radiant tubing grid in 8\" slab

Brad White_9

If space heating is the goal, you could probably achieve that quite nicely especially if the room does not see a lot of sun.

If the sun comes on strongly then goes away, that slab will not respond very quickly at all. It could take a couple of days to have it change the temperature noticeably in the room.

I would presume that the underside of the slab and the edges will be well-insulated of course. A mild climate can have edge and downward losses rivaling that of colder climates because the ground temperature may not vary between the climates by more than ten degrees. Point being, do it right and do not be lulled by being in a mild climate.

That said, if the heat loss is known and the controls are precise and anticipatory and the temperature of the water required is held as low as possible, it can be an ideal situation.

If all you want is warm floors, (rather "not cold floors", that is simple enough. Just use a water temperature a degree above your desired floor temperature and allow a week or so to come to equilibrium. Resist the urge to speed this up. Be prepared for overheating on occasion or learn to accept a cooler slab temperature.

Many variables! But you are in a good position with proper control.

Kim Rogers

radiant tubing grid in 8\" slab

We have a customer who wants us to put our radiant panel tubing grid in an 8" slab foundation; I am concerned about overall system efficiency. Location of system is in mild climate (Sonoma County, California). Any comments/suggestions? thanks!

Canuck_3

We do it all the time

> We have a customer who wants us to put our

> radiant panel tubing grid in an 8" slab

> foundation; I am concerned about overall system

> efficiency. Location of system is in mild climate

> (Sonoma County, California). Any

> comments/suggestions? thanks!



One of our clients (Shell Canada) typically specs radiant in their wash tunnels with a 9" slab thickness, 6" of which being an overpour on the tubing. (This is so the tubing doesn't get damaged when all of the wash equipment is anchored to the concrete). Yes the control is slow to respond, but the system works very well (and in a climate where we see -10 F in the winter). We use injection mixing with Tekmar controls and limit the delta T to the slab to 30 degrees

Canuck_3

We do it all the time

One of our clients (Shell Canada) typically specs radiant in their wash tunnels with a 9" slab thickness, 6" of which being an overpour on the tubing. (This is so the tubing doesn't get damaged when all of the wash equipment is anchored to the concrete). Yes the control is slow to respond, but the system works very well (and in a climate where we see -10 F in the winter). We use injection mixing with Tekmar controls and limit the delta T to the slab to 30 degrees