Radiant Floor Heating Concrete Slab Thickness

It is best practice to not install normal concrete less than three inches thick.

Radiant floor heating concrete slab thickness.

The tubing is assumed to be spaced 12 in. Create a new profit center. 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. However for new construction the slab should be typically at least 4 thick and is dependent upon the soils conditions in your area.

A slab on grade is defined as any concrete slab poured over excavated soil. The heating contractor laid out the pex tubing according to the zones that were established for heating the home. 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 heat is proven to be the most efficient way to heat a building.

The concrete was 4 thick and the insulation under the slab was 2 thick. The thickness of the slab does not have to change because of radiant. 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. Radiant heat can be used in slabs as thin as 1 5 such as in cases where it s placed over existing floors.

Sell the radiant floor as part of the concrete package. The picture above shows a concrete floor we re about to pour with radiant heating tubes installed. On the perimeter foundation wall 2 inches of solid foam insulation are commonly used again increasing the thickness toward the ground s surface. Radiant floor heating the thickness of concrete is dependent on what the building code or the designer dictates.

The amount of insulation depends on your climate conditions. A thicker slab takes longer to warm up than a thinner slab but it also takes the thicker slab more time to cool down. Compared to forced air heating it is approx 30 better. The latter is assumed to be perfectly bonded to the top of the slab.

All thick slabs can be categorized into.