How To Heat Concrete Floors

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

How to heat concrete floors.

Due to it s density and low conductivity concrete retains heat very well. Either through pipes carrying hot water embedded in or directly below the floor or via electric mats in or below the floor. Instead of blowing hot air through a vent or pumping hot water to a baseboard radiator along the wall radiant heat warms up the entire floor. Cerazorb is a 3 16 inch 5 mm thin synthetic cork underlayment that is highly recommended when installing a floor heating system over an existing concrete slab or under tile and stone.

How to add floor heating over existing concrete. Cerazorb acts as a moisture resistant barrier that does not absorb water or swell under the effects of heat. Unlike heat from a forced air system which quickly rises to the ceiling the heat from a radiant floor is distributed evenly throughout the room and is concentrated at floor level where people are. The most cost effective system for medium to larger homes is hydronic since the amount of power it would take to heat a whole home with electric would be substantial.

You can step onto a warm and inviting floor even one built on a concrete slab by adding in floor heating. 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. The first thing to consider when looking into different types of concrete floors is why it s so important to insulate the floor slab. With concrete floor radiant heat your home will no longer have hot or cold spots just even quite draft free heat.

The system works via pex pipe a small pump a water heater and a thermostat. The heat is made possible in two ways. The most common application however is an in floor heating system installed between the finished concrete slab and the flooring above. Check out this article for a list of slab edge insulation solutions and episode 125 for my interview with henry edney of maxraft.

How does radiant heat work. While hot water and air based radiant. There s two basic types of concrete floor heating hydronic and electric. Up to 80 of heat loss in a floor slab occurs around the edges.