Heated sidewalk pavers

Link

Need some info on the design to snow melt with brick pavers. Put tubing in a bed of compressed sand below pavers? Will the heat transfer be enough to warm pavers without the tubing touching them. Using 3/4 inch tubing on 9 inch centers. Would it be better to have a concrete pad with tubing imbedded, and then set the pavers on the pad? Has anyone done this with success? If so, what water temp. did you use in order to transfer the heat. It would seem to me that the hotter the water the more the pex would grow and move in a sand bed which does not seem right. Any design info on succesful projects would be appreciated.

tom_33

Snow melt in pavers

We put snow melt in pavers at our house in the Sierras where there is a ton of snow. The tubing is imbedded in concrete and the pavers are on top of the concrete. We are using relatively hot water - 140 degrees. The system works quite well if we turn it on before or as soon as the snow begins. We do get some snow accumulation on the tips of the pavers because they overhang the concrete and don't get warm but I believe that it was a good investment when you look at shovelling the 7 ft. of snow we had over the Christmas holidays. As we don't have an automatic system, we have to watch the weather forecast if we won't be home when the snow begins because the snowmelt can't melt a large accumulation.

Tim Doran_2

call me

I can help you design this. Give me a call 800-321-4739

Tim D.

Troy_3

Snowmelt under pavers

Works great. That is how we install it. We tie the 3/4" tube to 6"x 6" mesh and cover with grit. Pavers go on top of the grit. We run 130deg. 40% glycol with 30 delta T. As the snow melts the moisture in the grit increases heat transfer-IMHO