Install Instructions

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IM-PR 566442 1114 (Design Manual)
1 Principles of Radiant Heating Design
Background
Radiant hydronic heating has long been recognized
for its advantages over forced air systems in the
areas of comfort, efficiency, architectural flexibility
and acoustics. Now, radiant hydronic cooling is
also emerging to offer the same benefits as radiant
heating plus the capability of peak load shifting.
Traditionally, radiant space conditioning is often
thought of as circulation of a fluid through radiators
or tubing circuits located within a building’s floor,
and this is still the most common application today.
However, radiant hydronic systems have a far
wider applicability, including wall installations within
buildings and outdoor turf conditioning and snow
melting.
In fact, coupling hydronic tubing to any surface can
turn it into a heat source or a heat sink, depending
on the temperature of the fluid circulating through
the tubing and the surface temperature of the
objects to be cooled or heated.
This manual is structured to provide the user with
an overview of radiant hydronic heating and cooling
applications, design considerations for optimizing
system performance and efficiency, and installation
instructions for Viega’s hydronic heating and cooling
distribution systems, for residential and commercial
applications.
With the right tools and a bit of planning, designing
and specifying radiant heating systems can be a
relatively straightforward process that provides
excellent comfort and heating performance.
Software programs are now readily available and
greatly simplify the design process for residential
and commercial installations. Radiant heating
contractors are no longer required to perform
tedious hand calculations to develop room-by-
room heating loads and system design. Instead,
the role of the contractor in the design process
has shifted to carefully selecting inputs for these
software programs and ensuring that the program
outputs satisfy good design principles. This section
is structured to provide the contractors with the
context needed to excel in this role.
1.1 Codes, standards and green building
The first step in the successful design of a radiant
heating or cooling system is identifying the
applicable codes, standards and design goals that
will impact the final system specification. Depending
on the job, the final list of considerations will be
determined by state, local and sometimes federal
requirements as well as project-specific goals
and criteria. Section 2, Residential radiant heating
considerations, and Section 3, Commercial radiant
heating and cooling considerations, contain a list
of typically applicable codes and standards and
their potential impact on the project as related to
the design and specification of radiant heating
and cooling systems. Always check with the local
jurisdiction to determine what codes and standards
are in effect.
1.2 Installation methods
In addition to the tools required to design a system,
Viega provides the tools to ensure your installation
is smooth, clean and professional. For new floor
installations and floor installations that involve
replacement or removal of the floor covering, top
of subfloor and in-slab applications are popular
choices. If it does not make sense to remove the
existing floor covering, then a below-subfloor
application is a good choice. Viega provides several
products that make the installation process easier,
including Climate Panel (top of subfloor and walls),
Climate Trak (below subfloor), Rapid Grid, Snap
Panel and Climate Mat (in-slab applications).
Application Location
Climate Panel
(Appendix C)
Rapid Grid
(Appendix D)
Snap Panel
(Appendix D)
Climate Trak*
(Appendix E)
Climate Mat**
(Appendix F)
Below Subfloor X
Above Subfloor X
In-Slab (gypsum
or concrete,
thin-slab or full
dimension)
X X X
Above Slab X
Walls Behind Covering X
Table 1-1 Installation methods based on application
*Below-subfloor applications may also use heat transfer plates
**Climate Mat is intended for large open areas greater than 10,000 ft
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