Red tubing yay or nay

GW

I was at somebody’s house today talking about mini splits. They went to explain that the heating people are having struggles with the floor heating. I have not seen this tubing. Good or not good? Apparently they’ve been having issues purging, killing boilers, etc..

I blurted out they may need an HX

mattmia2

sounds like they push the non oxygen barrier version claiming that temps under 140f don't cause oxygen diffusion so i'm guessing that is not the oxygen barrier version

https://www.radiantcompany.com/details/tubing/

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

It's PEX, specifically PEX-B.

The Radiant Floor Company sold ½" and 7/8" tubing; with each size, they made one with and one without an oxygen barrier. From the writing on the tubing, it looks as though what you have there is without the oxygen barrier, so you might get some corrosion of ferrous components.

And it also looks like you have a high temperature system with bare tubing in the joist bays. High temperatures promote more oxygen diffusion, so a HX may be indicated to save the system although you will have to run a higher boiler temperature because of HX inefficiencies.

More about the tubing here.

GW

OK thanks Alan!