Underfloor Heating at Pengersick Castle, Cornwall

The Goal

Pengersick Castle in Praa Sands, Cornwall, is one of the UK’s most historically significant and famously haunted properties. The Pengersick Historic and Education Trust commissioned essential restoration work to improve facilities for guests attending ghost nights, tours and educational events.

The castle’s granite walls made traditional heating impossible. The stone floors also left the interior uncomfortably cold. The challenge was to install efficient, unobtrusive historic property underfloor heating that would improve visitor comfort while preserving the building’s historic character.

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Our Solution

Through its subsidiary Heatmat, Heatcom Group supplied a 200 W/m² underfloor heating system designed for high heat-loss areas like the castle’s 500-year-old kitchen.

GN Electrical of Truro carried out the installation. The system used underfloor heating mats mounted on 20 mm thermal insulation boards to maximise efficiency and provide faster warm-up times. The insulation boards reduce downward heat loss into the cold stone floor, directing warmth upward into the room. Heatmat’s flexible self-levelling compound was poured over the heating mats to create a smooth surface for the new slate tile flooring.

To ensure full control, the system was paired with a 16 Amp NGT programmable thermostat timer. This allows temperature adjustments and energy monitoring directly in pounds and pence. The programmable timer lets the Trust heat the kitchen only when guests and events require it, which helps manage running costs.

As a result, the configuration provided a powerful yet sensitive heating solution. It blended seamlessly with the castle’s restoration and met the strict preservation standards required for historic buildings.

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The Result

The underfloor heating system transformed comfort levels in the castle’s historic kitchen. It is now warm and welcoming for visitors during ghost nights and events, while maintaining the building’s heritage aesthetic.

As the Pengersick team jokingly noted, the heating has removed the winter chill, but not the mysterious cold shudders the castle is famous for.

Pengersik-Castle.pdf