Staple up radiant

[brewchief]

I've done a fair amount of radiant jobs but they have been almost all either poured into a basement/garage slab or a staple down with lightweight concrete poured over it.

Friend of mine has a 25x35 shop built within his 50x100 steel building, the shop has 16" I joists supporting a second level that will be a man cave in the future.

The entire building is prepped for radiant with the lower shop area a separate zone, we would like to do a staple up between the I joists for a 25x25 section of the second level that will become the man cave.

Can this be done without the use of any reflective plates? Most staple up jobs that I've seen used some sort of aluminum plate to direct the heat up, are these necessary if the entire joist space is filled with insulation?

Any thoughts?

 

[koditten]

My cottage has stapled up tubes. 3/4" subfloor plus 3/4" oak flooring. It works just fine. You do need 2 days to bring the temp up if you have been gone a while. I do have the AL defusers, they are not that expensive.

 

[roscoe2000]

You may want to consider at least some type of insulation for the ceiling under the second floor level. I can for see an issue with regulation the temps above & below that area as heat radiates upward and downward. Since that upper zone (call for heat) will in fact impact the lower level. This should not be a major issue, but would affect the efficiency of your system as a radiant heating system is design to heat a mass and keep it at a set temperature. Leaving the piping exposed would turn it not to more of a radiator radiator which needs a higher water temp to work efficiently.

 

[anthony666]

You may want to consider at least some type of insulation for the ceiling

x2 .. you need more r value below the tubes than above .. this is the perfect occasion for foil back bubble wrap

 

[brewchief]

Below the tubing will have 16" of dense packed cellulose.

Sent from my C771 using Tapatalk 2

 

[Randy in Maine]

Just make sure you use the foil radiant barrier directly below the PEX to direct the heat upwards into the living area, then have the other insualtion under that. I think that will be fine.

 

[mygarageone]

You need at least a 3" air space between the bottom of the floor and the insulation . The insulation will drive the heat up , and I second the use of a radiant faced insulation.
Check out this outfit
www.insulation4 less.com. They have some great stuff.

I had. Guy foam the bottom of his joists , guess what the house wouldn't heat you need that air space.