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Introduction | Material | Choosing HRH as a Heat Source | Residential | Commercial | Agricultural | Snow-Melt | HRH & GEO Catalog


Hydronic Radiant Heating Tour

 
 

Agriculture

Agricultural applications for HRH systems include livestock or poultry breeding enclosures as well as greenhouse and seed bed applications.

Since many agricultural enclosures are constructed over earthen floors, tubing installation is difficult. Also, poor thermal mass could discourage use of HRH as the sole heat source. Slab-on-grade provides the most effective and efficient heat conductivity, however, an awareness of "floor covering" is still important. Layers of soil, straw, saw dust, etc., will impede good heat transfer. HRH applied in livestock scrub-down or bathing areas may not deliver adequate warmth for heating purposes, but can prevent ice or glaze from forming in freezing weather.

Farm buildings that have little or no insulation, or suffer from high air infiltration can overwhelm a radiant floor system. It may be necessary to provide supplemental heat to compliment the HRH system when these conditions are present.

HRH installed in plant seed beds has been found to augment growth by warming the soil year round even during harsh winter environments. Such systems may be expanded to include greenhouse floors and office spaces thus allowing employees and customers to benefit from the comfortable heat.

It should be noted that BTU/square foot requirements can be high for agricultural applications. The size and output of the hot water source must be sufficiently sized for the area to be heated. Agricultural systems will use either 1/2" or 3/4" CANPEX™ OXY PEX tubing depending on system design and heat output requirements.

 

 

 

 




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