Garage floor heating ??

[59vettegarage]

Hi, Garage lovers
As most of you I have been dreaming of building a garage for years. I started my project over two years ago. Long story with lots of problems. But the building is up & looks complete from the outside. The inside in a work in progress. My next step is to pour the concrete floor. I would like to heat the garage floor with radiant heat. What I need is a person/company to lay out a diagram of the floor & heating system so I can get prices. or should I use other heating ?Can anyone help ? I well try to attach some photos
Thank You
Michael G.

 

[Stuart in MN]

Welcome to the site. It would help to know what state or country you're in, someone may be local who can help. Assuming you're in the US, a popular source for in floor heating is Uponor: http://www.uponor-usa.com/ They have links to local sales reps and installers on their website.

 

[59vettegarage]

Thanks Stuart ,
I have been checking the journal for a long time but this is my first post.
I live in New Jersey
Michael

 

[4cyclic]

Contact this company, good guys and they will draw your pex plan free if you buy their pex.

http://www.blueridgecompany.com

Nice garage, by the way !

 

[DCarr2]

You can also do it yourself...

you need 6 mil plastic, 2" XPS foam board, about 10,000 white zip ties (the black ones break) and you can buy the pex in 100' rolls at home depot and Lowes for $30 a roll.

its a lot easier to pun the pex AFTER the concrete guys lay down your wire mesh/rebar

 

[Huntmaster86]

You can also do it yourself...

you need 6 mil plastic, 2" XPS foam board, about 10,000 white zip ties (the black ones break) and you can buy the pex in 100' rolls at home depot and Lowes for $30 a roll.

its a lot easier to pun the pex AFTER the concrete guys lay down your wire mesh/rebar

i found it easier but some may disagree, I used wire to tie my pex down. I believe the wire ties are meant for tie rebar together but they have a hook on each end and a little took that you spin to twist it tight.( similiar to safety wire/plires). I had issues with sand/ dirt getting in the zip ties. I have a monolithic slab too

 

[James-W]

My opinion is as follows. If you are going to heat the building all the time, then I would say that in-floor heat is the Cadillac of heating systems. But if you want to only heat it when you are working out there and you only work out there occasionally, then I would NOT want in-floor heat. While in-floor heat is wonderful, it takes a very long time to heat the building up to a comfortable temperature when it has been turned off for a few days.

For occasional heat I would go with a Modine type heater, natural gas being the least expensive fuel for it. There are several brands, I have a Hot Dawg 60,000 BTU natural gas unit and it has worked very well for me thus far. There are other brands that work just as well, I just happened to get a Hot Dawg unit because that is what the furnace guy we normally have work on our house furnace sells.

 

[Highbeam]

You can also do it yourself...

you need 6 mil plastic, 2" XPS foam board, about 10,000 white zip ties (the black ones break) and you can buy the pex in 100' rolls at home depot and Lowes for $30 a roll.

its a lot easier to pun the pex AFTER the concrete guys lay down your wire mesh/rebar

You do NOT need XPS, you can use the much cheaper white EPS as well. But yeah, 2" of insulation.

I used black zip ties and none broke at all. If I could do it again I would have anchored the pex to the foam and then layed the wire mesh on top. They sell really cool pex foam anchors, no zip ties, no cutting 10,000 tails off and collecting them so that they don't float up into the concrete.

I bought the pex from a supplier in 330 foot rolls. Don't buy 100 foot rolls. Your loops of 1/2" will be up near 300 feet long and you don't want joints in the loops for several reasons.

As far as a heat source. I agree that it is not a great way to heat a seldom used/seldom heated building due to slow response time. In fact, my infloor heat (30x60x14' ceiling) is still not being used since after insulating the building very well I find that it doesn't freeze. I have a permitted woodstove that I burn out there for my longer intermittent uses or no heat at all. My plan originally was to heat to 40 with the infloor and then bump up with the stove.

The last thing is that you can install the tubes now and then you have the option of finishing the job if you decide to. The real expense is the boiler and near boiler piping and pumps. The tube in the floor is cheap. Even insulation under the slab is beneficial on a non-heated building.

 

[G-ManBart]

You can also use clips that hold the Pex to the 2" foam insulation. Definitely go with the 300-330ft rolls of Pex.

 

[59vettegarage]

You do NOT need XPS, you can use the much cheaper white EPS as well. But yeah, 2" of insulation.

I used black zip ties and none broke at all. If I could do it again I would have anchored the pex to the foam and then layed the wire mesh on top. They sell really cool pex foam anchors, no zip ties, no cutting 10,000 tails off and collecting them so that they don't float up into the concrete.

I bought the pex from a supplier in 330 foot rolls. Don't buy 100 foot rolls. Your loops of 1/2" will be up near 300 feet long and you don't want joints in the loops for several reasons.

As far as a heat source. I agree that it is not a great way to heat a seldom used/seldom heated building due to slow response time. In fact, my infloor heat (30x60x14' ceiling) is still not being used since after insulating the building very well I find that it doesn't freeze. I have a permitted woodstove that I burn out there for my longer intermittent uses or no heat at all. My plan originally was to heat to 40 with the infloor and then bump up with the stove.

The last thing is that you can install the tubes now and then you have the option of finishing the job if you decide to. The real expense is the boiler and near boiler piping and pumps. The tube in the floor is cheap. Even insulation under the slab is beneficial on a non-heated building.

I like your idea to install the pex now under the concrete & wait till winter. The garage will not be used everyday but last year it was to cold to work on anything in the garage. It would be nice to have a wood stove but will it be permitted in a garage?
Thank you for the insight
Michael

 

[Jess]

Plan it well and be sure you get oxygen barrier pex. The layout is important enough to spend a bit of time on. Put in an foam insulation thermal break at the exterior foundation and at the doors. As mentioned already, you can use foam staples to attach the pex to the foam insulation or lay welded mesh and use zip ties. Using the mesh helps a lot with the layout and lets you put the pipe at a point in the concrete to suit your needs. A heat load calculation is also a good idea before you start anything. Where the pipe is placed in the concrete will determine how quickly the floor will heat up and the recovery rate. Deeper takes longer but has the value of thermal mass, where higher up will warm faster and cool quicker. In mine, we put the mesh and rebar 1 1/2" above the foam in a 5" pour.

 

[Highbeam]

It would be nice to have a wood stove but will it be permitted in a garage?
Thank you for the insight
Michael

Ah, you need to be careful. Do not call this shop a garage, call it a shop. My detached shop has three 12x12 overhead doors that I drive through but it is not a garage so I can have a woodstove. Permitted, legal, homeowner's insurance accepts, etc. I live in Pierce County WA which is a major population center in WA. Same county that has Tacoma in it.

Love my woodstove and cant wait to get a fire going this fall.

 

[rburke65]

Highbeam....what's in the glass? You do not need XPS ....I used the eps and you won't rush it either. If you do nothing lose, buy the oxy barrier pex in at least 300' rolls....mine from Blueridge came in two 900' rolls. The pex as marks with footage marks, so there wasn't a problem cutting the tubing to300' lengths. At least put in the tubing....ya can't do this afterwards and you will be covered. Keep asking the questions. Good luck.

 

[Marctrees]

I recall doing work in a house in MN with a tile floor and in floor heat in the dead of winter.

WOW it was NICE.

But in a home heated always, not intermittantly like an occassional shop use. Marc

 

[Rookie2]

Radiant heat is expensive ! If you worked every day in your garage it makes sense but to leave it on 24/7 and dial it up and down it will hit you in the wallet. You have too much concrete foundation sticking out of the ground (IMO) . I would go with forced air then you can have a/c without two separate systems. If you go forward , Insulate,Insulate,Insulate !

 

[Chris Stapley]

I suggest using one of the many foams specifically made for pex tubing. The old zip tie and grid is a pain in the *** and will take three times as long. Basically make your zones along at 12" spacing , ideally shooting for 250' per loop,no more than 300' . Do not buy your rolls in 100' lengths as you cannot space these loops,you'd really feel bad having a crimp that didn't quite seal after you have poured your concrete. When the concrete guys come to pour,make sure you have a small amount of pressure applied to the loops so as to prevent collapse etc.. Jaded off this morning do a 28x32 shop as we speak! Good luck!

 

[Randy in Maine]

Radiant heat is expensive ! If you worked every day in your garage it makes sense but to leave it on 24/7 and dial it up and down it will hit you in the wallet. You have too much concrete foundation sticking out of the ground (IMO) . I would go with forced air then you can have a/c without two separate systems. If you go forward , Insulate,Insulate,Insulate !

Radiant heat is actually relatively cheap. Mine is just 1000' of 1/2" tubing, 2 four loop manifolds, and a thermostat. Done.

Cheap to operate all winter (I leave it at 50-55º F).

Plus my insurance company loves it as there is not a source of ignition in the shop.

You will end up doing the insulation part no matter what system you have.

 

[Highbeam]

Radiant heat is actually relatively cheap. Mine is just 1000' of 1/2" tubing, 2 four loop manifolds, and a thermostat. Done.
.

Ha! you're not done. The expensive part is the boiler, pumps, and near boiler piping.

 

[Randy in Maine]

But I already had that stuff when I converted my house to radiant floor heat. I had it set up for 3 zones when I did it.

Still cheaper than the alternatives in both up front costs and long term usage costs.