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Radiant heat

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Topic: Radiant heat

Posted By: scott
Subject: Radiant heat
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2023 at 1:25pm

It took 12 years to get the tubes in the shop floor hooked up to heat. Monday I had a Navien tankless heater installed and dang it is nice. Now I see I need more insulation.

Replies:

Posted By: tadams(OH)
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2023 at 1:50pm

Yep sure is. I have it in garage, shop, basement of the house and our family room. Feet don't get as tired on it.

Posted By: scott
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2023 at 2:16pm

Since the cement floor with tubes was poured we saw the demise of the Ash tree which was about 90% of my woods. Last year I burned wetish half rotten wood all year and struggled to keep warm.

Posted By: plummerscarin
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2023 at 5:17pm

Glad you like it. I've had it ten years or so in my shop and couldn't be happier.

Posted By: Codger
Date Posted: 01 Dec 2023 at 6:41pm

I built my boiler that burns either a gaseous fuel source, (LPG) or waste engine oil. It works well and I wouldn't go back to forced air except for a backup in my shop. In a body shop atmosphere there is a lot of time down on your knees or under a vehicle on the frame rack so it is nice to have a warm surface under you.

The only drawback is the time of recovery. You simply can't turn the temperature way down in the overnight hours as it will take hours for the heat recovery to the space; but once there it hold well if the space is tightly insulated. Inexpensive too. I utilized both the boiler and a 400,000 BTU unit heater to modulate the temperature when operating. A thermostat controlling the forced air set five degrees cooler than the boiler temperature thermostat was a good balance providing good economy for the 7000 sq. ft. shop area. The forced air brought the temperature of the space up quickly to it's t'stat setting, and the boiler kept warming the slab eventually overtaking the forced air t'stat. The boiler then carried the heat load the balance of the work day.

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That's All Folks!

Posted By: scott
Date Posted: 04 Dec 2023 at 9:04am

I have two 30x40 connected together, one side has the tubes in the floor and appears to have gotten to temp and is holding steady, the other building has a hanging heater that also works off the Nav. It has taken a while for the hanging heater to warm up the objects in the room and get that room up to temperature but now I'm seeing 70 on the gage I hung in the middle of the room (thermostat at 65).

I blew about R-31 into the ceiling Saturday to help the hanging heater, next move needs to be more wall insulation.

Posted By: DaveKamp
Date Posted: 05 Dec 2023 at 7:12am

I don't pour any more floor slabs without putting insulation under, and PEX in them... the cost to do so, is insignificant, but the option to apply heat or cooling is priceless.

Codger's setup of air AND floor, with split settings is the way to go... the floor's mass is a slow-changing element. A large change of air volume (like opening the door to bring in a tractor) will cause the air temperature to drop rapidly, the floor will remain warm, and while it WILL warm the room, the floor won't shed heat fast enough to recover the room air temperature. The forced-air furnace will quickly recover that, and restore comfort.

To maintain a workable shop, the floor doesn't need to be excessively heated... just keeping the slab at 70F does wonders... feet, knees, and tools, and it keeps the floor from being a condensing surface, so the wet slippery circumstance is gone, the rusting tools and machines gone.

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Ten Amendments, Ten Commandments, and one Golden Rule solve most every problem. Citrus hand-cleaner with Pumice does the rest.

Posted By: Dakota Dave
Date Posted: 06 Dec 2023 at 8:51am

our hangers were changed over to IR tube heaters around 2000. The floors are always warm and near instant recover when the doors are opened and closed. Our doors are250 ft wide and temp drops quickly when opened. I wish I’d have put that in when I built my shop. Our farm shop has floor heat and it’s great till you open the 24, foot door. We need to light the old wood burner during the day. The floor stays warm but it takes a long time for the air temp to come back up without supplementary heat.

Posted By: scott
Date Posted: 11 Dec 2023 at 9:58am

Woodstove is out. I sawed up all the easy firewood in my woods, burned up all the firewood I had in the shop, my insurance was in violation with the stove, and I just don't have the time to F-around making a fire and waiting for things to warm up any more.

In the forced air side of the building I had put 1/2" 2 side silverboard between the perlins years ago. I studded and R19 insulated between the two posts the wood stove sat in front of this weekend. Cost a fortune for the supplies for one 8x10 wall section 'today' but will save money on propane for a lifetime. A bunch more fortunes and I got it... lol

Posted By: Sugarmaker
Date Posted: 14 Dec 2023 at 9:30pm

scott,

We also have been enjoying the Pex in the floor with boiler heat. The main portion of our shop is set at 66 deg F. The Kitchen and the loft above are set at 68 deg F. Heating the shop and the house with Propane. Really glad my friend talked me into putting the system in the floor prior to the concrete. It will be three years, the warm floors are wonderful to work on for old cold feet!

Regards,

Chris and Cheryl

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D17 1958 (NFE), WD45 1954 (NFE), WD 1952 (NFE), WD 1950 (WFE), Allis F-40 forklift, Allis CA, Allis D14, Ford Jubilee, Many IH Cub Cadets, 32 Ford Dump, 65 Comet.

Posted By: scott
Date Posted: 15 Dec 2023 at 9:20am

Seems the first thing I noticed was the thermostat said 'heat on' pretty steady in the side with the hanging heater. Burning firewood we always threw another piece in and didn't give it a thought but recently air leaks are resembling dollar bills so I been sealing up everything I can find.

I discovered an opening between the rafter carriers above a door that I had used to drop a chain thru and lift from... 3.5 x 8.5 inches... No idea how long it had been open but made a huge difference when I stuffed a block of foam in the hole. Then while up on the ladder I discovered a section of wall 7' x 10' that is still bare steel covered by a monster book cabinet I built years ago. Get that section of wall properly insulated this weekend and I should see the 'Heat On' turn off, I hope.