<html><head><meta http-equiv="Content-Type" content="text/html charset=utf-8"></head><body style="word-wrap: break-word; -webkit-nbsp-mode: space; -webkit-line-break: after-white-space;" class="">Thanks, Eric. That is exactly the kind of firsthand experience I was hoping to tap into here. Our emails crossed in the ether, so a couple of comments:<div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">First and foremost, I am very jealous of your garage! 650 sq ft is the best I can do on our lot, at least if I want to keep my wife. Fortunately, some of the second floor will be garage storage and our house does currently have a one car garage under it, which will be retained.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">The house has forced air heat, so tying the two systems together isn’t an option for us. I wish it was. My understanding is that there are now some very small, very efficient heaters available for radiant systems. I have just started researching those, so it would be great to know if anyone has any experience with those.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Your comment about the bubble wrap insulation under the slab is one of the important things I was looking to learn more about. My research to date has been very mixed about the relative merits of the bubble insulation vs. rigid foam. It is good to know you are happy with what you used. What did you do about permitter insulation on the slab? There seems to be two schools of thought on that, too. Some put rigid foam between the footers and the slab, so it is essentially a floating slab. Others put the insulation around the outside perimeter.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">How accurate is the IR camera? Can you actually see the outline of the pipes? They are pretty pricey; do you know if the ones that attach to smart phones will also do the trick?</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">That’s all I can think of at the moment, but I really appreciate the advice.</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class="">Jim</div><div class=""><br class=""></div><div class=""><br class=""><div><blockquote type="cite" class=""><div class="">On Mar 16, 2016, at 8:13 AM, <a href="mailto:eric@megageek.com" class="">eric@megageek.com</a> wrote:</div><br class="Apple-interchange-newline"><div class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Ok, I might be in the minority here, but
I can't say enough good about radiant floor heat.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">First, if you are near NJ, there is
a plumbing company that I worked with "George's Plumbing" that
were on the cutting edge of RF heat.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">My installation- 2600 sq ft detached
garage (Not a typo), in North West New Jersey. New construction,
Lester building (wood frame, steel skin.) Blown cellulose ceiling
insulation, blown ploy insulation on the walls. 6' 4500psi concrete
floor.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Instead of putting in a new furnace,
I added a zone to my home oil furnace for the garage and buried the insulated
lines. No additional heating source in the garage, nor any heating equipment
on the floor in there either. Only a wall mounted controller board
that feeds the tubes in the floor. Tekmak controller.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">I keep it 55 degrees all the time. I
find this is the perfect temperature, as once I start working in the garage,
its nice and cool.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Since installing the floor (13 years
ago), there has not been a noticeable increase in oil consumption (I notified
my oil company to modify 'degree days' for my auto delivery, but they never
had to change the use rate.)</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Some of the major things that worked
awesome for me. There is a new (then) installation that gets put
on the ground before you pour. It looks like bubble wrap that is
made from mylar, awesome stuff! I also went with Pex tubing, easy
and cheap to work with.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">As for laying the pipes, you want to
use the little 'chairs' to hold them off the bottom of the ground, and
you want the pipes much tighter near the edges of the building and there
can be lots of space between them in the middle of the building.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Once you lay the pipe (and before the
pour) take photos and measurement of the layout. This way if you
need to break the floor for something, you know where the pipes are.* I
knew I was installing a lift, so I left the area for the posts open.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">The TekMak controller has about
5 sensors to determine the optimal heating. It can also circulate
the water in the floor without going back to the boiler to evenly heat
the floor and not draw more energy.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">In the end, the system has been FLAWLESS.
I would NOT change a thing (except make the garage 3X as big!) 8>)</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Here are a few pics of the layout, and
the controler board.</font>
<br class=""><a href="http://tinyurl.com/radiantgarageheat" class=""><font size="1" color="blue" face="Verdana" class=""><b class="">http://tinyurl.com/radiantgarageheat</b></font></a><font size="3" class="">
</font><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class=""><br class="">
<br class="">
*=since then, I've bought a IR camera and I can use that to find any pipe
if needed.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Please feel free to ask me any other
questions and I'll help you out if I can.</font>
<br class="">
<br class=""><font size="2" face="sans-serif" class="">Sent from my Commodore 64 on a 2400
Baud Modem.<br class="">
Eric P<br class="">
"Be as beneficent as the sun or the sea, but if your rights as a rational
being are trenched on, die on the first inch of your territory." Ralph
Waldo Emerson </font></div></blockquote></div><br class=""></div></body></html>