Two Questions Regading Radiant Heat

[kwright]

1. The heating contractor has suggested I consider an in-concrete temperature probe for the thermostat, versus the standard unit included in a wall mount thermostat. His point is the in-floor probe will not be as sensitive to the opening and closing of the doors as a standard thermostat, and will avoid cycling the heating system for a momentary blast of cold air. This option is about $125.00 extra. Opinions?

2. This may sound ****-retentive, but I thought I would ask anyway. The joints where the inside poured wall 2" foam insulation sheets meet, is in necessary to tape or seal these joints? The contractor installed the foam today, and though the edges are tightly butted together, i.e., no real serious gaps, I was wondering if there was any advantage to sealing the seams.

 

[Franz©]

First thing I'd do is thank the contractor for his enlightened opinion, then I'd fire his *** off the job immediately before he screwed anything else up. This clown is just trying to reach in your pocket every chance he gets.

IF, and it's a very qualified IF, the thermostat becomes sufficiently reactive to blasts of cold air when the door opens, there are 2 ways of dealing with it. The first would be to install a magnetic contact on top of the door to open the thermostat circuit when the door is open so the system can't call for heat when the door is open. A burglar alarm contact works well since the thermostat is only signal current, very low amperage. The other way to deal with the situation would be to install a line voltage thermostat, as used in electric heat. Line voltage stats are less sensitive than low voltage stats, and don't react to breezes.

Installing a stat into the slab would lead to short cycling of the system.

Forget the joynts, dirt will fill them soon enough.

 

[Vicious_Cycle]

If you really care what temperature your concrete is, then by all means, stick a temperature probe in it. Otherwise, it seems like a fairly ridiculous idea, IMO.

 

[5wndwcpe]

What KWRIGHT is referring to is a slab sensor. It's what the thermostat uses to sense when to call for boiler operation in a hydronic heating system. If your boiler fired non-stop you'd care. Assuming the floor has yet to be poured, I'd put a length of PEX tubing in for the sensor just in case you decided to use one. You can always feed it in later.

 

[femcadder]

I think that you shouldn't have the thermostat near a door if it will be dramatically effected. If the temp in the room gets effected by the door being opened, then the boiler should kick on. So, I say, room thermostat properly placed.

 

[kbs2244]

7wndwcpe has the right idea. A cheap way to solve the problem, if indeed there ever becomes a problem.

BTW, why would they name a town "Radiator Springs"?

 

[5wndwcpe]

7wndwcpe has the right idea. A cheap way to solve the problem, if indeed there ever becomes a problem.

BTW, why would they name a town "Radiator Springs"?

It's from the movie CARS

 

[z28toz06]

http://www.tekmarcontrols.com/prod/072.shtml

makes sense to me.

 

[badgerboiler]

Re: Two Questions Regarding Radiant Heat

Your contractor is using accepted technology and has a valid point. $125.00 is a bargain. I do not use floor sensors for residential applications as the doors do not open enough to matter, but your contractor gave you an honest option. I would not have worried you about it, that may have been his only mistake.

**** is a good description of your insulation worries. I would advise you to accept and enjoy one of the best decisions you have ever made i.e. to install radiant and to have a professional design and stand behind it.

MA
Charter Board Member - Radiant Panel Assoc.