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Heat transfer plates

as i look to start my radiant floor heat project, I am stuck on what heat transfer plates to use. my house has baseboard and i will be keeping that the floor is for comfort only. any suggestions on what plates to use.

Comments

  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,550
    Don't use the cheap "beer can" plates.

    There are a number of good extruded aluminum plates available. We feel that these give the best bang for the buck when everything (including labor) is factored in.


    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • dbornhorstjr
    dbornhorstjr Member Posts: 9
    thank you i am looking at these, just having an issue locating them. will they work with any 1/2 pipe? i have found one supplier on amazon
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,550
    Yes, any 1/2" pex. Make sure you use O2 barrier pex.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,398

    thank you i am looking at these, just having an issue locating them. will they work with any 1/2 pipe? i have found one supplier on amazon

    Where you located, about a dozen wholesalers suppliers show them online. Plus Amazon and e-bay :)
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
  • dbornhorstjr
    dbornhorstjr Member Posts: 9
    im located in the 12198 ZIP ill see if i can look closer online at their wholesalers thank you
  • hot_rod
    hot_rod Member Posts: 23,398
    Lyall Thresher in Oak grove Village is the REHAU rep, call them for dealers that would have them.
    847 6216052
    lyall-thresher.com
    Bob "hot rod" Rohr
    trainer for Caleffi NA
    Living the hydronic dream
    dbornhorstjr
  • dbornhorstjr
    dbornhorstjr Member Posts: 9
    one more question for you. being that these are 8 inches wide. i have an older house the joist bays are not consistent, some are 19 inches wide some are 14 would you still recommend these? or would it cause notice cool spots where at if i ran two extruded plates or maybe 3 in some bays
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,550
    The plates are designed for 16" OC joist bays. They're about 9.6" wide. As long as you can fit them, they will work.

    We've added a 4" plate beside them when there's a wider bay.

    Have you done a load calculation to determine how much heat is needed in each room? That, and proper design work are essential to getting a radiant floor that performs properly.

    There's a lot more to this than just hanging tubing.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
    dbornhorstjr
  • dbornhorstjr
    dbornhorstjr Member Posts: 9
    the house is heated with hydronic baseboards all zoned off. I will be keep these as the house is old an poorly insulated and these maintain the heat. When I had some baseboards replaced the installer did calculations to determine how much footage of baseboards i needed. I am putting the radiant in for the comfort of warm floors only
  • Adk1guy
    Adk1guy Member Posts: 72
    reviving this old thread.
    The rauplate looks like it would save time and be much easier to run tubing given each Rauplate = 2 Uponor plates. Then there is the Omega which doesn't show the thickness. They look like aluminum valley shaped to hold tubing. Are there any case studies of the BTU per square ft at a given temperature with the 3 types.