Radiant Floor Heating Concrete Slab Thickness

Many increase the under slab insulating foam board thickness to 3 or 4 inches at the outer 2 to 4 feet of the slab.

Radiant floor heating concrete slab thickness.

The latter is assumed to be perfectly bonded to the top of the slab. A slab on grade is defined as any concrete slab poured over excavated soil. The concrete was 4 thick and the insulation under the slab was 2 thick. Create a new profit center.

Types of concrete slabs with radiant floor heating thick slabs thick slabs are concrete slabs with an overall thickness of 4 6 or greater and can be either grade level slab on grade or below grade i e. The pex tubes were attached to wire mesh using zip ties. The heating contractor laid out the pex tubing according to the zones that were established for heating the home. Radiant floor heating the thickness of concrete is dependent on what the building code or the designer dictates.

All thick slabs can be categorized into. A thicker slab takes longer to warm up than a thinner slab but it also takes the thicker slab more time to cool down. Sell the radiant floor as part of the concrete package. The thickness of the slab does not have to change because of radiant.

The amount of insulation depends on your climate conditions. The picture above shows a concrete floor we re about to pour with radiant heating tubes installed. It consists of a four inch concrete slab sitting on one inch thick extruded polystyrene insulation r 5 ºf hr ft 2 btu and covered by 3 8 in. The tubing is assumed to be spaced 12 in.

From a radiant heating perspective it doesn t matter if the slab is actually at grade or is poured several feet below grade as part of a full foundation. Radiant floor heat is proven to be the most efficient way to heat a building. It is best practice to not install normal concrete less than three inches thick. However for new construction the slab should be typically at least 4 thick and is dependent upon the soils conditions in your area.

On the perimeter foundation wall 2 inches of solid foam insulation are commonly used again increasing the thickness toward the ground s surface.