Heated Concrete Walls

Remember that your slab will be about 75 degrees f.

Heated concrete walls. Multiply the mass by the specific heat capacity of concrete 0 2 btu lb degree f. A large concrete slab floor can moderate temperatures in the rest of the building. You can save energy and create a healthier more comfortable living environment by having the floor itself distribute the heat from the ground up via a radiant in floor heating system. My basement s concrete slab has radiant heating tubes in the floor that correspond to the walls defining the various rooms.

Quite simply concrete floor radiant heat is a system of pex tubes that carry hot water throughout a concrete floor or slab. If a c is used in your area it will also help greatly to reduce your cooling load. Think eifs exterior insulation and finish system like dryvitt. Heating your home with a forced air furnace isn t your only option when you have concrete floors.

For example a bathroom on a slab would feature a layer of cork or synthetic cork underlayment on top of the concrete subfloor followed by the electric heating element and topped with the flooring substrate. If there is insufficient outside wall space to meet the heat load use interior walls. Use only the bottom half of the walls 4 ft. For typical heat losses the bottom half of two walls of a room are usually sufficient.

The alternative is insulating the interior. What is radiant floor heating. Upstairs plastered blueboard heating cooling ceiling. Mainly heated slabs radiate outward rather than downward so insulation on the edges of the slab is most important.

The underlayment protects the heating element from the slab below which would otherwise steal the heat from the system. Panels must be easy to install over joists and studs and existing sheet rock as well as concrete and concrete blocks to receive small diameter tubing. This yields 0 2 times 13 300 equals 2 660 btus to raise the temperature of the entire wall just 1 degree fahrenheit. 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.

If you re pouring up against your foundation walls insulate between the slab and the walls. The most common application however is an in floor heating system installed between the finished concrete slab and the flooring above. Make sure the outside walls are insulated according to code usually r 19. When the thermal mass of the concrete is heated the warm slab acts as a radiator distributing even heat throughout the structure.

I d like to move one wall about 2 ft but i am afraid to drill into the concrete for fear i ll puncture a tube. Radiant heat can be an electrical heating element embedded into a very thin concrete overlay then tiled carpeted or have wood flooring installed over it. From the floor first and all areas under windows.