Installing A Heated Floor On Concrete

Installing radiant tubing on top of a subfloor.

Installing a heated floor on concrete.

It s easier to install the tubing in specially made plywood with precut channels. For concrete floor radiant heating systems the warm water tubing or electric heating elements can either be embedded within the slab on grade anywhere from the bottom of the slab to within 2 inches of the surface depending on the design and installation technique or fastened to the top of a concrete subfloor and then covered with an overlay. When the thermal mass of the concrete is heated the warm slab acts as a radiator distributing even heat throughout the structure. Nail the plywood in place as you would a subfloor or underlayment.

The most economical fall back is to install electric baseboard heating or possibly hydronic heating using the existing electric boiler which was installed to pump heated water through the radiant tubing in the concrete floor. The picture above shows a concrete floor we re about to pour with radiant heating tubes installed. A radiant heat floor can save homeowners up to 25 percent in energy bills. Make sure your concrete has completely cured before you lay down your in floor heating mat.

Many people ask the question how can i install radiant heat if i don t have access to the floor from below one way is to go with a manufactured grooved board system that you can put down and simply lay the pex in it.