Will these radiant plates work?

bruce_21

I've been asked to

bruce_21

Will these radiant plates work?

I've been asked to complete a radiant job that someone got frustrated and left. The HO bought a box of parts and a design on the internet. These plates were in the box. The plates are not tight to the pipe like the ones I am familiar with which we put up first and then snap the pipe into them for a nice tight fit and good heat transfer. Will these plates work? The floor above is one inch thick T&G pine about 8 inches wide. What BTU/SF can be gotten out of this?

troy_8

Plates

Those aren't plates, that is meant to be pulled over the edges of a bowl to keep food in the fridge. How many btus do you need? What is your loss? I wouldn't guess more than 15-20btus/sq. ft. at 140deg. water. The next problem will be noise. Not enough heat and the creaking keeps us up at night. Be very careful. You will own this job like it or not. You will have to heavily insulate and the floor above will either cup or hump. 8" pine is gonna move. I think additional emitters should be added to assist the floor. Not knowing your loads-this system shouldn't be the primary heat. IMHO

Unknown

Very few want to pay,

for the proper calculations, materials & labor,,, then do this and complain radiant is no-good.
I had a guy who started a job like this also, then wanted me to finish-it with crap like this. I said "no thanks" and walked. Not putting my name on it.
I agree with Troy.

Dave

Unknown

at the very, very least those plates need to be reinstalled so they do not touch each other, and this system better have some kind of reset on it or noise will be a very likely issue.

lightweights like this often run about 10 to 15 degrees cooler than plateless systems in a joist installation.

Mark Custis

Maybe

I need more input.

I'll check back. the good thing is O/C. The more tubing the lower the input temp.

hot_rod

two things

if the plate isn't in good contact with the tube, wrapped around as much as possible, you lose important conduction transfer.

Those thin plated tend to make a lot of pop or crinkle noise, due to the expansion and contraction. Sometimes reffered to "oil canning"

Back in the day, one radiant supplier suggested you only staple one side of the plate to allow them to expand without restraint, somewhat limiting the noise.

PAP is a better tube to use with any kind of plate as the lineral expansion is much less, and it doesn't have that EVOH barrier which can lead to squeaking noise. Try carrying a coil of EVOH barrier pex up a stairs, you will hear the noise I refer to.

More and more pex manufacturers are adding an additional layer over the EVOH as a protector and it lessens the noise.

MAYBE a plate like that would have some value if fastened tightly between several layers of wood where movement was restricted, still the tube fit issue, however.

If you proceed get something in writing about possible noise issues. Every homeowner has a different definition of "un-acceptable" noises from a comfort system

hr

Jim_64

the 'plates' that i made/used

in my house are less crappy/tighter than those, and my floors heat well, even with 3/4" ply sub and 3/4" oak finish. the tile and linoleum heat very well. would they heat mo better with professional/thicker/tighter plates? most definitely. and, i'm noise free.
would i invite the customer's potential headaches on me? def not. get it in writing or change the 'plates'