Getting a design layout requires a collaborative consultation with your Ecowarm sales person or designer: Please review the information on this page. During your consultation a questionnaire will be filled out and sent to you for your signature and return. The purpose of this process is to assure that the designer has the correct information to lay out the boards for your project. The design will be completed within 1-3 weeks from the date that all information below is received.
Questions? Feel free to give us a call at 866-341-1854 8 am to 5 pm PST. Generally, layout design is a collaborative process between you and the designer with whom you will have access.
In your design consultation the following are among the questions that will be asked:
File Format:
Do You have a CAD based file of your plans? We much prefer receiving your plans in a CAD format if possible. This speeds the process. If you only have an accurate PDF we can use that as long as it is not dimensionally distorted.
Zoning:
We will decide the best way to zone your project. Zoning is usually done according to factors such as similar exposure, similar use, and temperature requirements. Many houses are zoned with 3 to six zones each with a separate thermostat. Zoning preferences and manifold locations should be discussed and clearly agreed on with your layout designer or sales coordinator.
Manifolds:
It is good hydronic practice to locate manifolds conveniently on the floors they serve and your designer will want a phone consultation with you to locate manifold locations. We get requests to run tubing to floors below but it is not good practice. The reasons putting manifolds above the level of the floor they serve are below:
1) It is much faster and easier to purge the loops. Pumping air and water is harder than just pumping water…with air vents above the level they serve the air is easily pushed out.
2) Ecowarm loops are ideally limited to around 250’. Therefor Ecowarm loops are most efficiently sized and laid out with manifolds near the loops. It gets exceedingly difficult to layout running many loops past one another or to one location. Adding the extra loop lengths to run to a basement, compounds the problem by limiting the size of the loops to allow the extra leader length, thus requiring laying out even more loops.
3) Running longer loops needs to be avoided since they use significantly more energy to pump and for a required heat loss may require exceeding water velocity recommendations for good hydronic practice, which when extreme can cause cavitation and pipe wear.
4) Most Manifolds have balancing valves to adjust the flow to individual loops. Having these near the area they serve with convenient access makes it easier, and more likely the system can and will be finely adjusted.
Flooring Goods: Please review the flooring assemblies in our installation Manual. In particular we need to know any areas of nail down hardwood floor and the direction they will run in each area. In those areas we will need to orient our Ecowarm Boards perpendicular to the nail down flooring so the installer may see the tubing as they nail accross the floor
Hardwood Direction: If you are using hardwood of any kind, we will need to orient the tubing perpendicular to the direction of the hardwood to avoid having hardwood seams align with the tubing. This can be noted on your plans or described below.
Pantry and Closets: Our design practice is to avoid putting radiant in pantries. Canned foods generally do not want to be heated. If you want to heat in the pantry, please consult your designer. Most people do not heat small closets but would heat a large walk in closet. You need to tell us your preferences.
Questions? Feel free to give us a call at 866-341-1854 8 am to 5 pm PST. Generally, layout design is a collaborative process between you and the designer with whom you will have access.
