radiant floor mixing valve.

[barkeatr]

radiant floor mixing valve.

My radiant floor heating system does not use a mixing valve in the copper piping before the supply and return go to the header. Most designs i see for sure has this. why is this? does the mixing valve keep the hot water in the system (vs sending it back to the boiler) and just send colder water back to be heated.

Im concerned this is a place for a lot of heat loss or basic inefficency loss..

thanks for any help.

Tim

 

[Willman]

Infloor heat does not require high temps. A mixing valve enables one to set the temp for optimum comfort and efficiency.

Will

 

[jimbom]

My three way valve keeps the supply water temperature correct in response to a control input.

Does your system work and is it comfortable? How is your system controlled? Where in the system is the circulator? What is the heat source for your water?

Radiant is so forgiving, you may have simple on-off control with a standard thermostat. If it works, great.

 

[jebatty]

Some floor materials do not respond well to high water temperatures, but if yours has worked without problems for a long time, maybe no reason to change. My boiler outputs water up to 190F to storage, radiant concrete floor, and a mixing valve that supplies 100F water to the floor, with excess returned to storage. Works perfectly.

 

[flyingcow]

same here,but i have to run about 120/130ish in the dead of winter. But thats staple up under 2 layers of plywood with ceramic tile on top. also this is only in my kitchen. More comfort than heat supply. But this is 25% of my 1st flr area, which seems to heat the house good in the shoulder seasons. Can dial the valve in from 80 to 140 i think.

 

[barkeatr]

THE heat thru our cold winters seems to be OK but Im suspect of how much wood I burn. I was using a smoke dragon and have switched to a gassification unit. So that should help. after all your comments maybe this valve is not as required as I think, thanks for hte input!