Mini zones in radiant slab

[Bigrhamr]

I'm getting ready to do the pex for the slab in my new shop, 40x60 main with a 20x60 wing on each side. Each wing will be a seperate zone with 4-300' loops and the main will have 8-300' loops in either 1 or 2 zones, not sure yet. What I'm thinking about doing now is running some extra short loops to the areas I'll be spending a lot of time and having them valved so I can just turn them on. That way if I'm in the shop by myself and don't want to pay for heating the whole thing I can still have warm feet
Anything wrong with this plan other than a little more cost for manifolds and pipe?

Thanks for the help.

 

[Ezzie]

A radiant floor system is not something you want to turn on & off at will. These systems perform best running at a constant temperature setting for the entire duration of the heating season. This is because of the length of time it takes to change the temperature of the concrete slab.

If you want it warmer in areas where you are working more often, you can do it in two ways. Either put your PEX tubing spacing closer in those areas (cheapest but no ability to control the temperature) or by doing as you suggest and having a different manifold for that area or areas with a seperate zone valve/thermostat.

 

[6806goats]

Man that's gonna be a huge shop, WOW. I'll be curious on heating costs but like you said, if you can just heat a portion of it. Wonder if heating certain sections will cause concrete expansion issues? Will you have expansion joints in your common work area to seperate zones? I'm just now learning about this stuff so I dunno.
Are you in a sunny area? I'm trying to factor in solar heating and using a big storage tank since I live in southern Idaho. Has some clear days but man it gets cold.
Good luck on the fun! Keep us posted.