Thermal Mass At Basement Floor

Thermaldry basement floor tiles dry basement floor i love the product but refuse to pay 8 sq foot and the company doesn t sell the tiles to diyers.

Thermal mass at basement floor.

Thermal mass and floors. 2 insulation priorities it is most important to. I ve also looked at superseal s subfloor and may go with that in case no one knows of a thermaldry knock off. If it is highly reflective then it will deflect solar energy to the walls.

The way thermal mass relates to floors is important because most times the floor won t be exposed to the most direct source of thermal energy the sun. Concrete slab floors should be 100 200mm thick for the best performance while thermal mass walls should be 100 150mm thick. Even an inch or two in elevation for your subfloor will make a noticeable difference. Below is a thermal model of what a floor would like in a climate similar to yours.

Is the basement floor hardwood over a wooden frame or hardwood over concrete. Concrete foundation walls in finished rooms areas shall be furred out and insulated with a minimum of r 8 insulation extending down to the basement floor slab on basement walls less than 50 above grade and a minimum of r 13 insulation on basement walls that are more than 50 above grade. If the latter then it can still serve as a thermal mass floor if it s not too shiny. Your basement should be designed by a professional of course but we would recommend eps foam at least 4 inches better would be 6 or 8 inches if you can but not more than that.

Insulate your attic to the recommended level including the attic door or hatch cover. Yes i ve looked at dricore but i don t want to put osb on my basement floor. Provide the recommended level of insulation under floors above unheated spaces around walls in a heated basement or unventilated crawl space and on the edges of slabs on grade. Full 8 foot tall basement ceilings in older homes are rare with 7 footers more the norm.

This eliminates using even the thinnest floor carpeting whose conductance c is about 0 8 btu hr ft 2 and some vinyl floor coverings. Floors can absorb warmth from a concrete slab s sides being exposed to the sun but this doesn t translate very far. Even if you put a floor covering on a concrete slab floor you will still get the temperature balancing effects of thermal mass as long as it is insulated below and therefore kept inside your building envelope. Very thick thermal mass walls and floors may take too long to heat while those that are too thin won t store enough heat.

Yes you can build a 12 inch high basement subfloor and stay dry above everything but basement ceilings tend to be low. A 1980 s study by industry researchers concluded that any floor covering whose thermal conductance exceeded about 10 btu hr ft 2 would not impair the thermal storage capability of the concrete slab.