Young man your ever evolving skill set is more impressive with each new project. It’s a pleasure to see such a smart hard working young man especially in todays setting.
Great job, a Benjamin saving all of us Benjamins. Thank you. May I add. Best practice for zero noise, staple only one side of the plate. Staple double bubble with foil on both sides insulation across the I or open joist 1 ½ inch top member for a 1 ½ inch air gap. This floor will require a higher design water temperature to produce the same BTUs as an in-bedded system. Example: concrete 110f and staple up 140f for climate zone 4. Use the return water temperature of this zone to feed a zone requiring less temperature Use software like LoopCad or a manual calculation for heat loss. Radiant heat, preparing you for living in hell where there are no cold spots just total comfort (lol) Yes, warmer than hell and you are never going back.
Great job. Trusting I didn’t miss this but you may want to add that when possible the runs first coming from the heat source should be focussed on the coldest parts of the floor example the extremities so for instance your greatest heat is not in the middle of the floor where it gets too hot
Great video and clear explanation. Having one installed now, after the electric one I had installed last year never worked (contractor claimed he tested it, but apparently not, so lots of money wasted on my part). Praying this works. Tired of spewing money.
Cool! I've had the chance to install this type of radiant heat with accessories and over the years of installation of boilers etc I've found "poor-overs" are much easier and way more efficient. Nice work! Hated loading my uncoiler lol.... I'm now becoming a mechanical engineer at 45 years young.... Hard work and good work ethics pay off💯 keep it up!
You mentioned pour overs are way more efficient. I've got some questions if you don't mind. With the underfloor heat, I guess you have a layer of plywood to get through, so would be slower to get to temperature, and it wouldn't retain and disperse the heat as well as concrete. But even so, I assume that most of the heat is not totally 'lost', but is still staying in the house and eventually will be dispersed into the room. Is that correct? I'm guessing that you risk losing some heat to adjacent areas, like the room below (which may or may not be desirable), or even to outside walls, but maybe these could be mitigated to some extent with proper insulation? Is there anything I'm missing or misunderstanding? I'm just trying to understand the pros and cons a little better for a situation where there is already a finished floor that I would prefer not to destroy.
Hello from Chile Ben! I have radiant heating here in my house that I installed and I love it. I came to your video so that I could get an update on the correct installation process. I could not find the OMEGA Plates here in Chile years ago. So I had to use multiple clips which was not the best but it is still effective. Thanks for the video. Very good explanation. Here I use a wood boiler to heat my water. It works well. Thanks again Ben. Jim in Chile.
As usual, great video Ben. I did mine exactly like this. If I had it to do all over again, I think I may have done it differently though. Each of my zones, done in this manner, really suffer from thermal loss across the floor of each room. What I mean by that is that the side of the room where the loops begin is always substantially warmer than the far side. I think when I do the next rooms, rather than running the tube into the cavity and down and back, and then into the next cavity, like you've done in this video and like I did in all of my other rooms, I will run the tubes into the cavity, down to the end and then into the next cavity - having a single tube in each cavity all the way to the far end of the room and then run the tube back through in the same manner, ending up with 2 tubes per cavity like your method here but, unlike this method, the heat should be much more evenly distributed throughout the room rather than having a hot side and a cooler side of the floor. Has anyone ever done it that way and if so, did it do what I'm hoping it will do? What's your opinion on this Ben? Either way, this video is yet another example of your excellent teaching talent. You always explain things in such a way that anyone can understand it. That is a true gift. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Even at 430K+ subs, I think your channel is seriously underrated. Thanks again. Be well.
Have you tried reversing the flow (swapping the tubes at the manifold) so that the hottest section of pex goes first to the exterior side of the zone (coolest section of the room)?
Great video! Several years ago I raised a sunken living room floor to the same level as the rest of the main floor level using 2x8 joists. Because the living room was a converted single stall garage, I couldn't access the joist bays from below. So, after friction fitting batt insulation plus a one inch layer of foil backed rigid insulation in the joist bays, I notched each joist from the top and stapled the heat transfer plates transvers to the joists. After snapping the pex into place in the same pattern that you are showing here, I installed the sheathing to complete the upgrade. Also, I used a big black marker to map the tubing below, then wrote a note to beware of what is below. To do it all over again, I would have spaced the initial (4) runs of tubing 6" OC along both exterior walls first, then continue in the field. At -40 in Fairbanks, the entire floor is nicely warm on the feet, but there is a slight cool convection dropping down from above at the walls where a couch or chair may be located. Note that my home has R 38 walls and an R50 lid but placing the heat nearest to the heat loss will make for a more comfortable space. Once again, great job on the video.
@@paulhoekstra7569 yep, but they are completely supported by the conc slab that they are sitting on. Agree that notching is not good for a free span joist.
The only tools we use is the good ol red and black Milwaukee. Never stops working. The staple idea is a good one. Wish I saw this video as we did this very same job on an addition.
I used these plates to radiant heat the tile floor in the kitchen when I was finishing off the basement below. Then on top of the slab in the basement I used some plastic spacers designed for radiant heating. On top of this was a cement board underlayment for a tile floor or a plywood subfloor for the basement bedroom that was carpeted. I used 300 foot rolls, and due to the size involved all of the loops ended up somewhere around 250 feet. I used a really cheap corded electrical stapler, and afterwards drove any staples that were sitting proud in with a tap of a hammer. With the basement layout, I didn't have to drill any holes through the joists for the radiant floor because the loops were in an area that was going to be left as an unfinished storage room, and the other ends of the loops were mostly beneath the kitchen cabinets. This was circa 2006. It's interesting that the process and material is pretty much unchanged from that time.
Benjamin, Came across your video as I am looking into adding this type of system into my finished cottage. I would need to be installing from our crawl space (totally dry as when we built we sprayed the ground a min of 4'' and all up the walls and roof) We should have added infloor heat mats when we tiled, but we didn't and now looking to add this system. I found your video to be VERY useful on how to plan and install this system! So please, Continue to make more videos. Your descriptions are done incredibly well. Cheers,
Great video. I am getting ready to put hydronic heat in a duplex we have been building out of pocket for 9 years. There are full basements in both units. I was going to put in those Morris Beacon heaters, but I can handle this even at 70 yo.
Nice work. Making the holes bigger as you suggest is the best advice. I fought with a lot of pex because of this. The twist and pull is the method I use instead of having all those loops hanging and feeding. Its way faster and reduces the chance of kinking. You could've heated up that kink if it wasn't too bad. Always have a plan drawing for the routing this way you can combine some shorter loops with potential longer loops. It's easier to balance out the loops on paper first. I have done 1/2" 350' runs without issues but I do planning to stay below 300' Design the flow to heat from the outside in and keep off the outside wall by 12", don't heat but completely insulate the outside joist to the box.
There is a argument that the heat transfer plates are not needed due to the nature of the floor assembly being saturated with heat and the slow nature of heating the system. Great job on the install. Nice video.
Agreed. I installed yrs ago in a new house. Read the pros and cons of transfer plates. Decided not to use. No noise. Even heat. Must keep set temp, no set back. Takes time to both heat up AND cool down. Best even, quiet heat.
@@adamenstrom I would think that depends on how much heat you are trying to transfer and how much floor area you have to transfer it. If you don't use the plates, how do folks hold the PEX in place? I used the plates based on the research that I did at that time, but that was 18 years ago.
@richdobbs6595 Mine are held in place with 1/2" half opened holding clips that secure to the sub floor with provided nails. The way mine was done was definitely half assed though and I plan on adding more of those clips when I redo my insulation. When budget allows, I would like to redo everything with the plates eventually.
Great video. Looking to do something similar in my crawl space and this had all the tips I was looking for. As to naming the roll carriage, two suggestions: The PEX Plexus, or The PEX Dispenser. Keep the great content coming!
I've installed many, and never come across a wood floor that was somehow incompatible. My last job was in my own house, and I had prefinished solid maple. These systems are lower in efficiency, but work well regardless.
Code is not opinion. In Canada 1 inch hole has to be 12" from any load bearing wall and 12" per inch in hole size there after to a maximum of 1/3 of joist size. ( 3 1/4" hole in 2x10, (9 1/2") Neat product and work.
Ben, really really great job with this video. AAA+++ You tone, delivery, speed... quality of info. You're pro my friend. Thank you so much, learned what I need to learn in order to make what is a pain the ass much easier! hahahha. Have a great day / week ahead!
Nice. I think I might try it. Seems like I could create each bay loop, grab and twist pull and staple, one at a time, rather than constantly feeding and maintaining all the little intermediate loops.
It is a very nice instructional video , however I saw one thing I need to share , and for personal experience, make sure the silicon you use it's comparable or use something else, reason been in a new construction, we had so many problems with areas that we discover that when silicon was in contact with the PEX and also with the new orange PVC for fire sprinkles , for some reason it had a chemical reaction and end up breaking or becoming weak or unglued , yes after many investigation that was sthe culprit , had to go to court to prove this things ,so be safe
this is a fine example of how to do this task.....NOW..I see all the holes that must be drilled for the heat lines....What are the rules for "engineered floor joists"? near the rim joists? along with all the other stuff mounted to the ceiling such as ducts, piping and etc, It's all good when it not obstructed but OMG on an existing ceiling.
i did this to my house. If you do this put your bed mattress on the floor, the heat will make the entire bed warm and cozy in the winter - win, win. You can thank me later ;)
Its for this reason, inefficiency, that i went with Ecowarm floor panels for my in-floor heating of the upper floor of my garage. I had the project panels layed down and secured, and the PEX tubes run in about 4hrs. AND the efficiency of the heat getting to the room is MUCH greater because the tubes are IN the floor and not UNDER the subfloor. UNDER means you need a hotter temp to heat the tubes, the aluminum flashing, then the 3/4 or greater subfloor, then FINALLY the heat get to the room. I like way much better...lol.
I did runs no more then 250 ft, and nailed it on the side of the joists on 1 ft centers 2 ins down, so I didn't have to worry about nails going into it from above, and put 2×8 insulation underneath, and insulated all interior walls,
Problem with this setup of pex tubing, is there's going to be a definite gradient from one end of the floor to the other. The water from the boiler is heating the first coils of pex first, then the next coils, etc. By the time it gets to the end of the loop, a significant amount of the available heat will have been extracted, leading you to a floor that goes from hot to cold (or warm, to less warm). When laying pex in a floor like this, you should be arranging your tubes in a |X|X|X|X|X format down the joists (criss-crossing at the end), with holes at each end, so one side of the joist has water closest to the supply, the other end has the equivalent closest to the return, resulting in more even heating.
Appreciate the comment. I am about to install underfloor radiant system like that in this video. All the videos I keep watching state to do what this young man did. I kept wondering why, that would mean it'll be warmest in the first bay and then cool down where it enters the last bay. I had wondered if that meant starting closets to the outside wall since that will be the coldest area and then end the run toward middle of room. Now I am curious if your method would distribute the heat evenly across the 300 ft.
@@thelazyhiker3288 I replaced my furnace/radiator setup ~10 years ago, and have heated my entire home with pex radiant ever since. I'm in southern Ontario, so it gets cold (but not crazy cold, usually caps out around -15 to -20c), and my house is almost entirely spray foamed with 2LB closed cell foam. The floor heat is evenly distributed, but it's not uniform. To my surprise, you can notice the specific hot spots where maybe plates made better contact with the floor (IE: were pressed tight), and you can tell where maybe fewer distribution plates were run down a joist. If I was to do ti again, I'd add as many plates as possible. That said, having warmer and cooler spots hasn't been an issue, it's not very obvious to the touch, but my cat definitely has favourite spots to plop down. That said, a manifold with adjustment on each run, and one run per room, has been an absolute God-send. Some rooms you want to push more heat into (IE: the front entryway, bathroom, etc.), while others you want to push much less (bedrooms, nobody likes a warm bedroom). Don't skimp on that if you're doing any size of system!! Hope it helps :)
Made my own plates out of aluminum sofits each panel was 24 inches by 15 inches with two rounded channels for the pex. Twice the heat transfer and cheaper than those plates.
Excellent video! Would like to learn more about boiler options, particularly about electric boilers. Where I live natural gas is not available and propane keeps getting more and more expensive. Wood fired might also work but is more time consuming. I wonder if there is a hybrid wood fired with electric assist? If so, solar and/ or wind generated power could be used to assist the system. Once again great content!
If you have the land, horizontally bored geothermal loops as the source for a heat pump would be supet cost effective vs propane. You can run a hydronic loop off the heat pump
@@nieldcreek2098 Depending on your climate though, an air to water heat pump would be much cheaper than geothermal with a COP VERY close to geothermal. If you are somewhere that gets VERY cold pretty often, i would do geothermal, but if you only occassionally get very cold, air to water or hydronic heat pumps could be a great solution. Only issue is there are few producers of these in the states. Spacepak seems to be the best. Geothermal i would say is only worth it compared to an air source heat pump if you often have extreme cold that a heat pump's performance would suffer.
I use a 50-gal hot water tank with an expansion tank and taco pump. I have it set on the lowest setting "A" and it keeps a 150 loop at 90ºF. I am adding 2 more 140' loops soon, so I imagine that I will need to turn it up a bit. I know it's a 'poor man's' setup, but it works like a champ.
Very good work on the video and very informative. I just put this into my house. I retrofitted underneath with the 1 inch boards and then hardwood on top of that. During this most recent cold snap the system couldn’t keep up. I still have not insulated between the joists. My question is will insulation make a drastic difference. I have a friend who set his system up almost identical to mine and he didn’t insulate in order to heat his basement as well. His system keeps up fine. I’m wondering if it’s an issue that there’s at least 1 3/4 inches of subfloor or should that not make a difference?
any heating system has conducted heat the pipe and plates touching floor, the convection of the hot air collecting up against the underside of floor rising up, and radiant heat. which is only a part of the heat going up through floor. my bathroom is heated with nothing but copper pipe up against wood no metal plates or insulation with 3/4 tongue and groove boards then plywood above it and linoleum tiles on floor above, but my system runs at whatever high temp my whole system is at for baseboard from 120 to 180 with high efficiency boiler so I didn't want my floor burning hot when barefoot out of shower I might add aluminum plates or insulation if we want more heat but i think this system you have there will be plenty warm
Do explain... I think I know what you're saying but some context goes a long way in a comment where you're calling someone out on their failures. Thanks
Very interesting didn't know this was an option. I have access to my basement or I could technically do my full house this way I wonder how efficient it is I would definitely stuff some rock wool under it and then probably air seal it
This is all nice and wonderful, now the flooring people have arrived to nail down an oak floor, how do you prevent a nail from the gun from piercing the PEX below?
My main concern with this installation method is the risk of nails from the hardwood floor installation on a new build or renovation project puncturing the PEX piping. Many installers use wooden blocks instead on the underside of the floor and attach the pex to the blocks. Heat rises and will still heat the floor above even if the PEX piping is not touching the underside of the subfloor.
How well does this actually heat? It would be nice to use this to evenly distribute heat in my house, since the bedrooms always seems to be cold. I wonder if I could use my water heater instead of a boiler...
Great video, not sure if I missed it or could not find, but what is the heat source for this system? Would love to see you do a video on Air to water Monoblock or a Heat Pump to indoor unit maybe even a hybrid Outdoor Heap pump to Coaxile exchanger to buffer tank?? Really like you video's.
@@BenjaminSahlstrom I have been living in San Francisco Bay Area for the past 30 years. Engineering degree and Silicon Valley is the rest of the story.
Back when my brother had his house done it was a brand new idea and a brand new product solar roll tubing was put in a loop between each joist and attached to 3/4 copper headers each tube waa rubber about an inch in width two rubber tubes joined together with a rubber Web it was easy to install just staple the web to the bottom of the plywood floor and attach it to the copper headers each tube was attached so it was hooked up at the ends one side to the feed and one to the return so each side side flowed opposite ways that way each side had equal heat transfer but afterwards they realized that they had a lot of oxygen transfer into the water in the tube aluminum foil was installed between the joist and R12 fiber glass insulation installed below
Hey man. This video was remarkably good. Thank you so much. My wife and I purchased a 1920 English Tudor home in the historic neighborhood of Indianapolis. We are spending an arm and a leg gutting the place and installing all new mechanicals. We put a geothermal system in as well as tankless heaters and spray foam, etc., etc. After we move in, I was thinking about doing this through our unfinished basement. However, our first floor has a lot of construction from the 1920s with marble floors And many of the Joyce cavities are 12 inches rather than 16 inches on center. Do you think that this system can work knowing the cavities are only about 10’’ wide?
As manufactur recommend, why they keep the pipes 2-3 inches on cement floor but nothing on wood floor. You install it directly under the floor!.what about if the customer want to install a new subfloor in future for some reason it will damage all pipes and waste money. I think should install a protection metal plate or leave a gaps between the pipe and the floor around 1-2 inches to avoid any damage or issues. What do you think as manufactur recommend? Thanks .
Great Video!! well explained and detailed. question. If you have I-Joist on 16" centers could you run bigger tubing and just one tube down the middle instead of two tubes? Maybe 5/8?
Young man your ever evolving skill set is more impressive with each new project. It’s a pleasure to see such a smart hard working young man especially in todays setting.
Can't wait to see the boiler hook-up video next!
Great job, a Benjamin saving all of us Benjamins. Thank you. May I add. Best practice for zero noise, staple only one side of the plate. Staple double bubble with foil on both sides insulation across the I or open joist 1 ½ inch top member for a 1 ½ inch air gap. This floor will require a higher design water temperature to produce the same BTUs as an in-bedded system. Example: concrete 110f and staple up 140f for climate zone 4. Use the return water temperature of this zone to feed a zone requiring less temperature Use software like LoopCad or a manual calculation for heat loss. Radiant heat, preparing you for living in hell where there are no cold spots just total comfort (lol) Yes, warmer than hell and you are never going back.
It’s satisfying to see such a clean installation
Great job. Trusting I didn’t miss this but you may want to add that when possible the runs first coming from the heat source should be focussed on the coldest parts of the floor example the extremities so for instance your greatest heat is not in the middle of the floor where it gets too hot
Great video and clear explanation. Having one installed now, after the electric one I had installed last year never worked (contractor claimed he tested it, but apparently not, so lots of money wasted on my part). Praying this works. Tired of spewing money.
Cool! I've had the chance to install this type of radiant heat with accessories and over the years of installation of boilers etc I've found "poor-overs" are much easier and way more efficient.
Nice work! Hated loading my uncoiler lol.... I'm now becoming a mechanical engineer at 45 years young....
Hard work and good work ethics pay off💯 keep it up!
You mentioned pour overs are way more efficient. I've got some questions if you don't mind. With the underfloor heat, I guess you have a layer of plywood to get through, so would be slower to get to temperature, and it wouldn't retain and disperse the heat as well as concrete. But even so, I assume that most of the heat is not totally 'lost', but is still staying in the house and eventually will be dispersed into the room. Is that correct? I'm guessing that you risk losing some heat to adjacent areas, like the room below (which may or may not be desirable), or even to outside walls, but maybe these could be mitigated to some extent with proper insulation? Is there anything I'm missing or misunderstanding? I'm just trying to understand the pros and cons a little better for a situation where there is already a finished floor that I would prefer not to destroy.
The "Pexnado" PEX Tubing Unroller, is a super helpful tool.
The cute little animations during installation REALLY set this video above and beyond for assisting DIY jobs. Thank you so much!
Hello from Chile Ben!
I have radiant heating here in my house that I installed and I love it.
I came to your video so that I could get an update on the correct installation process. I could not find the OMEGA Plates here in Chile years ago. So I had to use multiple clips which was not the best but it is still effective. Thanks for the video. Very good explanation.
Here I use a wood boiler to heat my water. It works well.
Thanks again Ben. Jim in Chile.
As usual, great video Ben.
I did mine exactly like this. If I had it to do all over again, I think I may have done it differently though.
Each of my zones, done in this manner, really suffer from thermal loss across the floor of each room. What I mean by that is that the side of the room where the loops begin is always substantially warmer than the far side. I think when I do the next rooms, rather than running the tube into the cavity and down and back, and then into the next cavity, like you've done in this video and like I did in all of my other rooms, I will run the tubes into the cavity, down to the end and then into the next cavity - having a single tube in each cavity all the way to the far end of the room and then run the tube back through in the same manner, ending up with 2 tubes per cavity like your method here but, unlike this method, the heat should be much more evenly distributed throughout the room rather than having a hot side and a cooler side of the floor. Has anyone ever done it that way and if so, did it do what I'm hoping it will do? What's your opinion on this Ben?
Either way, this video is yet another example of your excellent teaching talent. You always explain things in such a way that anyone can understand it. That is a true gift. Thank you for sharing your knowledge and experience with us. Even at 430K+ subs, I think your channel is seriously underrated. Thanks again. Be well.
Have you tried reversing the flow (swapping the tubes at the manifold) so that the hottest section of pex goes first to the exterior side of the zone (coolest section of the room)?
Great video! Several years ago I raised a sunken living room floor to the same level as the rest of the main floor level using 2x8 joists. Because the living room was a converted single stall garage, I couldn't access the joist bays from below. So, after friction fitting batt insulation plus a one inch layer of foil backed rigid insulation in the joist bays, I notched each joist from the top and stapled the heat transfer plates transvers to the joists. After snapping the pex into place in the same pattern that you are showing here, I installed the sheathing to complete the upgrade. Also, I used a big black marker to map the tubing below, then wrote a note to beware of what is below. To do it all over again, I would have spaced the initial (4) runs of tubing 6" OC along both exterior walls first, then continue in the field. At -40 in Fairbanks, the entire floor is nicely warm on the feet, but there is a slight cool convection dropping down from above at the walls where a couch or chair may be located. Note that my home has R 38 walls and an R50 lid but placing the heat nearest to the heat loss will make for a more comfortable space. Once again, great job on the video.
You notched the joist! Now they are 2x6's.
@@paulhoekstra7569 yep, but they are completely supported by the conc slab that they are sitting on. Agree that notching is not good for a free span joist.
@@ChuckKarl525 Now I understand. I missed a couple words in your note. I think I started in at the second sentence. Have a great day.
@@paulhoekstra7569 you have a great day as well.
The only tools we use is the good ol red and black Milwaukee. Never stops working. The staple idea is a good one. Wish I saw this video as we did this very same job on an addition.
I used these plates to radiant heat the tile floor in the kitchen when I was finishing off the basement below. Then on top of the slab in the basement I used some plastic spacers designed for radiant heating. On top of this was a cement board underlayment for a tile floor or a plywood subfloor for the basement bedroom that was carpeted. I used 300 foot rolls, and due to the size involved all of the loops ended up somewhere around 250 feet. I used a really cheap corded electrical stapler, and afterwards drove any staples that were sitting proud in with a tap of a hammer. With the basement layout, I didn't have to drill any holes through the joists for the radiant floor because the loops were in an area that was going to be left as an unfinished storage room, and the other ends of the loops were mostly beneath the kitchen cabinets. This was circa 2006. It's interesting that the process and material is pretty much unchanged from that time.
BRO!!! Been in business doing changeouts and ductless. I decided we try our first radiant floor. It turned out amazing. Your video was impeccable.
Benjamin, Came across your video as I am looking into adding this type of system into my finished cottage. I would need to be installing from our crawl space (totally dry as when we built we sprayed the ground a min of 4'' and all up the walls and roof) We should have added infloor heat mats when we tiled, but we didn't and now looking to add this system.
I found your video to be VERY useful on how to plan and install this system! So please, Continue to make more videos. Your descriptions are done incredibly well.
Cheers,
Thanks for the vid! Going to get rid of the baseboard heat in my 100+ year old house. Showing how to loop the runs is very helpful. Thanks!!!
Great video. I am getting ready to put hydronic heat in a duplex we have been building out of pocket for 9 years. There are full basements in both units. I was going to put in those Morris Beacon heaters, but I can handle this even at 70 yo.
Nice work. Making the holes bigger as you suggest is the best advice. I fought with a lot of pex because of this.
The twist and pull is the method I use instead of having all those loops hanging and feeding. Its way faster and reduces the chance of kinking. You could've heated up that kink if it wasn't too bad.
Always have a plan drawing for the routing this way you can combine some shorter loops with potential longer loops. It's easier to balance out the loops on paper first.
I have done 1/2" 350' runs without issues but I do planning to stay below 300'
Design the flow to heat from the outside in and keep off the outside wall by 12", don't heat but completely insulate the outside joist to the box.
There is a argument that the heat transfer plates are not needed due to the nature of the floor assembly being saturated with heat and the slow nature of heating the system. Great job on the install. Nice video.
Agreed. I installed yrs ago in a new house. Read the pros and cons of transfer plates. Decided not to use. No noise. Even heat. Must keep set temp, no set back. Takes time to both heat up AND cool down. Best even, quiet heat.
Yup. Plates are pointless
@@adamenstrom I would think that depends on how much heat you are trying to transfer and how much floor area you have to transfer it. If you don't use the plates, how do folks hold the PEX in place? I used the plates based on the research that I did at that time, but that was 18 years ago.
@richdobbs6595 Mine are held in place with 1/2" half opened holding clips that secure to the sub floor with provided nails. The way mine was done was definitely half assed though and I plan on adding more of those clips when I redo my insulation. When budget allows, I would like to redo everything with the plates eventually.
Great video. Looking to do something similar in my crawl space and this had all the tips I was looking for. As to naming the roll carriage, two suggestions: The PEX Plexus, or The PEX Dispenser. Keep the great content coming!
NOT ALL TYPES OF WOOD FLOORS ARE COMPATIBLE WITH UNDERFLOOR HEATING.
THANK YOU FOR PASSING IT FORWARD.
I've installed many, and never come across a wood floor that was somehow incompatible. My last job was in my own house, and I had prefinished solid maple. These systems are lower in efficiency, but work well regardless.
@@paulmaxwell8851 I HAVE. TRUE STATEMENT. HAPPY HALLYDAY'S 😊
More of a "Warranty" issue than a real issue.
Awesome video. Great explanation. Straightforward, clear and and the appropriate amount of information.
Code is not opinion. In Canada 1 inch hole has to be 12" from any load bearing wall and 12" per inch in hole size there after to a maximum of 1/3 of joist size. ( 3 1/4" hole in 2x10, (9 1/2") Neat product and work.
I would make gauge for marking your holes. just a piece of plywood/ 2x4 to stick into the corner to quickly mark your centers.
That would be faster probably.
Ben, really really great job with this video. AAA+++ You tone, delivery, speed... quality of info. You're pro my friend. Thank you so much, learned what I need to learn in order to make what is a pain the ass much easier! hahahha. Have a great day / week ahead!
Great job man. It's good to see how you keep everything organized.
Nice. I think I might try it. Seems like I could create each bay loop, grab and twist pull and staple, one at a time, rather than constantly feeding and maintaining all the little intermediate loops.
Great work, Benjamin. Thank you for sharing the information. God bless you.
One of the better informative videos I have seen in a while....well done!
What a great video.
I had to look through a 100 videos before. I found one that made sense
It is a very nice instructional video , however I saw one thing I need to share , and for personal experience, make sure the silicon you use it's comparable or use something else, reason been in a new construction, we had so many problems with areas that we discover that when silicon was in contact with the PEX and also with the new orange PVC for fire sprinkles , for some reason it had a chemical reaction and end up breaking or becoming weak or unglued , yes after many investigation that was sthe culprit , had to go to court to prove this things ,so be safe
In a few years when this young man graduates hs, his father is going to have to pay him whatever he asks for. He's incredibly knowledgeable.
this is a fine example of how to do this task.....NOW..I see all the holes that must be drilled for the heat lines....What are the rules for "engineered floor joists"? near the rim joists? along with all the other stuff mounted to the ceiling such as ducts, piping and etc, It's all good when it not obstructed but OMG on an existing ceiling.
Very cool project. Looking forward to seeing more!
Well done---you made it simple!!!
I always like the standard name "Spinning Jenny" used in fencing. Come from the thread spinning of old.
I was going to suggest Spinning Tubing Unroller (STU), but Jenny is the more traditional name!
뛰어난 기술을 습득하고 계십니다. 눈이 호강했습니다. 다음 영상도 기대 합니다~~
i did this to my house. If you do this put your bed mattress on the floor, the heat will make the entire bed warm and cozy in the winter - win, win. You can thank me later ;)
Well done and informative. Wish I had seen this before completing a couple of rooms.
Very nice presentation. Good job, Ben!
Its for this reason, inefficiency, that i went with Ecowarm floor panels for my in-floor heating of the upper floor of my garage. I had the project panels layed down and secured, and the PEX tubes run in about 4hrs. AND the efficiency of the heat getting to the room is MUCH greater because the tubes are IN the floor and not UNDER the subfloor. UNDER means you need a hotter temp to heat the tubes, the aluminum flashing, then the 3/4 or greater subfloor, then FINALLY the heat get to the room. I like way much better...lol.
This kid does nice work. 👍
Great job on the video! I like the way you explain everything.
Nicely done young man, well put together video..
Great presentation very helpful and useful
I did runs no more then 250 ft, and nailed it on the side of the joists on 1 ft centers 2 ins down, so I didn't have to worry about nails going into it from above, and put 2×8 insulation underneath, and insulated all interior walls,
I enjoy your video , very professional . Thank you for sharing it .
this is done in Alberta frequently as air is dry in winter they no like forced air
Great job viewing it properly.
I am not going to try it but enjoy your meticulous style, thank you
Great video. Liked and subbed.
Awesome video dude! Thanks!
Thanks! Have enjoyed your channel now and then by the way!
Ben stellar tips once again!
Problem with this setup of pex tubing, is there's going to be a definite gradient from one end of the floor to the other. The water from the boiler is heating the first coils of pex first, then the next coils, etc. By the time it gets to the end of the loop, a significant amount of the available heat will have been extracted, leading you to a floor that goes from hot to cold (or warm, to less warm). When laying pex in a floor like this, you should be arranging your tubes in a |X|X|X|X|X format down the joists (criss-crossing at the end), with holes at each end, so one side of the joist has water closest to the supply, the other end has the equivalent closest to the return, resulting in more even heating.
You win the internet for the day !!
Appreciate the comment. I am about to install underfloor radiant system like that in this video. All the videos I keep watching state to do what this young man did. I kept wondering why, that would mean it'll be warmest in the first bay and then cool down where it enters the last bay. I had wondered if that meant starting closets to the outside wall since that will be the coldest area and then end the run toward middle of room. Now I am curious if your method would distribute the heat evenly across the 300 ft.
@@thelazyhiker3288 I replaced my furnace/radiator setup ~10 years ago, and have heated my entire home with pex radiant ever since. I'm in southern Ontario, so it gets cold (but not crazy cold, usually caps out around -15 to -20c), and my house is almost entirely spray foamed with 2LB closed cell foam.
The floor heat is evenly distributed, but it's not uniform. To my surprise, you can notice the specific hot spots where maybe plates made better contact with the floor (IE: were pressed tight), and you can tell where maybe fewer distribution plates were run down a joist. If I was to do ti again, I'd add as many plates as possible.
That said, having warmer and cooler spots hasn't been an issue, it's not very obvious to the touch, but my cat definitely has favourite spots to plop down.
That said, a manifold with adjustment on each run, and one run per room, has been an absolute God-send. Some rooms you want to push more heat into (IE: the front entryway, bathroom, etc.), while others you want to push much less (bedrooms, nobody likes a warm bedroom). Don't skimp on that if you're doing any size of system!!
Hope it helps :)
Nice work man. Very well explained aswell
Made my own plates out of aluminum sofits each panel was 24 inches by 15 inches with two rounded channels for the pex.
Twice the heat transfer and cheaper than those plates.
How did you do it?
How about a video on installing radiant in old construction with 2x6 cross bracing. Great looking job. Well done
Thanks again for your time
Excellent video! Would like to learn more about boiler options, particularly about electric boilers. Where I live natural gas is not available and propane keeps getting more and more expensive. Wood fired might also work but is more time consuming. I wonder if there is a hybrid wood fired with electric assist? If so, solar and/ or wind generated power could be used to assist the system. Once again great content!
If you have the land, horizontally bored geothermal loops as the source for a heat pump would be supet cost effective vs propane. You can run a hydronic loop off the heat pump
@@gregwalthers3447 thanks for the input! As a diy person I could sure use as much detail on the how to as much as possible. Thanks!
@@nieldcreek2098 Depending on your climate though, an air to water heat pump would be much cheaper than geothermal with a COP VERY close to geothermal. If you are somewhere that gets VERY cold pretty often, i would do geothermal, but if you only occassionally get very cold, air to water or hydronic heat pumps could be a great solution. Only issue is there are few producers of these in the states. Spacepak seems to be the best. Geothermal i would say is only worth it compared to an air source heat pump if you often have extreme cold that a heat pump's performance would suffer.
I use a 50-gal hot water tank with an expansion tank and taco pump. I have it set on the lowest setting "A" and it keeps a 150 loop at 90ºF. I am adding 2 more 140' loops soon, so I imagine that I will need to turn it up a bit. I know it's a 'poor man's' setup, but it works like a champ.
nice video! very clear and informative!
Thanks for all the info!
A dab of spray foam in holes helps with noise as well as protecting tubing as it goes through joists
Superbly presented, thank you.
Great video.
Going with 5/8 or3/4 pex sure looks enticing.
As always, great video!
Very good work on the video and very informative.
I just put this into my house. I retrofitted underneath with the 1 inch boards and then hardwood on top of that. During this most recent cold snap the system couldn’t keep up. I still have not insulated between the joists. My question is will insulation make a drastic difference. I have a friend who set his system up almost identical to mine and he didn’t insulate in order to heat his basement as well. His system keeps up fine. I’m wondering if it’s an issue that there’s at least 1 3/4 inches of subfloor or should that not make a difference?
Great video, your very good with your explanation. Is there a reason you chose the omega channel instead of what he U channel?
Very high quality video.
Wonderful.. love to see it. beautiful install.
any heating system has conducted heat the pipe and plates touching floor, the convection of the hot air collecting up against the underside of floor rising up, and radiant heat. which is only a part of the heat going up through floor. my bathroom is heated with nothing but copper pipe up against wood no metal plates or insulation with 3/4 tongue and groove boards then plywood above it and linoleum tiles on floor above, but my system runs at whatever high temp my whole system is at for baseboard from 120 to 180 with high efficiency boiler so I didn't want my floor burning hot when barefoot out of shower
I might add aluminum plates or insulation if we want more heat but i think this system you have there will be plenty warm
Great video. Well done!
Looks nice. One problem is: these grillings in joists do not meet IRC requirements. Sorry!
Do explain... I think I know what you're saying but some context goes a long way in a comment where you're calling someone out on their failures. Thanks
Sweet thanks 😊
Thats a lotta work
Very interesting didn't know this was an option. I have access to my basement or I could technically do my full house this way I wonder how efficient it is I would definitely stuff some rock wool under it and then probably air seal it
Nice Job! Great video!
Cool Spool!
We’ll done thanks !
Excellent video, thank you, and subscribed.
Great video 😊
This is all nice and wonderful, now the flooring people have arrived to nail down an oak floor, how do you prevent a nail from the gun from piercing the PEX below?
My main concern with this installation method is the risk of nails from the hardwood floor installation on a new build or renovation project puncturing the PEX piping. Many installers use wooden blocks instead on the underside of the floor and attach the pex to the blocks. Heat rises and will still heat the floor above even if the PEX piping is not touching the underside of the subfloor.
How well does this actually heat? It would be nice to use this to evenly distribute heat in my house, since the bedrooms always seems to be cold.
I wonder if I could use my water heater instead of a boiler...
Great video, not sure if I missed it or could not find, but what is the heat source for this system?
Would love to see you do a video on Air to water Monoblock or a Heat Pump to indoor unit maybe even a hybrid Outdoor Heap pump to Coaxile exchanger to buffer tank?? Really like you video's.
3:14 I see a cooper hunter ahu mini split high static please make a video about that I would love to see
It's in the queue!
Nice job!!
Nice video! I grew up in Slayton. Just a few miles from you! ;-)
What! No way! That's awesome. Was just in Slayton at Bomgaars the other day. You still around the area?
@@BenjaminSahlstrom I have been living in San Francisco Bay Area for the past 30 years. Engineering degree and Silicon Valley is the rest of the story.
Do you have a video of a complete system? Showing what heating element you used.
It will be coming soon!
Back when my brother had his house done it was a brand new idea and a brand new product solar roll tubing was put in a loop between each joist and attached to 3/4 copper headers each tube waa rubber about an inch in width two rubber tubes joined together with a rubber Web it was easy to install just staple the web to the bottom of the plywood floor and attach it to the copper headers each tube was attached so it was hooked up at the ends one side to the feed and one to the return so each side side flowed opposite ways that way each side had equal heat transfer but afterwards they realized that they had a lot of oxygen transfer into the water in the tube aluminum foil was installed between the joist and R12 fiber glass insulation installed below
Tina turner……
I wish I had one of these when I did mine.
I tried those plates and had a terrible time with installation. I ended up using Uponor Joist Track and they were much easier to install.
Hey man. This video was remarkably good. Thank you so much. My wife and I purchased a 1920 English Tudor home in the historic neighborhood of Indianapolis. We are spending an arm and a leg gutting the place and installing all new mechanicals. We put a geothermal system in as well as tankless heaters and spray foam, etc., etc. After we move in, I was thinking about doing this through our unfinished basement. However, our first floor has a lot of construction from the 1920s with marble floors And many of the Joyce cavities are 12 inches rather than 16 inches on center. Do you think that this system can work knowing the cavities are only about 10’’ wide?
I wouldn't be concerned about the closer spacing. Should work perfectly fine. Hope your project goes well!
As manufactur recommend, why they keep the pipes 2-3 inches on cement floor but nothing on wood floor. You install it directly under the floor!.what about if the customer want to install a new subfloor in future for some reason it will damage all pipes and waste money. I think should install a protection metal plate or leave a gaps between the pipe and the floor around 1-2 inches to avoid any damage or issues. What do you think as manufactur recommend? Thanks .
So the name is clear - it must be Kaetlyn - based on ice figure skating Canadian champion Kaetlyn Osmond :) Those pirouettes are a way to go.
Great Video!! well explained and detailed. question. If you have I-Joist on 16" centers could you run bigger tubing and just one tube down the middle instead of two tubes? Maybe 5/8?
Name suggestion: Spooly
Should this be more efficient than baseboard? I understand the heat would be more even. Great vids, keep it up.
Spiralosaurus Pex
awesome video