![]() ![]() Engineers who want to learn more about PEX can contact the High Temperature Division of the Plastics Pipe Institute (PPI) at 20 or visit Modern controls, circulators and boiler systems As with the entire HVAC industry, the growth of radiant floor heating has greatly benefited from the advent of electric control systems. And PEXb is now going into its second year. PEXa and PEXc have been in wide use in the U.S. With the former PB extruders making PEXb, marketing efforts for the use of PEX greatly increased. This changed the market for PEX considerably because PEX did not have a competitor in PB competing for the plastic pipe market share. (Modern Plastics, May 1996, "Extruders eye options after Shell halts PB pipe-resin sales in U.S.") Companies that were making PB were getting into the PEX business within months after their PB resin shipments stopped. The silane compounds used to make PEX worked in the same extrusion machinery used to make PB. market manufactured by the silane (PEXb) method. market for pipe production in 1996, another type of PEX was introduced to the U.S. ![]() With the removal of Polybutylene (PB) resins from the U.S. Both the peroxide (PEXa) and electron (PEXc) methods had a strong performance rating and have continued to satisfy European specifying engineers for more than 25 years. PEX pipe While the United States had its sights on the moon during the late '60s and early '70s, Europe was busy developing PEX. The challenge now for the radiant floor heating industry is to reintroduce these heating concepts with the new technology to a skeptical clientele in the commercial/industrial realm. Engineers stopped working with radiant floor heating during the late '60s and '70s because of several reasons:Ģ) The thermal mass properties of the slab made the systems difficult to control.ģ) There were higher installation costs associated with steel or copper piping systems.Ĥ) Electrical companies instigated promotional programs to introduce the heat pump.īeginning in the late 1980s, radiant floor heating made a comeback in the residential market because of some key industry changes:ġ) Introduction of plastic pipe made from cross-linked polyethylene (PEX)Ģ) Introduction of electronic controls, boilers and circulators designed for radiant floor heatingģ) Installation components, manifolds and flexible plastic pipe were designed to be installed as a system, thus reducing installation time, cost and skills required of the installer.Ĥ) Building owners discovered that they missed the comfort associated with hot-water heating systems, both hydronic radiation and hydro-coils. Like hot-water radiator heating systems, radiant floor heating was widely used to heat many projects during the late '40s and '50s. Then and now Although radiant floor heating is not a new technology, North American engineers rarely specify radiant floor heating as their primary heating system. Floor heating systems are also virtually maintenance-free.Ĭandidates for radiant floor heating include: Floor heating systems can also help to dry floors that need frequent mopping, thus minimizing "slip and fall" cases. These conditions are commonly associated with atriums, buildings with parking garages and buildings with large entranceways. Difficult areas to heat often contain high ceilings, weather-exposed floors, floors with high back losses and large amounts of air infiltration. Each project is evaluated to determine which configuration is best suited for the application.A number of commercial and industrial heating engineers are confidently specifying radiant floor heating systems to resolve their most difficult heating challenges. The ground loop can take several different configurations: horizontal, vertical, pond/lake or open loop. The fluid in the pipes leaves the home or building in a warm state, and after it circulates through the ground loop, it returns cooler. In the winter, the solution absorbs the heat from the ground and is pumped through the geothermal unit in your home. In order to transfer the heat energy between the earth and your house or building, the system requires a heat exchanger which is called the ground loop.Ī series of pipes (ground loop) is buried under your yard, filled with an anti-freeze solution which is circulated through the pipes, making the loop a highly efficient conductor of energy. When the building requires heat, the geothermal system extracts heat stored in the ground from the sun’s solar energy when cooling is required, the geothermal system extracts heat from the building and stores it in the ground until it’s required for heating. ![]()
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