Under floor heating for the RS4

[Outtlaw]

Just wanted to pick your brains on Under floor heating in the garage.
Been thinking about this for a while now and quite fancied putting this under the floor tiles to keep the garage warm but just wondered if this would cause any problems with the RS4 in there?
Thanks Peter

[ArthurPE]

shouldn't
electric or hot water?
I wouldn't use electric...too much water from the car, snow, etc.


but you might consider a small split heat pump unit
I just installed a small Mitsubishi unit and it is great
I set it at 60F and it hardly runs
plus in the summer, I can use it to cool
installation took me 1 day and costs appear to be $4 to $6 per month

[johninspain]

he means an air to air heat pump, or get an aircon unit, make sure it an invertor. an sir to air works like a fridge in reverse,

[Outtlaw]

Sorry these under floor heating cables go under the tiles and is sealed in the cement, they are used in bathrooms and kitchens etc and wouldnt have thought it would be a problem. Not to sure about Hot air blowers.
Know what you mean about the water and dirt in this weather though, I want white tiles aswell. Peter

[ArthurPE]

Sorry these under floor heating cables go under the tiles and is sealed in the cement, they are used in bathrooms and kitchens etc and wouldnt have thought it would be a problem. Not to sure about Hot air blowers.
Know what you mean about the water and dirt in this weather though, I want white tiles aswell. Peter

the heat pump moves very little air, it just runs consistently at varying speeds as required (that's what the inverter does, we call them VFD's, variable freq drives, they vary the line freq to manipulate the motors speed)

you can't hear it, it just whispers, I love mine

[Outtlaw]

Cheers for the replys ill look in to the air to air heat pumps. Peter

[johninspain]

its just an air conditioning unit ! Make sure it is an inverter (they are cheaper to run) LG do some great plama units ( filter the air remover dust ions etc) but they are quite expensive ! I can get a cheap inverter unbit out in spain for around €350 if it helps you, i would imadgen them to be alot cheaper here ! I can look into posting one out to you if you wish...................... the offer is ther.

John

[bingboybri]

the under floor wires would not be much use in the garage i don't think as there would need to be a thick layer(100mm) of insulation below the actual floor other wise you would be constantly heating a cold concrete slab and of no real benefit to the actual room temp......

[johninspain]

the under floor wires would not be much use in the garage i don't think as there would need to be a thick layer(100mm) of insulation below the actual floor other wise you would be constantly heating a cold concrete slab and of no real benefit to the actual room temp......

Correct, if useing a good system they really want 150mm of kingspan,

The electric systems in my mind are not to good over big areas, aslo an invertor will "condition" the air to some point !

[stumpyrs4]

UFH will only really work as mentioned on a floor which has sufficient depth to it and insulated. I say proper depth as a water system will heat the concrete/screed like a radiator and evenly distribute the heat upwards into the room above. If the floor slab below the heating element (cable/pipe etc) isn't insulated, the heat will simply heat the soil/sub/base below and not the room above?

I have had 2x water UFH systems in my last 2 houses (built by me), and work very well. Electric cable systems work well in retrofit situations, like kitchens and bathrooms and conservatories, but cost more to run. They're easier to install as they are very thin and can be laid in flooring tile adhesive (i.e. only a few mm depth), and the floor in question 'should' be already insulated.

HTH

[johninspain]

if you do go for ufh try a Schott System, they are the best in the uk (i used to be a director of a company that was heavely into renewable energy etc www.homeinsulationservices.co.uk). They can be found here http://www.rayotec.com/ the man to speak to is Sabba, he will tell you your best options and price ! Tell him John from Home Insulation Services gave you his details, he will sort you out and knowes everything there is to know, ifact he is proble the uks leading expert in UFH

[stumpyrs4]

[quote="johninspain"... he is proble the uks leading expert in UFH[/quote]

There's alot of people that would disagree with you there!

There have been MANY companies specialising in only UFH for many many years, who would also possibly lay claim to that title!

[Outtlaw]

Thanks for the replys guys didnt really think about UFH heating the ground below maybe not the right solution, thought it would be cool though, warm floor when getting out the car, no radiators.
Johninspain thanks for the offer and posting the links ill have a look but probably wont be doing this for a while.
Stumpy, i think what you are talking about with the water UFH in conservatories is more on the lines of what i wanted. Peter

[stumpyrs4]

Water systems need the screed depth to work, as the pipes are usually about an inch in diameter, and need circa 55-65mm screed depth to work?

The garage - is it external, i.e. has it's own roof, or is it integral with the house? How is the garage roof insulated? Most garages especially if they're external or not fully integral with the house, don';t have an insulated roof? Therefore if you do heat the floor successfully, the heat will simply rise up and escape through the roof...?

Nothing's impossible, just need to insulate the floor, possibly walls, and roof, to stop the heat escaping?

The art of sustainability is to Reduce, Re-use, and Re-cycle in that order of priority. So the best form of energy conservation isn't installing PV Cells on your roof, it's actually insulating your property to stop the energy you're already producing from escaping, thereby reducing the heating demand in your property. After that it's using efficient appliances and low-energy lights etc...

Too much info??

[Iain_S4]

how about a de-humidifier rather than heating? Although depending on the type/model there are limitations on how effective they can be at low temperatures.