[Cob] radiant floor tubes in clay floor: insulation?

[Doug Shaker]

I don't have quite the same situation as you.  I have a frame house
in Northern California. The bottom floor has a concrete slab floor
with radiant heating in the slab.  Under the slab there is vapor
barrier, two layers of bubble-wrap-style mylar insulation (purchased
from the radiant heating supplier) and several inches of gravel.

I don't regret the insulation at all.  The concrete slab takes about
a day or two to come up to heat when I turn on the heating in the fall.
I would hate to think that I was losing a constant and large stream of
heat into the earth all winter.  If I had to redo it, I think I would
put in more insulation.

-Doug "Anonymous" Shaker



At 09:16 PM 2/4/2009, you wrote:
>Right. Sorry. This is northern California, freezes for maybe 10 days a year
>total. Mostly worried about hot from May to October.
>
>I'm just building the roof with a timber frame structure, and the stem wall
>is done.  Cob starting is this next summer, so no insulation yet.
>
>The radiant tubes will probably be a closed system heated via solar with a
>propane tankless backup.
>
>Tys
>
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Shody Ryon [mailto:qi4u at yahoo.com]
>Sent: Wednesday, February 04, 2009 8:29 PM
>To: coblist at deatech.com; Tys Sniffen
>Subject: Re: [Cob] radiant floor tubes in clay floor: insulation?
>
>Hi Tys
>I forget, what climate is this in?
>Is there insulation anywhere in the house? If so how much and were?
>What heating system are you using? solar, gas, electric?
>Shody
>
>
>--- On Wed, 2/4/09, Tys Sniffen <tys at ideamountain.com> wrote:
>
> > From: Tys Sniffen <tys at ideamountain.com>
> > Subject: [Cob] radiant floor tubes in clay floor: insulation?
> > To: coblist at deatech.com
> > Date: Wednesday, February 4, 2009, 10:36 PM
> > Hey folks,
> >
> > as I read about radiant floors, in typical houses, they put
> > insulation
> > against the inside, and sometimes outside of the house
> > foundation.
> > Sometimes they make an "L" shape with insulation
> > under the floor and up the
> > wall a bit.  My north side will be bermed in, and my
> > southern side is of
> > course, my solar gain side.  Does anyone have an opinion
> > about whether I
> > should put insulation in between the clay floor, the gravel
> > sub-floor, and
> > my concrete and mortared urbanite stem wall?  If you think
> > I should do it,
> > how much (how wide?)
> >
> >
> >
> > Starting to think about the inside,
> >
> > Tys
> >
> >
> >
> > www.magnumdental.com
> > <http://www.magnumdental.com/application.php?id=tm42>
> >
> >
> > Reasonable Dental Insurance for Individuals... Online
> >
> >
> >
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>
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>
>
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