Under Radiant Floor Heating

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Regarding Robert Wadsworth comment of reflective foil under a hydronic heating system - he couldn't be further from the truth. As under concrete is purely a 100% conductive energy transfer environment, the last thing you would use is the extremely highly conductive foil products. If you don't believe that, the following information was sent to companies that sell bubble / foil / bubble products for that application from the Federal Trade Commission. To quote the FTC letter: "The FTC staff is aware of claims that are being made in the market place for foil-faced bubble pack products (or similiar reflective or radiant barrier products) installed under concrete slabs. In the staff's view, it may be misleading for industry members to suffest that such foil products will reflect radiant heat when installed under concrete. It is well accepted that reflective insulations and radiant barrier products must have an air space adjacent to the reflevtive mateial to be effective. Such air spaces are unlikely to exist under concrete slabs. Accordingly, it is unlikely that the reflective qualitites of these products will yield any significant benefits when they are installed under slabs. In essence, foil-faced material installed in such a way ceases to function as a reflective insulation or radiant barrier and, instead, serves as non-reflective insulation material. In the staff's view, advertising that suggests otherwise could harm the ability of builders and other consumers to make appropriate insulation choices". End quote.