Im gathering info for a indoor basketball arena,( 330' x 120' x 20' )  Has anyone done a building of this size using R-heat??  Also what if any affects will it have on the wooden courts?  Cost effectiveness, compared to conventional HVAC???  Im in the design phase, and would like to build with SIPs and R-heat, without blowing my metal building budget to heck!  Need any info thats good or bad!!!

Thanks... Danny

Years ago when I was in high school I recall seeing the floor being installed for our new gym. It was maple hardwood but it was installed on top of one or two layers of stringers so the boards were not in direct contact with the concrete slab. It was my understanding this was done to give the floor some flex and so would not be so hard on feet and legs. Is this same design approach still used today? If so, it would make in-floor radiant heat impractical because of the air space between the slab and the flooring. You need contact all the way from the heat tube to the floor surface.

The volume of the building may also cause you to have such a high heat load you would have to have pretty hot floors to provide enough Btus.

Another question. Do you really want warm floors under hot sweating bodies exercising on the floor? I wouldn't think so.

Overhead radiant may work, but you've got to have it so high for proper clearance that you'll end up with high temp tubes there also.

I like the idea of radiant, and it's got a lot going for it, but I'm doubtful a gym is a suitable application. Just my 2.5 cents worth!!

i've seen a radiant floor system in the crawlspace under hardwood floors. essentially, the crawspace is inside the concrete room, separated by just 2 inches of plywood. it's basically stapled to the subfloor under hardwood. it works pretty well. i imagine a basketball court will be something like a floor on beams over crawlspace, so that should work just fine. if it's a big arena (say 20 feet of bleachers all the way around the court) you will want a fan system to blow the heated air from the crawlspace up. one reason would be to use that heat. another to circulate the stale air down there.

Yes we just complete a project in Atlanta not only heating the gym floor but also the locker rooms. When the numbers were run by the customer our electric heat systems was the most efficient. Good choice in using electric.

Depending on the construction, you can use Zmesh directly under the wood without issues. It would run about $7. psf for materials. What is your cost per kilowatt hour for electric?