Radiant Floor Heating Concrete Slab Insulation

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Radiant floor heating concrete slab insulation.

John siegenthaler a consulting engineer who specializes in hydronic heating system design responds. Any cooler surface in contact with the slab will try to steal its heat. In a heated floor slab heat losses into the ground and outward through the edges of the slab and foundation wall are quite significant. It s possible to calculate the r value needed to meet this goal while accounting for such factors as floor coverings soil temperature and required upward.

The insulation phase is crucial for a radiant floor. Need insulation for under concrete slabs slabs with radiant heat. The concrete was 4 thick and the insulation under the slab was 2 thick. Our photo above shows a well designed insulated radiant heated concrete slab with an insulated foundation perimeter being installed in two harbors minnesota in 2007.

The system works via pex pipe a small pump a water heater and a thermostat. If your slab is heated it s a good idea to increase the r value of the vertical and the horizontal insulation to at least r 20. Radiant floor heating concrete slab insulation 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. Our photo above on this page shows that tubing was in some sections more than 18 deep and adjacent to a large area where sub slab insulation was simply omitted by the contractor.

Slabs that include embedded hydronic tubing for radiant heat always need a continuous layer of horizontal insulation under the entire slab. Downward heat loss from a radiant slab should not exceed 10 percent of upward heat output a ratio derived from european installation standards for floor heating systems. Different insulation types help to minimize heat loss from convection air circulation conduction direct contact or radiation energy waves modes of heat transfer. Remember that your slab will be about 75 degrees f.

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. Mainly heated slabs radiate outward rather than downward so insulation on the edges of the slab is most important. This is about installing hydronic radiant floor heating in a slab floor system. When the thermal mass of the concrete is heated the warm slab acts as a radiator distributing even heat throughout the structure.

Radiant heat insulation is installed to prevent heat loss from a pex radiant floor heating system most commonly pex embedded in concrete slab or stapled underneath the plywood subfloor.