Nick wrote: "The infloor heat folks continue to debate whether there
needs to be insulation under the tubing or just around the outside of
the building down to the frost line."
My thought: You bet your sweet bippy there needs to be insulation!
From what I understand, you'll want to start with a layer of plastic
sheeting at the bottom and extending all the way to the top of the
stem wall or basement wall, followed by foam board insulation at the
bottom and also up the interior side of those walls; then sand or
whatever medium you are laying the tubing into; then the tubing, slab
and so forth. Also, you'll wish you had exterior foam board
insulation sheathing at least down to your frost level, and then go
with a "wing" of the same around the exterior perimeter. That can be
from 1' to 4' wide depending on your microclimate. (Don't forget the
French drain at the outside of the footers.) Your heating degree days
in that area run around 10,000, so whatever effort you make in a dry,
insulated well-built foundation will more than pay for itself many
times over during the life of the building. You'll never regret it.
Here in the "sunny, dry desert" of northern AZ (there's a mini-
blizzard raging as I write) I will be using all of those features
with the goal of a zero-net-energy home. Papercrete will be a key
factor in implementing this goal.
Also, the debate over R values vs U values seems to have waned a bit
(it was getting out of hand). Remember that U values are the inverse
of R values. R values can be added together; U values cannot. Hope
this helps.
Gramma Lynne
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