In Floor Heat For Concrete

As warm water circulates through the tubing or as electricity warms the heating elements the concrete flooring turns into an efficient inconspicuous radiator.

In floor heat for concrete.

Mainly heated slabs radiate outward rather than downward so insulation on the edges of the slab is most important. Any cooler surface in contact with the slab will try to steal its heat. When installed on top of a concrete slab without insulation it is generally accepted that a radiant floor heating system will take the chill away from the floor and provide a small amount of warmth. Like sand concrete is an ideal carrier of radiant heat because of its inherent thermal mass.

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. Warm heat distributed with forced hot air systems is uneven. Typically radiant heating systems warm floors to temperatures of 75 to 80 degrees f. By contrast according to roddy scheer and doug moss of scientific american the uniform heat distribution over the entire surface of a floor heats the lower half of the room enveloping inhabitants in warmth at a lower overall temperature in some cases up to 5 degrees fahrenheit cooler than a conventional heating system.

Make sure your concrete has completely cured before you lay down your in floor heating mat. This is about installing hydronic radiant floor heating in a slab floor system. When the concrete floor is heated the heat rises warming everything in the room. 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.

Remember that your slab will be about 75 degrees f. The insulation phase is crucial for a radiant floor. Find concrete floor contractorsto install radiant heating. Due to it s density and low conductivity concrete retains heat very well.

The workers in the photograph at page top where our concrete slab. The science behind radiant floor heating is quite simple. 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. Most of the heat rises to the ceiling.

The system works via pex pipe a small pump a water heater and a thermostat.