Thermal Mass At Basement Floor

If it is highly reflective then it will deflect solar energy to the walls.

Thermal mass at basement floor.

Very thick thermal mass walls and floors may take too long to heat while those that are too thin won t store enough heat. I ve also looked at superseal s subfloor and may go with that in case no one knows of a thermaldry knock off. Yes i ve looked at dricore but i don t want to put osb on my basement floor. Most of the thermal energy will come from internal heating.

Dark slates are good solar absorbers though they are not massive enough to store much heat. Full 8 foot tall basement ceilings in older homes are rare with 7 footers more the norm. 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. 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.

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. 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. 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. Yes you can build a 12 inch high basement subfloor and stay dry above everything but basement ceilings tend to be low.

Darker colors are ideal for absorbing heat but within the confines of a home the heat collection advantage of darker floors is not that pronounced. Thermal mass and floors. Is the basement floor hardwood over a wooden frame or hardwood over concrete. 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. Insulate your attic to the recommended level including the attic door or hatch cover. If the latter then it can still serve as a thermal mass floor if it s not too shiny. 2 insulation priorities it is most important to.

This eliminates using even the thinnest floor carpeting whose conductance c is about 0 8 btu hr ft 2 and some vinyl floor coverings. 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.