Radiant heating coils under flooring?

16 years ago

Has anybody had this done? Just wondering if it would be feasible for us, we have a big family room w/high ceilings. Any replies? thanks!

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Comments (4)

oruboris
16 years ago
What kind of radiant coils?

Hydronic is considered a whole house system, an expensive but much admired alternative to baseboard or other types of heat exchangers.

Electric elements meant to be installed in kitchens and baths to take the chill off but not provide 'whole room' heat are also expensive but beloved.
gigabit
16 years ago
It's not clear what you are asking. Are you asking if it is possible to install flooring over radiant heating coils or are you wondering about adding radiant heating coils to your family room?
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Thanks again for all of your comments and ideas - the give and take of your posts provide us with great insights and ideas which will help us eventually choose the right system for our situation. Hubby found the DYI attachment interesting, but as an overworked aerospace engineer he just doesn't have the heart to tackle a DYI project of this size. (Over 1000 hours of overtime last year, similar amounts for the previous five years, and no end in sight! We joke this is our dream house money.) We did a major remodel of our own master bath four years ago, which included installing electric radiant heat, and it took two years, partially due to hubby's lack of time and partially due to the fact his engineer training meant every thing had to be perfect! Slows everything way down! :-) (Our current plan is to have the shell of the home, plumbing, and wiring done for us, and then we'll tackle as much of the interior work as we can ourselves, over time.) The JAGA site has some beautiful options (I love the scrolled radiator), but had my heart set on in-floor heat since this will be a small home with small rooms and would prefer to keep our wall space open. Just out of curiosity why is clay soil considered not good for geothermal? (I can't remember where I had read clay soils were preferred over dry, sandy soils.) I want to make sure I'm fairly well informed if and when we start to talk to geothermal installers. We may rule that option out entirely if it appears to be a problematic option for our property. Right now I'm really leaning towards the soapstone/masonry fireplace idea, and a combination of electric radiant in-floor heat (in tiled places where we might like heat year round, like the bathrooms) and hydronic radiant heat in rooms with wood flooring. Just need to figure out what will be the best way for us to heat and circulate that water. (If we use the fireplace to partially heat the water will we need a boiler or could a tankless or regular water heater handle the load?)
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I put radiant heat under my wood floors and it works very well. The floor is just pine over wood joists and plywwod subfloor, and not engineered.. I did pay close attention to insulation, isolation, heating loops, tube spacing, loss calculations, all that good stuff. I get some seasonal gapping in the wood though frankly it's hard to notice, and it's not any different than what I got without radiant heat. The one thing I did regarding controls was to use both a floor sensor and a thermostat for each zone. The thermostat runs the system but if the floor heats up to a set temperature (I use 85 deg F) the system shuts off - that way the floor never gets hot enough to damage the wood, if it could damage the wood, which I'm not sure of. I've heard good things about the control system that funnycide mentions (water temp function of outside temp) but I get pretty good performance with my water at a constant temp - very comfortable and fuel efficient.
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Contact the manufacturer or distributor. I installed my own and used a "Loudmouth" alarm while doing any work on the floor. My cable is Elektra, made in Poland. To my eye, it looks like superb quality. The heating conductor is insulated and then spiral wrapped with a small gauge grounding conductor. Patching would be difficult.
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Flora, not sure what the problem is in the situation you described. It can be installed above or below the pan, but honestly, underneath the pan should be adequate for a shower floor. The heat will transfer. If you can't control that zone (the bathroom) independently, you could have a situation where it was constantly calling for heat, and thus the potential for the problem you described. Check out Flextherm (rated for shower floors). Have not had problems and have installed plenty. And yes, definitely on the top of shower bench (perhaps more important than the floor). Now, having provided that information, we will be honest and provide a personal opinion. Tile is an excellent conductor of heat. One generally turns on the water prior to entering a shower. The heat transfers quickly. We would personally skip the expense and any potential for issues in the shower. The bath floor however, a great investment.
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bigack
Original Author
16 years ago
I'm asking if anyone has radiant/electrical coils under hardwood, how they like it, etc. We have carpet now, and were thinking about coils and hardwood. Wondering if it would keep this big room warm, we have a wood burner and want to quit using it.
momolabs
16 years ago
I have electric radiant under a tiled bathroom floor. The bathroom is over a crawl space. It was a DIY job and we like it a lot. The floor is nice and toasty under foot now in the winter. I doubt it gives much ambient heat to the room, but you can get 220V radiant heat that is more suitable for raising room temps (ours is 110). Since the bath is only 15sq/ft we are going to add to the existing thermostat to heat the walkway areas of our adjoining kitchen which will have solid red oak floor on top. The manufacturer of our heating coils says they can be used under hardwood, heres how:
On top of your subfloor, you attach 3/8 or 1/2 inch wood sleepers, spaced by the width of the heating mat (typically a foot and a half), after you lay the mat between the sleepers, you cover with self-leveling compound up to the level of the sleepers and let cure. When you nail your hardwood, you make sure you nail into the speepers. I have some worries though about the uneven direct heating of the hardwood floor given solid wood's tendency to shrink and expand. So even though I still plan on doing it, and the radiant flooring company says yes, stiill t scares me a little.

Now it is much less complicated if you want a floated or glue down installation. Follow the recommendations of the various radiant floor heating companies.

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Radiant heating coils under flooring?

Comments (4)

oruboris

gigabit

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bigack
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Radiant heating coils under flooring?

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oruboris

gigabit

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bigack
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