Radiant Heat System

One of the coolest thing we are investing in for the new building is a fully heated, radiant floor system.  After looking at both electric and water based hydronic, the hydronic system got the nod.  Basically it is a system of tubing that carries heated water through the concrete, warming it and then the room.  The preparation is significant and most of it had to be completed before the concrete was poured.

Our system was designed and built by the good folks at ECS Geothermal.  They had the most competitive bid and were enthused by the possibility of adding a solar boosting system I have designed to the package. 

First step was laying a reflective barrier down on top of the gravel.  This will prevent the cold of the soil under the slab from leaching heat from our nice warm concrete, while additionally reflecting the heat back up through the slab.  It came in gigantic rolls, Nita and I had a grand time getting it all set.

 

 

 Nice look for a floor, but a bit too Sci-Fi for me...

Once the reflective barrier was down, Dan and the guys from Wilson Concrete came back in to install the rebar grid that the tubing will be attached to(as well as adding strength to the concrete slab)

 

Grid installed, the ECS crew started the process of laying several hundred feet of 3/4 inch PEX tubing onto the rebar.  This is the tubing that will carry the hot water from the heaters through the floor.  Set on 8" centers, it was a ton of work for them to get it all arranged and secured.

The manifold set.  This is what will connect to the valves to distribute the hot water.

Next, the concrete must flow!