Weil-McLain Radiant Heater User Manual

®

AlumiPex

Radiant Tubing

Above Floor

Installation Guide

These Instructions must be used only by a qualified installer/service
technician. Read these instructions completely before beginning. Failure to
follow these instructions can cause severe personal injury, death or substantial
property damage.

Part No. 650-000-221/0298

AlumiPe x Radiant Tubing

Hazard Definitions

Indicates presence of hazards that will cause
severe personal injury, death or substantial
property damage.

Indicates presence of hazards that will or can
cause minor personal injury or property
damage.

Codes and Standards

• This guide is provided for general information only.
The building or heating system designer is responsible
for all design details and for compliance with all
building codes, local and national.

• Refer to AlumiPex Technical Information sheets for
specific approvals and listings of AlumiPex Radiant
Tubing.

Indicates presence of hazards that can cause
severe personal injury, death or substantial
property damage.

Indicates special instructions on installation,
operation or maintenance that are important
but not related to personal injury or property
hazards.

• AlumiPex Radiant Tubing is not approved for potable
water applications.

• Consult local requirements before installing a radiant
heating system. Install AlumiPex tubing following all
of the applicable codes and all specifications and
methods prescribed by the building designer and
heating system designer.

Do not use AlumiPex Radiant Tubing to
conduct natural gas. Such an application
could result in severe personal injury, death
or substantial property damage.

Do not expose AlumiPex Radiant Tubing to
petroleum products or solvents.
Do not weld or glue AlumiPex.
Do not secure AlumiPex tubing permanently
with adhesive tape.
The tubing could be damaged, resulting in
risk of severe personal injury, death or
substantial property damage.

Finished Flooring: Use only finished
flooring rated by the flooring manufacturer
for use with heated floors. Failure to follow
this guideline could result in substantial
property damage.

Do not use AlumiPex Radiant Tubing in
potable water or combination space heating/
potable water heating applications.
The tubing is not approved for domestic
water use.
In combination space heating/potable water
heating applications, chemical or biological
contamination in the system water is possible
and could result in severe personal injury,
death or substantial property damage.

Use only AlumiPex Fittings with AlumiPex
Tubing. Use of any other method can result in
severe personal injury, death or substantial
property damage.

This installation guide covers both new
construction and retrofit. For retrofit of a
completed building review the Trade Guides
with the building owner if there is no general
contractor involved in the remodeling project.

2

Part Number 650-000-221/0298

Above Floor Installation Guide

ALUMIPEX STEP-BY-STEP - - ­ABOVE FLOOR INSTALLATION

Page CONTENTS

4

7

8

9

10

11

11

12

Tube Layouts for Radiant Heating

Obtain Tube Layout Drawing

Meet with General Contractor

Obtain Materials

Obtain Special Equipment

Pre-Installation Check List

Mark Tube Layout on Subfloor

Mount Manifold(s)

Heating

Contractor

!

Set Tube Layout

!

Review Plans and
Trade Guides with
General Contractor

!

Purchase materials
and equipment

TYPICAL SEQUENCE

Others

Calculate heat loss

!

and design radiant
system

Site Preparation

!

Rough in utilities

!

Pour Foundation &

!

Main Slab
Building Closure

!

Interior Framing,

!

Plumbing, Electrical

14

17

18

18

18

19

19

Part Number 650-000-221/0298

Install the Tubing

Pressure Test Tubing

Connect System Piping

Pressurize Tubing for Observation

Before Leaving the Jobsite . . .

Inspect Tubing Before Flooring Inst.

Inspection, Repair & Troubleshooting

Install and Test

!

AlumiPex Manifolds
and Tubing
Install System Piping

!

& Heating
Components

! Inspect and Test

System After
Building Completion

Drywall

!

Finish Carpentry

!

Finish Flooring

!

3

AlumiPe x Radiant Tubing

A. Tube Layouts for Radiant Heating

1. Radiant Floor Heatng

a. Hot water flowing in the radiant tubing under the

finished flooring heats the flooring and the heat
emission plates. The heat emission plates help
spread the heat evenly across the flooring.

b. Heat must pass through the flooring and the

coverings on the floor (low pile carpeting and
thermal pads, for example). See Figure 1.

• The more the flooring and coverings act as
insulators, the higher the tube water
temperature has to be to cause the floor surface
to heat up.

• Heavy carpeting and pads resist heat transfer
and are not recommended for use in radiant
floor heating.

c. Heat will also try to move downward.

• In suspended floor applications, heat will try
to pass to the space underneath. So insulation
is needed under the floor to prevent this heat
movement.

2. Heat Output from Radiant Floors

a. The floor surface is usually heated to a maximum

temperature of about 85 oF - the surface
temperature of human skin.

• Higher floor temperatures in occupied areas
could be uncomfortable.

• Floor surface temperatures up to 92 oF are
often used around the outside perimeter of
rooms and in other areas where foot contact is
limited.

b. The heat given off by the floor depends on the

difference between the room temperature and the
floor temperature - the larger the difference in
temperature, the greater the heat.

• With the floor at 85 oF and room temperature at
70 oF, each square foot of the heated floor will
give off about 30 Btu’s per hour.

c. The spacing of tubes affects how much heat can be

moved through the floor.

• Closer spacing increases the heat per square
foot of floor.

• This is why tubes are often spaced closer
together along outside walls with high heat
losses - like next to large windows or patio
doors.

Figure 1 - Heat flow from tube through slab

CarpetCarpet
PadPad

SubfloorSubfloor

SleepersSleepers SleepersSleepers

SubfloorSubfloor

InsulationInsulation

TubeTube

Heat Emission PlateHeat Emission Plate

JoistJoist

3. Radiant Floor Heating Design

a. The heating system designer must determine:

• The heat loss for each room.

• Square feet of room floor surface available for
floor heating.

• The water temperature in the tubing and
spacing between tubes - to match the heat
given off by the floor to the heat lost from the
room.

4. Tube Layout Patterns

a. The routing of the tubing in the room affects room

comfort and effectiveness of the floor heating
system.

b. Figure 2 shows typical tube layouts for above floor

installations.

• Where possible, the hottest water is usually
routed along the outside walls.

• Tube routing in above floor installations is
limited by the practicality of variations in
sleeper layouts. Sleepers are the boards used to
separate the tubing and support the flooring.

c. Where the outside wall loss is particularly high,

such as caused by patio doors, the tubing will
sometimes be spaced closer together for a few feet
out from the wall as shown in Figure 2.

b. Pay close attention to the key information given in

these illustrations, such as:

• flow direction

• minimum bend diameters

• spacing to walls

• heat emission plates

• passage under walls

• use of closer spacing

4

Part Number 650-000-221/0298

Above Floor Installation Guide

Figure 2 - Typical tube routing for an above floor installation

ABOVE FLOOR INSTALLATION

(One-Way Serpentine Patterns - Typical)

Outside Wall

Interior Partition

Supply

Constant Spacing

Outside Wall Concentrated Spacing

(Wall with large window area or cool wall)

Outside Wall

Interior Partition

Interior Partition

Return

These drawings are conceptual only. Consult Weil-McLain Radiant Guides or Software for actual project layout.

Interior Partition

Supply

Interior Partition

Return

Interior Partition

NOTE FLOW DIRECTION

!

The warmest water is directed next to the outside wall.

BEND DIAMETER

Maintain a MINIMUM bend
diameter of:

!

1/2“ Tube - 6 inches
5/8“ Tube - 7 inches

!

3/4“ Tube - 8 inches

!

DISTANCE TO WALL

!

Keep the tubing 4 to 6 inches from the walls.
This will reduce the chance of damage due to drilling,

!

sawing or nailing.

Part Number 650-000-221/0298

Bend

Diameter

USE HEAT EMISSION PLATES

!

Snap the tubing into AlumiPex Heat Emission Plates
placed on the sleepers.

These plates spread the heat evenly to the floor and ensure

!

that the tubing is maintained in tight contact with the
flooring above.

Staple the heat emission plates to the sleepers on one side

!

only to allow the plates to conform as the flooring or
subfloor is installed.

PASSAGE UNDER WALLS

!

Avoid running tube under walls if possible.
Where tubing must run under a wall, mark the framing

!

above for 6 inches on either side of this location so no
fasteners will be driven into the framing near the tubing.

CLOSER SPACING

!

Tubing is often spaced closer near outside walls with cool
surface temperatures or large window areas.

5

AlumiPe x Radiant Tubing

Figure 6 - T ypical tube layout drawing

TUBE LAYOUT DRAWING - Typical

washer / dryer

DINING

LR1

KITCHEN

DK

LIVING ROOM

LR2

U
T

I

L

I

T

UT

Y

Slab Control Joint

MANIFOLD

BEDROOM

BR1

BT

B
A
T
H

BEDROOM

This drawing is conceptual only. Consult Weil-McLain Radiant Guides or Software for actual project layout.

BR3

BEDROOM

BR2

Tubing

Circuit

Finished
Flooring

Tube Spacing

(Center to Center)

Circuit

Length

Leader
Length

Length

Allowance

Normal Close

Inches Inches Feet Feet Feet Feet

LR1 Low pile carpet w/ thermal pad 8.5 178 43 10 231
LR2 Low pile carpet w/ thermal pad 8.5 6.5 192 22 10 224

DK Laminatedhardwood 12.5 6.5 227 28 10 265
UT Ceramic tile 6.5 45 4 10 59

BT Ceramic tile 6.5 79 12 10 101
BR1 Laminated hardwood 8.5 6.5 141 22 10 173
BR2 Laminated hardwood 8.5 6.5 163 22 10 195
BR3 Laminated hardwood 8.5 6.5 156 19 10 185

Coil

Number

Coil Length Tube Size

1 1000 feet 1/2" 974
2 300 feet 1/2" 286
3 300 feet 1/2" 173

Use for Circuits Listed

LR1, LR2, DK, UT & BR2

BT & BR3

BR1

Total
Tube

Length

Total

Length

6

Part Number 650-000-221/0298