I am entertaining the idea of installing pex tubing under the sub-floor of my master bath. The main purpose for this is purely a luxury item.
I just want to be able to warm up the tile floor to make it more comfortable on the feet. What I was thinking about doing was using a small electric hw heater with a low voltage recirculating pump to flow the water in a closed loop system, with the appropriate drains to change out the water on a regular basis. I will have to have my neighbor (an electrician) help me to figure out the wiring to control it thermostatically. It will be just a single zone so no expensive valving will be necessary. Does this sound like a workable idea, or is there more to hydronic heating that I am seeing? Any comments positive or negative will be accepted. thanks in advance.
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If you're going to be using electricity for the heat anyway, why not just use electric heat directly in the floor and skip paying for the water heater, pump, pipe, etc.?
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What type of heating system do you currently have?
Definately look into the electric resistance systems that are designed exactly for this application...adjustable, controllable base-line surface heating.
Yeah, unless you already have a hydronic heating system, the electric resistance solutions are going to be more cost effective. Both install and operating costs would be lower.
I agree with you guys on many of the points brought up...but this is existing construction. I think?
To run cable, he'd have to demo the tile, etc, etc, etc.
Comparing that to picking up a low-volume water heater, a small Taco, 100' of PEX, a t-stat and a few bags of insulation?
The staple-up renovation is a one, maybe two-day job.
The demo/cable/electrical/retileing?
Your idea is a go. I am going to be using a small hot water heater to warm up about 200 ft². Since it is a closed loop an expansion tank is needed to accomodate the water volume as it goes through temperature changes. I would suggest a two gallon expansion tank. They are about $45 off the internet. Some metal plates that hold the tube up againt the subfloor to better transfer heat would help. A problem that might be encountered is that the water may need to be around 130 degrees or so to effectively warm up the subfloor. Another site to go ask around at is heatinghelp.com's The Wall. I learned most of what I needed to know there. My system will be embedded in Thermafloor where the water temperature will only need to be around 90 degrees to warm up the floor. By the way, since your'e not using your idea as a primary source of heat and are just wanting to have warm floor to step on, the term for that is 'floor conditioning'.
Handyman, painter, wood floor refinisher, property maintenance in Tulsa, OK
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