperature with an infrared thermometer before switching the Ribbon on, then again after it has run, so you can see the heat coming through. Those readings are from that room, that carpet and that underlay, and are not a promise that every property will match them.
Before switching the ribbon on, the surface temperature of this carpet is degrees Celsius.
We will switch the heating on, allow it to run and then measure the same position again.
After , the surface temperature is now degrees Celsius.
Those figures apply to this demonstration, in this room, using this particular carpet and underlay.
They should not be treated as a promise that every property will achieve the same temperature in the same amount of time.
What the demonstration shows is that heat from the ribbon can transfer through a compatible underlay and carpet without requiring screed between the heating and flooring.
The system must also be controlled correctly.
A room thermostat controls the desired room temperature, while a floor sensor monitors the floor and helps keep it within the permitted temperature.
With the thermostat being mounted in the correct location at a height of 1.2-1.5 meters off the subfloor.
The final electrical connection must be completed by a qualified electrician.
From my experience, problems beneath carpet are normally caused by choosing an unsuitable carpet or underlay, covering too little floor area, poor installation or installing the controls incorrectly.
They are not evidence that carpet and underfloor heating are automatically incompatible.
So, can underfloor heating go directly beneath carpet without screed?
Yes.
The Eko Build ribbon system is a 1.8-millimetre dry heating system that can sit beneath compatible carpet without screed, self-levelling compound or overboard.
It operates at 150 watts per square metre and, with at least 70 per cent floor coverage and the correct overall design, it can provide the primary heating for the room rather than simply warming the floor.
The important thing is choosing a system that was designed for this type of installation.
The complete carpet installation guide, floor build-up and technical specifications are available on the Eko Build website.
See exactly what your room needs
Map your room in the free Room Designer and it will work out the layout, the coverage percentage against the at least 70% threshold, and the price. Then read the step by step fitting guide.
Underfloor heating under carpet FAQs
Can you put electric underfloor heating under carpet?
Yes. The EkoBuild Ribbon is 1.8mm thick and lays dry beneath compatible carpet with no screed, no self-levelling compound and no overboard. The carpet and underlay must stay within the tog limit.
What tog rating can my carpet and underlay be?
A combined carpet and underlay tog of 2.8, no higher. Over the Ribbon we use a 0.8 tog rubber underlay rated for underfloor heating. Bear in mind it is the weave of the carpet that sets the tog, not the thickness, so ask for the tog certificate before you buy
Can underfloor heating under carpet be my main heating?
Yes, provided it is designed for it. The Ribbon runs at 150W per m² and needs to cover at least 70% of the floor to act as the primary heat source for that room. Below 70% it is a supplementary heat source, and we spec an infrared panel to make up the gap
Do I need screed or self-levelling compound under carpet?
No. The Ribbon lays dry, directly under the flooring, so there are no wet trades, no drying time and almost no added floor height. The whole build-up comes to about 15mm with a 9mm laminate.
How long does it take to warm up through carpet?
The Ribbon itself is producing heat in about 3 minutes, and warmth normally comes through carpet in about 5 minutes. That is when you feel it at the surface, not when the whole room has reached temperature.
Do I need an electrician?
Yes, for the final connection. The final 240V connection must be made by a Part P qualified electrician and certified to BS 7671. Planning the layout, laying the insulation and rolling out the Ribbon are all DIY friendly.