Installing Radiant Floor Heating Over Concrete

This is about installing hydronic radiant floor heating in a slab floor system.

Installing radiant floor heating over concrete.

There are two basic types. Radiant heating works well with ceramic tile and vinyl but not with wood floors. Installing pex tubing in a concrete slab is one of the easiest ways to install radiant heat. We are considering a seamless epoxy floor surface to cover the floor heating system.

Second what types of flooring can be applied over the radiant floor heating system. Best flooring properties for radiant heating. Installing underfloor electric radiant heat. The heat from the radiant heated floor rises to heat all surfaces in a room or home.

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. As stated above regarding condensation over a concrete slab is condensation an issue. This system does not move the air with blowers and thereby reduces dust and. The system works via pex pipe a small pump a water heater and a thermostat.

What is radiant floor heating. Retrofitting radiant heating over a concrete floor is the hardest to do but it is possible. You can step onto a warm and inviting floor even one built on a concrete slab by adding in floor heating. When installed in a concrete slab radiant underfloor heating is.

The major requirement is being able to add another layer to the top of the floor. Quite simply concrete floor radiant heat is a system of pex tubes that carry hot water throughout a concrete floor or slab. Properties that make a floor covering good or bad for radiant heating systems tend to center around the thickness of the flooring the flooring s thermal conductive nature its tendency to expand and contract and whether it is prone to water and heat damage. While it was done as a new house was being built in my last house i poured a concrete floor on top of a wood framed floor system and could have put radiant heat in that as well.

Its success with carpeted floors depends on the length of the weave thick carpets or those with thick pads won t work well as heat generated by the system will stay trapped in the floor.