Installing Radiant Heat On Top Of Concrete Slab

A pre existing insulated slab can be utilized for it s thermal storage capabilities.

Installing radiant heat on top of concrete slab.

Here s how to go about installing it. Placing tubing deeper in the slab means simply put that more heat will transfer into the slab and ultimately into the soil below than will be transferred up to the top of the slab and into the occupied space. For concrete floor radiant heating systems the warm water tubing or electric heating elements can either be embedded within the slab on grade anywhere from the bottom of the slab to within 2 inches of the surface depending on the design and installation technique or fastened to the top of a concrete subfloor and then covered with an overlay. When installing electric heating wires on to a slab or really any substrate a professional installer read.

Diyer has a vested interest in keeping the radiant heating wire and any mesh bonded. On top of the rboard you would put down a layer of plywood. Of electric radiant heat in the basement of our house to take the cold edge off the concrete slab which otherwise stays a brisk 55 degrees all year round. While hot water and air based radiant heat systems require pipes being laid beneath the subfloor electric based systems can be laid right on top of the existing subfloor including concrete.

This system does not move the air with blowers and thereby reduces dust and allergens. Retrofitting a concrete floor with radiant heat while most radiant heating systems are in floor installations and go down before the floor is placed some electric systems are available in mats or loose wire systems as thin as 1 16 inch that can be affixed to existing concrete or wood subfloors and then covered with a thin set cement or gypsum overlay without significantly raising the floor. Screw down a track with precut grooves for plastic tubing to the plywood subfloor. Another way to install a new radiant floor over an existing floor is to use the sleeper application.

The fasteners will hold best if you can use 3 8 plywood. It pays to research the lowest energy source before deciding the type of radiant heat to install. Radiant heat warms a floor s surface through electric mats or water tubing installed on the surface of a concrete floor and encased in an additional thin layer of concrete or thinset. Insert flexible plastic tubing into the track.

We ve decided to install 1000 sq. Keep in mind that you want the heat energy to be going into the plywood sleepers and the finish floor which is why we recommend the rboard. In the case of an existing uninsulated concrete slab rigid foam can be installed under the wire mesh to prevent heat loss downward. Secure a plywood subfloor to the concrete slab.

Radiant heat tubing in a concrete slab needs to be closer to the top of the slab than its bottom normally in the top 2 inches of concrete. Radiant heating systems are cost effective.