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[Sprinter]

The cement company will have every kind along with the mesh

[Hammersquash]

Usually good 2" has an R10 value.  That's what I would go with.   

Neal

So on your recommendation I picked up 2".  That crap is expensive and two home depot's where fresh out of 2". 

So Here we have shot from back.  3/4 pex, 2" Foam, mesh.   6" concrete for boiler base and 4" concrete for working pad and walkway.  4" of A gravel tamped under that...

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123605823@N05/14038271632/

All nicely leveled for watershedding..

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123605823@N05/14038271482/

And finally walkway...  My forms warped a bit as we have had alot of rain.  I kept them tarped but the wind took them away in a storm.  I can easily straighten these 8' lengths with some more stakes.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/123605823@N05/14058380313/


   Concrete goes down next Saturday....

[Jwood]

Coming along nicely Hammer

[mlappin]

Hammer, one thing I think you'll find in the future is that you should have you're loops closer and more of them. Mine are roughly 6-8 inches apart in my sidewalk and even then when first turning on the system any wide spots in the pex will show up rather quickly with unmelted snow. Eventually it does all melt but since you're slab is exposed to the outdoor air it looses heat almost as fast as it can spread laterally through the concrete.

[Jwood]

Mlappin is correct on that aspect.

[NaturallyAspirated]

True, although wind is a big factor in SIM, and it looks like that may be a fairly well wind sheltered area.  That may help  him.

He could also have a little higher slab idle temp pre-snow to keep the slab snow free.

Neal

[Jwood]

I wouldnt heat that slab unless it snows.

[mlappin]

I wouldnt heat that slab unless it snows.

Exactly, we've gone weeks here before with very cold temps, but zero snow. Any heat used to keep the slab at an "idle" is lost heat for sure.

[NaturallyAspirated]

I wouldnt heat that slab unless it snows.

I agree, I would however idle it before snow is expected.   

Neal

[mlappin]

I wouldnt heat that slab unless it snows.

I agree, I would however idle it before snow is expected.   

Neal

Possibly. However I seen cold enough temps this winter that even with my closer spacings you could see where the pex was ran in the walk, the occasional wide spot would still have a little snow even after running half a day and it was started before the snow fell.

Most likely the slab loses heat to the atmosphere faster than it can spread laterally.

[Jwood]

I love the concept of the snow melting and if it were a little more mild here I would consider it myself but the constant 10-30 below temps just wouldnt pay we get really light fluffy snow generally and usually only a few to 6 inches at a time so its not terrible to shovel.

[mlappin]

I love the concept of the snow melting and if it were a little more mild here I would consider it myself but the constant 10-30 below temps just wouldnt pay we get really light fluffy snow generally and usually only a few to 6 inches at a time so its not terrible to shovel.

This winter with the spectre of never being able to get to the woods and possibly running out of wood I did a lot of shoveling as well, then just ran it to melt the last off so it didn't ice up.

We got some that's just barely snow, nice and wet n heavy.

You'll find you're concrete will look nice longer if it never sees any salt on it.