STEP Warmfloor® radiant heating elements won first place in the Electric Radiant Category for the 2011 Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA) System Showcase!
In downtown San Diego, the luxurious Sapphire Tower is a 33-story residential high-rise overlooking the bay. Heating and air conditioning are provided for all units in the building by a central system, but the owner of the 4,000 sq.-ft. open floor plan penthouse suite wanted warm floors in addition.
Scott Hall, owner of Radiant Solutions, Inc., was brought in by the general contractor and was given the task of determining the best floor heating option. It was decided that an electric radiant heating system would be preferable over hydronic, due to the limited space available to raise the floor because of elevator and fire door thresholds. STEP Warmfloor® radiant heating elements were perfect for this reason, as our heating mats are only 1.2mm (3/64") thick.
The rugged nature of STEP Warmfloor® radiant heating elements was another deciding factor, since it is almost impossible to keep people off the floor during new construction. Once the elements were thin-set, they were able to take normal traffic, with less worry as to what might happen if something were dropped while the floor covering was installed. STEP Warmfloor® radiant heating elements will continue to function normally even if the polymer is punctured, as long as the flat conductor wires (bus braids) running along either side are not damaged. (In other applications it is even recommended to nail/staple STEP Warmfloor® radiant heating elements to the sub-floor.)
The client originally wanted to heat the entire 4,000 sq.-ft., but due to electrical panel size restrictions, were only able to heat 1,000 sq.-ft. They decided to go with the master bedroom and closet, the master bath and shower, and guest bath and shower. In this application, the radiant heating mats were installed over a dense 1/2-in. rubber sound-proofing on top of a concrete slab on steel decking. Normally Scott Hall would have also included a layer of extruded polystyrene insulation under the element, but that would have raised the floor too much for this particular installation. Conduit was run during the rough-in from the electrical closet to the three zones so drywall could be installed before the radiant heating elements and wiring. When it came to the installation Hall said one of the biggest problems was simply finding parking in the busy downtown area and getting the supplies needed up to the 33rd floor.
When it was all said and done, the homeowner was very happy with the final product. The project was entered in the 2011 Radiant Professionals Alliance (RPA) System Showcase, and took first place in the Electric Radiant Category! Check out the article in the Fall 2011 edition of Radiant Living magazine, or the digital edition online at radiantlivingmag.com (p.16-19)
