Under floor heating

[MikeG82]

Hello, I am about to remove the carpet from our A/S. And I was considering installing a under floor radiant heat system, has anyone completed this type of M.O.D. on their A/S?

[cwf]

Not that I heard of.. Our furnace keeps it mostly toasty.

[nrgtrakr]

Electric would be okay on shore power.
Water would be horribly heavy and complicated.

[djarrett]

They make 12v electric blankets (available at truck stops), so it wouldn't be unreasonable to expect you can get a 12V floor heater underlayment.

I am pretty certain the OP isn't referring to the water heated floors common up North, rather the "mat" style.

D

[ijustlee]

I've always wanted to do this and have contemplated using electrical resistance wire made for this. I haven't researched much as it's off in the future since my carpet is still good. I would think it's worth it if you don't like cold feet. The cost seems like a good investment to me but I've lived through many cold winters in my trailer. I use the propane furnace to warm it up and then an electric heater at each end to keep it comfortable. It's probably a form of heat that's slow to warm the room so I've thought of having one loop of heat cable that could stay on most all the time and then two more that could be switched on when I'm home. Also/or maybe have it set up in zones. Depends on what can be bought now days. Let us know how it works out. Leland

[DDOK]

I'm no expert, but I found a few posts on this forum:

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f427...eat-56619.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f227...at-128840.html

http://www.airforums.com/forums/f461...ing-61631.html

The electric mat approach looks intriguing to me. I like the idea of silent heat.

Also, - I've found that if I google 'airfourms' and then the the subject I want to search for, I get much better results than using the forum search functionality. For instance, in the google search box I typed 'airforums floor heat' to find these posts.

Thanks,

DD

[Belegedhel]

I looked into this pretty seriously. I have seen Argosyrover's thread (cited above) where he built up the subfloor in his Argosy with foam board and then cut channels into it and ran hot water pex lines to provide in-floor heating. Seems like he sold the trailer shortly thereafter, so not sure of the long-term reliability of his system.

Now for the electrical heating mats that are usually installed in residential radiant floors, I looked high and low for one that would be compatible with laying it between my subfloor and my vinyl planks, but I couldn't find any. Everything I found was meant to be installed under tile, meaning that it was supposed to be cemented in place with thin-set. This makes me wonder about the houses I have been in with heated floors under carpets--I wonder if those weren't a mis-installation.

good luck!

[Knuff]

We have this product in our master bed room:
www.warmlyyours.com

I see no reason why you would not be able to install this in an Airstream.

In Europe, many RVs come with electric radiant floor heating. Of course, this needs to run on shore power.

[cwf]

There are "concerns"... Home use only considers expansion/contraction... Whereas an AS is a "rolling earthquake, category 4-6.. Especially on bad axles!

We also have concern of condensation between inside and out...hopefully not "blocked" by heat elements, etc. just to mention a few.

[kidjedi]

I have been considering my options with this as well. Every "slope-side" lodge in Colorado has liquid radiant heat, and it's great, but with as many leaks as I've seen in those systems, I've decided I wouldn't want to mess with that in a moving (vibrating) vehicle. I think the added water heating for the floor might also be a pain.

I put an electric radiant system in our bathroom last year at the end of winter (fairly easy on the budget). It was a roll out mat I bought on Amazon that went over ply subfloor and under the tile. We hadn't started using it until a couple weeks ago, and it's GLORIOUS (especially at 2am-- makes you want to just sleep on the bathroom floor).

I'm not sure I want to install a mat under permanent flooring in the airstream, so I've been thinking about making some kind of semi-permanent install using one of these mats. It needs to go under a layer of protection from getting cut or nicked, and the wires need to be immobilized and enclosed in conduit, but I think it's pretty doable (mat over permanent flooring, covered with thin metal or wood, covered with a rug). It could even be sandwiched between two thin layers of ply (though there would be a bit of a tripping hazard at the edge).

[Gearheart]

Smokeless Joe did in floor radiant heat with water on his Argosy as well. He got rid of the propane and used a diesel fired stove, and a water heater mounted on the A frame. It kept all the noise outside. He was very happy with the system.

[SonOfAnder]

Has anyone ever looked into this stuff for under new flooring?

http://www.quietwarmth.com

It is a slim underlayment heat film. Comes in 3'x10' sections that will warm the floor to 85 degrees and draws (from what I was told) only 2.7 amps per sheet. It seems like it might be easy enough to run a heated strip right down the middle of the trailer. I'm just curious if it would be able to keep up if the weather outside really got cold...

I saw it today while browsing Lumber Liquidators for some new floors in my Reno project.

[HiJoeSilver]

Originally Posted by SonOfAnder

Has anyone ever looked into this stuff for under new flooring?

http://www.quietwarmth.com

It is a slim underlayment heat film. Comes in 3'x10' sections that will warm the floor to 85 degrees and draws (from what I was told) only 2.7 amps per sheet. It seems like it might be easy enough to run a heated strip right down the middle of the trailer. I'm just curious if it would be able to keep up if the weather outside really got cold...

I saw it today while browsing Lumber Liquidators for some new floors in my Reno project.

It will make your feet toasty but won't keep the trailer warm by itself. It uses 120v so it will provide max of about 300 watts per sheet. 2.7 amps at 120v would be 27amps for batteries, so not much boondocking.
It would probably take 2500-3000 watts running continuously to keep a moderate size trailer warm in continuously cold weather. Plus no tank heating.
My 23' trailer needs about 8000btu/hr to keep warm when it gets in the low 40s, that's about 2400 watts continuous.
Another concern would be friction between the floor and electric mat wearing away insulation causing exposed electrical issues. Those are designed for non mobile houses that sit on a foundation, not a vibrating destruction rolling down the road.
The limited insulation only 1.5" thick and high window surface area really kills heat retention.

[SonOfAnder]

That was my initial concern, especially when they said it goes directly under the floor on top of the vapor barrier. It has such a thin profile that I would be worried it would wear straight through from friction. And at $175 a sheet and a $100 floor thermostat... I will keep looking for solid propane solution.

[kidjedi]

Originally Posted by SonOfAnder

Has anyone ever looked into this stuff for under new flooring?

http://www.quietwarmth.com

It is a slim underlayment heat film. Comes in 3'x10' sections that will warm the floor to 85 degrees and draws (from what I was told) only 2.7 amps per sheet. It seems like it might be easy enough to run a heated strip right down the middle of the trailer. I'm just curious if it would be able to keep up if the weather outside really got cold...

I saw it today while browsing Lumber Liquidators for some new floors in my Reno project.

I recently installed a similar product in our master bath under the tile. It feels great on a cold, winter morning, but I don't think it would be effective at heating the room (I like a cooler house, and this radiant mat was a way to keep the wife happy). Also, there is enough draw to trip the GFCI every once in a while, so I would be wary about using it in Airstream. Not to mention the aforementioned possible issues with installing this in a mobile application with lots of vibration and friction.

I had been thinking last fall about using this stuff as a solution for our heating needs, but after a bit of research I am leaning away (rather, I have decided against it). I think there are some worthwhile radiant heat options that involve a diesel or propane water heater and a pump that could work quite well, but the electric-version options just aren't there yet.

That said, the other thing I was thinking about was using this stuff to make a rug that plugs into an outlet (sandwiching the radiant mat between two area rugs, or weaving the heating wire into a low profile rug and throwing another over it). That seems like it could effectively address some of the problems with friction and motion, while keeping your feet warm and toasty. It would also be easier to repair than something embedded in the floor.