Don’t Be Fooled – Floor Heating Systems are Not Alike
Insulation or Not. In the floor heating industry, the tubing folks will tell you that you’re insane not to insulate below the floor heating system/tubing. They will tell you that you will lose all that heat to China. The real reason they insulate is because that’s what they’ve been taught to do, and some of it is because it’s just plain easier to stand and staple tubing than get down on your knees and fasten it down.
Some Say NO !
I was doing a presentation at an electric coop once where the Midwest sales rep for Uponor was in attendance and scheduled to speak. He was in the back listening to my spiel and since he was there, I hit it a little harder how it was a waste of time and money to place insulation below the heating system. And that insulation actually increases the operating cost. I’ve known him for years and when I was done, he privately said to me “How can you sleep at night after flat out lying to all these people” He started sighting ASHRAE and all kinds of other fun so-called facts.
I simply said to him, “Those that say it can’t be done should get out of the way of those that are already doing it” Why would we do something different when it’s been proven for decades with hundreds of thousands of buildings and millions of heating panels installed across the country and in12 other countries.
It’s been proven to work better and provide lower operating costs without insulation and all that with No maintenance.
The Larger the Thermal Mass the Lower the Operating Cost
The native American Indians knew about thermal mass. They would take a rock from the fire and place it in their teepee at night to keep warm. They for sure didn’t grab a pebble. Almost all (if not all) of the power companies in the Midwest won’t even allow a heating system to go on an Off-Peak program if you put insulation below the tubing because it limits the thermal mass. If the temperatures stay low for an extended period of time or there is a power outage, the heating system will not keep up or sustain the space. I have story after story of homes and businesses that lost power, but not heat for extended periods of time because of the Thermal Mass we create with a Therma Ray Thermal Mass Heating System. Electric Radiant Heating Products | Thermaray Heating Solutions
Case in Point
We did a study years ago in North Dakota where we installed (2) ThermaRay thermal mass heating systems in a slab on grade duplex. Home #1 was installed as we normally do without horizontal insulation and Home #2 was completely boxed in with horizontal insulation 3 feet down. After 5 years of collecting data, we found that the boxed in home was actually cheaper to operate. However, the difference was so minimal that the extra time, money, and hassle involved wasn’t worth it. The added cost basically worked out to a 43-year payback for the added insulation and work. Ironically about the same payback as for ground source heat pumps, solar or wind, but I digress.
It’s Simply Physics
The simple physics of it is that heat can only transfer to a temperature cooler than itself.
Put your hand on the desk and your heat transfers to the cooler surface. Put your hand on a hot cup of coffee and the heat transfers to your hand.
ThermaRay heating panels start out at 140 degrees and as heat gets further and further away from the heating panel the medium gets cooler and cooler until it reaches a temperature equal to itself which is the temperature of the earth.
The thermal mass equalizes at about 2 – 2 1/2 feet including the heat and won’t keep going down because the thermostat is satisfied. If you left the heating panels on uncontrolled, you would drive the heat down further and further, but would also heat up the room exponentially.
The thermostat being satisfied keeps the thermal mass controlled and releases the heat into the space above as it is needed.
Also check out this article as well Unprecedented Data Collection & Efficiency – Premier Energy USA
If people really think they need to do put down insulation, I don’t fight it much. I just tell them to try to get the horizontal insulation down a minimum of 2 feet if you can. Any thermal mass is better than no thermal mass.
Choose ThermaRay and Have A Warm Day Every Day!
