Not really true.  The same people who make the pipe make 2 foot clip on
plates that you can attach to plywood for those people who don't want to use
a concrete floor.  I've seen under floor installations, too.  Radiant
heating doesn't have to be in concrete.

On 11/19/02 11:17 AM, "Gary Shea" <shea@gtsdesign.com> wrote:

> On Tue, 19 Nov 2002, at 10:49 [-0800], Eric Spletzer (eric@SENIORNET.ORG)
> wrote:
>
>> Thanks to everyone who responded.  Turned out to be a great thread.
>>
>> After attending a workshop on hydronic radiant heating this weekend, I'm
>> somewhat interested in the possibility of using this.  I'm shooting from the
>> hip here - so if I'm missing something. Please let me know.  Humor me though
>> - this could have potential.
>>
>> What if there was a submersible water heater/pump that would heat your water
>> to say.... 130 degrees.  Not hot enough to melt your tank, but enough to
>> keep it really warm.  This (130-140 degrees) is roughly  the temp that goes
>> through the radiant piping in a home.  Then you could use this pump to
>> circulate the hot water through KITEC tubing that you lay under your carpet
>> in the cabin.
>
> An interesting idea... but I'm afraid there is a fatal flaw.  Humans are
> very aware of radiant heat, which is why hydronic heating is so popular.
> The way you get radiant heat with a hydronic floor is by saturating a
> large thermal mass with a low level of enery which it radiates
> semi-uniformly.  The key is the amount of thermal mass.  The equivalent
> hydronic floor for the van is unfortunately a 3" layer of concrete under
> he carpet.  Yikes!
>
> Gary
>
>> This is basically the concept behind a hydronic radiant heating system in
>> your home.  If you did this in the van, it could be a permanent
>> installation, and all you have to do is turn on the heater and you serve two
>> purposes: keep your water warm and unfrozen, and heat the van safely at the
>> same time.
>>
>> Drawbacks I can see right now:
>> 1. The water you get from this sink would be really hot and I don't know if
>> you can get a pump/heater that you can use on potable water.  (But you don't
>> really want cold water in the winter anyway.)
>> 2. To install the piping correctly, you would fill in the spaces in between
>> the pipes with plywood or something similar, which might suck in the case of
>> an accident.
>>
>> Now that said - it's not nearly as simple as an electric blanket or a lil
>> block heater from WalMart - but could be a realy cool (er... Warm) way of
>> keeping your water handy and keeping the van warm.
>>
>> Any thoughts/comments/noticeable problems with this?
>>
>> --eric
>> ----------------------
>> '85 GL Camper (Moby)
>> San Francisco, CA
>>
>>
>>
>

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San Francisco, CA, 94105

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