Should I Control My Radiant Floor With A Slab Sensor

The result of using a slab sensor is that although the air temperature may overheat under certain conditions and may underheat under other conditions the floor temperature.

Should i control my radiant floor with a slab sensor. This sensor is designed to provide a thermostat with the ability to maintain a minimum slab temperature or help to limit the maximum slab temperature. If you have a floor heating system installed under a tile or stone floor and the floor sensor fails your grout joints can help. This why the tekmar thermostat has these temp feedbacks. Some people may want to warm a tile floor.

Simple up and down buttons and a display with large type make this thermostat easy to read and use. People do it of course but it s a very poor method of control. Bottom line for good hydronic radiant floor heating system temp control performance one needs to use slab outdoor air and indoor air temp feedback. One also needs to carefully read the installation instructions for the thermostat and properly set all the settings.

Your slab must vary in temperature to change its output depending on how much heat you need. It is impossible to control a slab with floor sensor only. The insulation phase is crucial for a radiant floor. Mainly heated slabs radiate outward rather than downward so insulation on the edges of the slab is most important.

It s possible to retrofit a replacement floor sensor into the grout joint. Remember that your slab will be about 75 degrees f. A floor sensor is a fixed setpoint. This will allow the floor sensor to get an accurate reading without adding to the floor elevation.

The thin casing allows for retrofit installation between tile spaces if necessary. The slab sensor 079 is commonly used for floor temperature sensing in floor heating applications. Any cooler surface in contact with the slab will try to steal its heat. A slab sensor measures the floor temperature in the area where the radiant floor is located.

For concrete floor radiant heating systems the warm water tubing or electric heating elements can either be embedded within the slab on grade anywhere from the bottom of the slab to within 2 inches of the surface depending on the design and installation technique or fastened to the top of a concrete subfloor and then covered with an overlay. The thermostat operates the radiant floor to maintain the floor temperature. The floor sensor will allow the floor to come up to a comfortable and constant temperature while the primary heating system takes care of the air temperature. A slab sensor 079 is included to measure floor temperature to protect the floor from overheating and enhance comfort.

This easy to install thermostat is a direct replacement for the tekmar thermostat 509.