Residential Services
Floor Heating
There are different types of floor heating systems available. Some systems use electric cables or mats. Other systems use hot water pipes with an electric boiler. Any of these systems work well and provide the ultimate in home comfort.
Cass County Electric provides advice for floor heating design. Equipment can be purchased from your local heating contractor.
CCEC Recommendations for Thermal Storage Installations:
- 2” rigid foam insulation around perimeter extending from the top of the slab (inside or out) 18”- 24” vertical, with 24” being strongly recommended and the preferred way.
- 2” rigid foam laid horizontally. **** This insulation should be loosely installed with voids and cracks. The voids will allow moisture migration into the storage sand and will help with heat transfer and will keep the sand from drying out. When the sand dries out it loses it ability to conduct heat and the system runs in-efficiently and thermal storage is compromised.
- VAPOR BARRIER - This should be laid down directly under the concrete. It will prevent moisture migration through the concrete and keep it in the sand used for TES.
- Heat sizing (Boilers, cable, mats, panels) NO less than 10 watts/sq. ft. with 12 watts/sq. ft. the recommended way. Slab thermostats are strongly recommended. If the contractor uses ambient stats they will need to have outdoor resets on the boilers (most commonly used on larger scale projects).
- We recommend 6-8” of sand for our control strategies. On CCEC’s control strategy, the floor heat is cycled everyday from 7:00am-12:00pm and from 5:00pm-11:00pm, November–April.