Each manifold set includes a supply (hot) and a return (cooler) manifold. Manifolds are usually located close to the heated area, although they can be installed in a mechanical room. Special distribution units, called manifolds, channel the heated liquid into multiple radiant floor pipe circuits. Another candidate is Watts Radiant’s “Onix,” EPDM (Ethylene Propylene Diene Monomer) tubing that is more resistant to job-site abuse and UV radiation.Ī bird’s-eye view of a concrete pour with radiant heat equipment. Some care must be taken to protect it from job-site puncture, crushing or exposure to the sun’s light. PEX ( Cross-Linked Polyethylene) tubing can be used for radiant heat and snow-melting applications. Of course, if electric energy is locally affordable, it could be used to heat or provide floor warming to an entire home or business. Hydronic tubing can be embedded in concrete slabs, in thin slabs over frame floors, stapled up between floor joists, or installed on top of the subfloor.Īn electric system may be the best choice for small areas like a master bathroom. Generally, hot-water radiant is best suited for spaces of 500 square feet or more, or where hot water is already used as a heat source. Hydronic (water-based) radiant floor systems are used in larger areas or for an entire home or building. Because radiant floors offer more comfort at lower thermostat settings, most people find that they’re comfortable at lower room temperatures. Whether hydronic or electric, radiant floor heat costs less to operate than other forms of heat. Snow-melt application on a city sidewalk. “The floor becomes the warmest surface in a room, not the coldest.” Surprisingly, those surfaces most uncomfortable without radiant heat - concrete, stone and tile - become the most comfortable with radiant because they transfer the heat so well. “Radiant heat from a floor will warm everything in a building, giving every surface an inviting sensation that can be felt,” says Dan Chiles, vice president of marketing for Watts Radiant Inc. The surface of the floor then gently emits energy that moves easily to all the objects in the room, making them - and your customer’s feet - cozy warm. Indoors, radiant floor heating works by using water-filled tubes or electric heating elements to warm the mass of a floor. “My next big project at the house is one we’ve avoided for years: a total remodel of the kitchen with, of course, artfully sculpted, radiantly heated concrete countertops.” I’m not sure it’s a good thing, but the people and critters seem to be pretty happy with it,” says Hot Rod.Įven though Hot Rod learned early on that heat moves to cold (it doesn’t rise), he was surprised to find that washcloths and towels, stored on a shelf below the radiantly heated countertop, are toasty warm all winter long. “Now my wife, Ellen, lingers in the bathroom, and the cats also bask in favorite radiantly heated spots, so that walking from room to room is like a slalom course. In his own home, he and a friend, Tom Ehlers, who owns Springfield-based Stone Effects, installed radiant tubing in bathroom countertops and a tub surround before the concrete was formed, stamped and dyed.īelow: Radiant tubing is prepared for a home in Idaho Falls, Mo. The floors, stairways and a small pond sculpted into a massive back deck, all in concrete, were also tubed for radiant heat.Ĭoncrete countertops have become one of Hot Rod’s favorite surfaces to heat. The 3,800-square-foot home had 18-inch walls. A few years ago, he installed about two miles of radiant heat tubing in an all-concrete home in Springfield, Mo. However, many of Hot Rod’s concrete masses are more pragmatic. She was shipped to New Hampshire where, for three years, she’s dutifully warmed bathroom towels and washcloths. The dog’s trade-show popularity quickly led to a heated Venus statue, which required a considerably larger and more challenging heat system. When connected to a homeowner’s hydronic (hot water heating) system, the sculptural whimsy, which he’ll make to order, warms towels outside a bathtub or makes coats toasty warm inside an entryway. The 40-inch tall concrete version of man’s best friend - which Hot Rod named “Aqualung” - appeared in brown, black and white, weighing in at a mere 420 pounds. On a cold winter day, he was driving past a nearby concrete lawn ornament business when the idea occurred to him: Why couldn’t these concrete forms also be radiantly heated? So he approached the business with the idea and was soon delivering radiant tubing to be pressed into the mold of a large dog, a German wire-haired terrier, which quickly became the world’s first concrete hot dog!Īt the next meeting of the Radiant Panel Association, Hot Rod lugged his newly created radiant dog onto the show floor. Then, several years ago, a strange thing happened.
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