radiant floor temp

m dewolfe

Ok what is the absolute maximum water temp you would use on a staple up job. the flooring consists of 58 plywood 14 luan and 12+12 ceramic tile. the design temp is around 115 deg but the customer says the tile is not geting warm. HOWEVER, the tstat is satisfied at 70. I had the carpenter close off the ends of the joists with more fiber t barrier and will check again tommorow. but I could sure use a brain storm... any ideas?....mark

Dan Peel

seasonal adjustment

This time of year you will not have continuously warm floors unless you are maintaining a floor temperature. What I mean is that following a thermostat means you turn off the floor once you satisfy that stat. Floor warming means you warm the floor - always - even when the room gets up to unbearable temperatures. You can use control overrides to maintain a minumum surface temperature but why waste the fuel. Cooler weather is coming, until then have them boost the thermostat for that area by 5 degrees, let the tiles warm and let the extra heat migrate to be utilized elsewhere. Enjoy......Dan

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Unknown

assuming a heat load was done, we find it's important to set reasonable expectations for our clients. If a heat load is low (as it must be for 115 deg staple up unless you're using extruded plates) then the floor will not be roasty toasty warm. Check your expected surface temperatures ahead of time and let them know.

You can do floor warming if that's an issue, especially if it's just a bathroom few people get angry that the bathroom is "too warm". Pop in a floor sensor and go to town

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cruizer

staple-up

It sounds to me like heat is migrating from other rooms in the house to satisfy the load for that particualr room. 115 deg water seems a bit low for staple up. The absolute hotteset you want to run your water is 160 supply. But you want to design for a surface temp of about 80 deg, 85 max. My opinion, turn off the surrounding rooms and see if the floor warms up and/or satasfies the tstat. Are the surrouning rooms on the same tstat? What water temps are they running? Their floors warm?

hr

How hot

The most common number I hear is 140° max on the bottom side of plywoods or any wood for that matter. Keep im mind with the rubber hose you may have a 7° temperature difference from the actual fluid temperature to the outer wall temperature. About 3° for pex tube.

The Wood Resources labs suggest above 140° against ply or wafer boards may cause the glue and wood fibers to start breaking down.

Usually if 150 -160 is not getting you there, with a direct tube staple up, it may be time to add supplemental heat.

Or retro fit some heat transfer plates

hot rod

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Mark Hunt

Shoot the floor


with a rad gun.

I tell my customers that the floor would only reach its warmest on the coldest days of the year.

If I have hardwood, I nver want the floor temp above 80 degrees. If you put a thermometer on your hand, you will find that you are warmer than 80 degrees. So, the floor would never "feel" warm to the touch.

Even with an 85 degree max on other surfaces, the floor may not "feel" warm. In bath areas I allow the floor to get a bit warmer since people don't spend much time in there and are quite often naked!

If the stat is satisfied, the floor is doing it's job.

Mark H

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