Heated Concrete Floor Pipe

How does radiant heat work.

Heated concrete floor pipe.

The most cost effective system for medium to larger homes is hydronic since the amount of power it would take to heat a whole home with electric would be substantial. This article explains how to avoid some fatal mistakes when installing radiant heat in a concrete floor slab by describing an incompetent radiant heat floor installation along with an explanation of why things went wrong and how to avoid these errors. Pex tubing is installed beneath the floor and heats the home from the ground up. Due to it s density and low conductivity concrete retains heat very well.

We offer the best pex and pert tubing for our hydronic systems available in a variety of sizes ranging from 3 8 to 1. In the 1930s architect frank lloyd wright piped hot water through the concrete floors of many of his structures. Thousands of tract homes built at levittown on long island and in the san francisco bay area during the 1950s also used a system that circulated. Remember since you will only have 1 chance to pour the concrete slab you will only have 1 chance to put the pex tubing in it.

With tubing a circuit length of 300 is standard but circuits anywhere from 250 up to 350 are within the range recommended by the radiant panel association. Radiant heat is growing in popularity and is now the preferred heating system in new homes. Tubing is an essential part of every hydronic radiant heating system. Once you have determined the actual combined length of pipe you will need the next step is to determine the number of loops or circuits of pipe.

The heat is made possible in two ways. Instead of blowing hot air through a vent or pumping hot water to a baseboard radiator along the wall radiant heat warms up the entire floor. As the floor becomes warm the room is heated evenly and efficiently. Radiant heating system design or installation mistakes that must be avoided.

Radiant heat provides more comfort throughout the home than standard baseboard heat. Either through pipes carrying hot water embedded in or directly below the floor or via electric mats in or below the floor. There s two basic types of concrete floor heating hydronic and electric. Again the concrete codes define the limitations of pipe spacing pipe diameter and placement depth it ll be a rare radiant designer that owns a copy of the concrete codes yet the concrete codes will take precedent over the heating design due to structural safety concerns.

Heating concrete floors hydronically isn t a new technology. The workers in the photograph at page top where our concrete slab.