In Floor Heat Concrete Slab

Tubes that circulate hot water or electrical heating elements are installed in the concrete slab when it s poured turning the thermal mass of the concrete into an inconspicuous radiator of warm even heat.

In floor heat concrete slab.

How to add floor heating over existing concrete. Radiant heating system design or installation mistakes that must be avoided. The system works via pex pipe a small pump a water heater and a thermostat. Any cooler surface in contact with the slab will try to steal its heat.

Provides slab storage heating in new construction or when pouring a new slab. While hot water and air based radiant. The science behind radiant floor heating is quite simple. If you will be using a concrete slab or basement slab it is important to utilize the exterior perimeter insulation as well as under slab insulation.

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. The tubing is attached to a 6 6 welded wire mesh using plastic or wire ties. Quite simply concrete floor radiant heat is a system of pex tubes that carry hot water throughout a concrete floor or slab. What is radiant floor heating.

You can step onto a warm and inviting floor even one built on a concrete slab by adding in floor heating. The workers in the photograph at page top where our concrete slab. Remember that your slab will be about 75 degrees f. For example a bathroom on a slab would feature a layer of cork or synthetic cork underlayment on top of the concrete subfloor followed by the electric heating element and topped with the flooring substrate.

Once heavy duty cables are imbedded in the slab any type of floor covering can be installed or changed in the future without damaging the floor heat system. Cerazorb is a 3 16 inch 5 mm thin synthetic cork underlayment that is highly recommended when installing a floor heating system over an existing concrete slab or under tile and stone. Radiant heat can be an electrical heating element embedded into a very thin concrete overlay then tiled carpeted or have wood flooring installed over it. Mainly heated slabs radiate outward rather than downward so insulation on the edges of the slab is most important.

Cerazorb acts as a moisture resistant barrier that does not absorb water or swell under the effects of heat. While it was done as a new house was being built in my last house i poured a concrete floor on top of a wood framed floor system and could have put radiant heat in that as well. The tubing inches on center should be determined by a calculated heat loss. The insulation phase is crucial for a radiant floor.

This is about installing hydronic radiant floor heating in a slab floor system. The most common application however is an in floor heating system installed between the finished concrete slab and the flooring above.