Fig.1-Zone 1 (Entry way)                    Fig.2-Zone 2 (Guest room) 

  
Fig.3-Hallway & Utility room              Fig.4-Zone 1 (Living & Dining)

Today was the first of a multiple series of tours that I'm hosting at the 'Green Concept Home' in Bellevue.  Except, nobody showed up!  I'm guessing it was the in-climate weather earlier in the day that had everyone decided it was going to be a rainy mess... but the sun came out at tour time.  You missed out!

As they say in showbiz, the 'tour' must go on ... at least that's what I say!  Anywho, owner David Huang and I toured the installation of the radiant floor heating PEX tubing for the first floor, which is covers the kitchen, living room, entry way and the guest bedroom (roughly 1,500 sq. ft.).

The home will have 6 zones.  Zoning controls the delivery of heat to a particular area of the floor by either controlling the flow of water (where the water temperature remains constant, but the amount of time it is "on" in an area varies), the temperature of the water, or a combination of both.  Areas of the floor plan can have different heating needs due to what a room is used for, how often a room is used, and even what floor covering is used.  The first floor of this home will have two zones, one for the kitchen, living room and entry way, the other for the hallway and guest room.

Lines, where the walls are going to be, are spray painted in red on top of the black visqueen or vapor barrier, so that the installer knows where to loop the PEX tubing.  He affixes the PEX tubing to the concrete wire mesh.  Underneath the visqueen barrier is a 3" inch thick foam insulator, so you don't lose the heat into the ground.  That insulation sits on top of the compacted gravel. 

In the picture above (fig.2) The area where the tubing is coming up 18" off the slab, is where the 'brain' of the heating system will be located.  Most likely positioned inside the closet of the guest bedroom.  The white tubes that you see are the water feed and return lines to the water heater, which will be in the utility room (fig.3).  So, all 6 zones throughout the house will be independantly controlled by the control center in the guest bedroom.

The first floor is ready to have the conrete poured with the PEX tubing installed and pre-plumbing done.  Sorry you missed the tour, it was educational.  The next tour, which will probably be framing using SIP's, will be in a couple of weeks.  Stay tuned!

To get a better look at these photos, go to this link: http://photos.greenrealtor-wa.com/GalleryThumbnails.aspx?gallery=279675