Can you use 2 different types of insulating panels for in-floor heating?
Last Post 03 Apr 2021 01:41 AM by sailawayrb. 2 Replies.
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Canadian rookieUser is Offline
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01 Apr 2021 02:52 PM
My husband and I are installing radiant floor heating in our new 30 x 38 ‘ garage. We purchased Hydrofoam panels last year as we were only going to do the office part of the garage ( 12 x 30 ) but we’ve decided to do the entire garage now. My first question is, can we install the 2 1/2 “ Hydrofoam panels in the office area AND use a different kind of panel for the rest of the garage? We want to use a 3 3/8” Ampex panel as it has a compressive strength of 30 psi’s so we may park trucks? Will the difference in thickness be a problem? Question #2: would you recommend 6” spacing for the tubing in the office area and perhaps 9 or 12” for the remainder? Question #3: We would like to install rebar on top of the mesh for added strength and it says to place it every foot. I realise that’s perhaps overkill as it’s only a residential garage so we were thinking of installing it every 2 feet. Thoughts? Thanks in advance for your advice... I should mention we live in Ontario,Canada...it gets cold!
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01 Apr 2021 03:31 PM
Water coming off vehicles is going to be a problem especially in the winter/salt....

I my garage years ago and it took so long to heat up it was worthless....And garages have hug heat loss....I would use a Mini Split that is quicker to heat and also cools.
"Never argue with an idiot. They will only bring you down to their level and beat you with experience." George Carlins
sailawayrbUser is Offline
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03 Apr 2021 01:41 AM
We used 4” HydroFoam, PEX spaced 18”, #5 rebar spaced 12” OC and 6” thick slab in our garage/shop area. We normally keep our garage at 60F, but if needed, we will bring it to a higher temp over the course of two days. 12” PEX spacing is the maximum one should use for living spaces to ensure no floor temp gradients can be detected with bare feet, but one may need to go to an even closer spacing (e.g., 9 or 6”) depending on the heat flux required to offset the heat loss of the given room. 18” PEX spacing is fine for commercial floors and residential garage/shops where floor temp gradient isn’t a concern. We haven’t had any regrets having the capability to heat our garage/shop area.

One really needs to accomplish a Manual J or equivalent room-by-room heat loss analysis and then a proper hydronic radiant floor heating design to sort out the PEX spacing, circuit supply temps/flow rates, and resulting head loss to properly size the pump and heat source.
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