Where Radiant In-Floor DOESN’T Belong

Radiant in-floor heat is growing in popularity and it should be noted, there are some places where the tubing shouldn’t be placed. See below!

 

Fridge under fire

It’s quite common for refrigerators to dissipate their heat under and behind the fridge.

The image below shows two sources of heat; the fridge trying to move heat out the bottom and the lines in the floor (reflected by the shiny stainless steel) show the radiant in-floor tubing. The heating system was just getting going (10 mintues after firing the boiler) so the floor wasn’t up to design temperature yet. As the slab gets significantly warmer, these two sources of heat will fight each other and the fridge will lose by decreasing its ability to lose heat into the kitchen. Take note radiant people, don’t install radiant in-floor tubing under cabinets and especially not under refrigerators!

Hot Fridge

To keep the food cold, the compressor pumps the heat out of the food and into the kitchen. Specifically, it moves heat out under and behind the fridge. As seen above, the hot yellow heat signature in the floor’s concrete shows that the fridge needs to get rid of heat.