Hope I’m putting this in the right section. I’m building a new garage/shop and I want to run solar heated water through the slab for wintertime supplemental heating. I’ve built several of the collectors that were featured in FH back in the early ’80s and they still perform well today. I’m planning to use the same system for the garage and depend on thermosyphon to distribute the hot water. It’s on a southwest slope of a mountain so I get great solar gain during the winter.
Sound good so far?
Next question: Should I put the styrofoam insulation under the vapor barrier or over it, under the rebar?
Thanks,
NCtim
Replies
Over the foam and under the rebar or ww mesh around here.
I also make sure I have at least 2" of rigid foam at the perimeter of the slab going down to the frost line. I haven't got a supplier that carries borate treated foam, so I chemically treat all soil in contact with the foam. I figure it might keep the nesting insects out of the foam a little longer.
Dave
Thank, guys. I appreciate the good info.
NCtim
Take a look at http://www.insulationsolutions.com . That all in one pad looks interesting as well as the clips for holding the tubing.
Hi,
Are you planning to try to use thermsyphoning to move the heated water through the floor slab, or just to a hot water storage tank?
Here is a link to a very complete description of how one person did his shop/garge slab floor with radiant:
http://www.arttec.net/Solar/BarnHeat.html
Gary
http://www.BuildItSolar.com