Hello,
We’re planning a new home in rural Wisconsin and have decided to install a hydro radiant heat in the basement slab. My question is, does the hydro grid need to cover the “entire” basement, or could certain sections be ignored (aka. under stairwell, mechanical room, storage)? Someone told me that not heating the entire sq.ft of the basement floor could lead to temperature differences in the concrete which could lead to cracks. The total basement 1650 sqft, and 600sqft of that is all together in one corner…a combination of stairwell/mechanical/storage. So that would leave just 1000ish sq ft of living space that actually needs the heated floor. Just trying to save a penny every where possible. Thank you
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Greetings, over 30 yrs ago we built our partially in the ground hillside house in NW Ohio. Hot water in the slab on the lower floor. Second floor, 2 bedrooms with a 4’ HW basebd under the window (and a small floor register ), 2 baths with HW hose under the tile. No real heat in the master BR other than what works it’s way through the door and the large opening overlooking the LR.
With all the above we built a soapstone heater in the living room. This allows the lower level radiant to not have to be used in the early spring or late fall when call for heat depends on the of solar gain during the day and the temp plunge over nite. Adds to the complete comfort of the house in the dead of winter.
Sorry to hold you hostage but here comes the response to what you asked. I’m not a heating professional, just an old carpenter. Under our stairwell we did not run hose. Nor under the cabinets in the kitchen. One zone enters the floor just outside the boiler room. No hose in that room’s floor. Other zones leave the boiler room up into the second floor framing. One other zone goes back down to the concrete floor through a coat closet (warms the coats).
Under the stairs, approx 80+ sf no hose and toward the back, a good place for wine and keeping beer “cool”. So yes, it is possible and potentially smart to not install radiant in areas. However, a hearing professional should be consulted because the larger amount of unheated floor You propose could screw up the balance of the rest of the space.
There will be some heat drift through the slab unless you isolate the unheated areas from the rest of the slab. I did not do this. Something like foam bd between the foundation walls and the slab, which I did do.
Hope this helps and didn’t bore you too dam much.
A. It is S.O.P. to omit radiant tubing in parts of the floor - under cabinets, appliances, under stairs...
B. Think twice about installing radiant floor heat in basement slabs. Even when the slab is insulated, the ground below is a giant heat sink.
Frankie
Frankie- I was thinking the same thing. Radiant is awesome and very comfortable but why the basement?
You can overcome the heat sink effect by insulating under the slab. My basement has no insulation and is heated by the un-insulated piping to the old radiators, yet its very comfortable in the winters of the Northeast.