Radiant Floor Heating Question

[islandhopper]

Hi Everyone,

We just bought a new house that was completed in September. In it it has a propane furnace with forced air, and as well it has Radiant Floor heating that is heated from it's own small hot water tank which heats the basement floor and the the kitchen floor.

I've never had radiant floor heating, so this is all new to me... however I am pretty handy and know a little about a lot.

When the thermostat is set not to open up the circuit on the radiant floor heating I can feel the tank getting hot and the hot water line coming out of the tank is definitly hot. Also, there is power that is going right to the element itself (I tested it)

When I turn the thermostat on the water begins to flow throughout the system (I can see through the pex pipe in the manifold and I car hear it flowing and I can hear the little pump working). When the water flows the temperature on the hot water line gets cool and even after a whole day the floor isn't heating up... is this normal? How long does it take to warm this thing up???

Is there a different problem??

Thanks

Ryan

[HayZee518]

the pump turns on to circulate the hot water. eventually the water will get back to the heater where the aquastat should turn on the elements until its setpoint is satisfied.

[pushkins]

It can take a couple of days for the floor to reach constant temps, the floor will absorb all the water heat very rapidly and keep doing so until the thermostat's set temperature is reached. I had a client that complained about the radiant flooring not feeling warm, it was mid spring they had the AC running and the tiled floor wasn't feeling warm after a week. The AC's cool air was stopping the floor from every reaching warm.

[Redwood]

There is nothing fast about radiant heating in a slab. It is not the kind of system where you raise and lower the temperature based on occupancy to save energy.

Instead it takes days to heat the slab and cool the slab with the heat being a low temperature slow and steady type of heat. Set the thermostat and leave it! The system will do its job!

[jking]

Check your flow indicator.