Each all-aluminum panel is 1/8-inch thick, 6 inches wide and 6 feet long, with grooves to fit 3/8-inch pipe. At the very ends, the aluminum is turned down to form a small "stand." These stands provide support. The end return bends are plywood with curved grooves.

To install, just lay the panels on the floor so the stands are on the floor. The return bends have a specialized locking mechanism and guide, so the plates just snap into the end pieces. Pipe is snapped into the grooves. REHAU does provide a specialized metal cutting blade for a typical skil saw if a panel needs to be cut, and a deburring tool to take the sharp edge off of a cut.

"The real difference in this product is that this is not a laminate product," Johansen notes. "The whole panel is a heat conductor itself. Because of the thickness, the shape and the material, it conducts heat quickly and transfers heat off the floor more efficiently."

Installation is quick; lay the panels out on the subfloor, secure with staples or screws, snap the PEX tubing into place. To install over an existing slab, adhere a plywood layer to the slab and install the Climate Panels on top.

"The Climate Panel arrives at the jobsite pre-assembled with an aluminum back so that all the contractor has to do is staple or screw it to the subfloor and walk in the Pextron tubing," explains Andy Fiefhaus, vice president and general manager at Stadler-Viega. "With the unfolding 'six-pack' (preAssembled Climate Panels), up to 20 square feet of floor coverage is easily and quickly installed at a time."

Panels are screwed to the subfloor, and PEX tubing is easily snapped into the grooves. Even faster installation is achieved with the Quik Pak preassembled system, which covers more ground in one shot.

"Quik Trak was designed for low-intrusion in the structure," says Jan Andersson, heating brand manager at Uponor Wirsbo. "A gypcrete system would require a 1 1/2-inch or 1 1/4-inch pour, which needs to be accommodated in the structure. With Quik Trak, you only have to accommodate for 1/2 inch using 5/16-inch tubing.

"Although the tubing is small in diameter, at fairly close spacing it helps even out the temperature. The aluminum emission plate underneath the tubing itself helps spread out the heat evenly."

6-inch wide sleepers (made of Baltic birch plywood);

radiant tape (applied to the bottom of each radiant "channel");

header sticks (to hold pipe at each end of a room);

corner sweeps (to help the PEX tubing make 90 degree turns);

grippers (to hold PEX tubing where it enters and exits floor);

C-covers (to protect tubing from nails); and

aluminum conduction rolls (installed over sleepers to conduct heat more evenly).

First the header sticks are installed, then the sleepers and corner sweeps. Next the tubing is placed in the wide channels, and the aluminum conduction roll is applied on top. SubRay uses wide channels instead of tight grooves, permitting easy movement of the tube with no noise.

"SubRay is extremely stable, durable and easy to work with," Fries says. "It has a more modular design and is versatile for odd-shaped rooms. Also, Watts Radiant doesn't require constant circulation, like some other systems. This potentially reduces the cost of electronic controls for the project."

Just assemble the panels, attach to the subfloor and snap in the 3/8-inch PEX tubing, creating a low profile of 5/8 inch.

"ThermalBoard was developed with the homeowner, contractor and engineer in mind," explains David Holdorf, engineering manager at RTI. "Not all radiant systems need to be embedded in a concrete or gypsum-based product. Not all projects can handle nor do they warrant the extra weight or height. These products were developed as a result of expanding radiant floor heating systems to incorporate into the entire house."

"It minimizes how high you have to raise the floor to put the radiant heating system in - only 5/8-inch," says Patrick Sauer, Zurn's vice president of sales marketing. "And the aluminum layer on top maximizes response time - it heats up much quicker than a concrete pour or staple-up."

"One of the great advantages in above-subfloor installations is the option of multiple pipe spacing," notes Manfred Schmidt, director of the HeatLink Group. "The Dry-Above system can generate outputs from 20 to 30 Btu/hr./sq. ft., depending on pipe spacing and floor coverings chosen. Floor surface temperatures are maintained at a maximum of 85 degrees F."

Another product out in the market is Warmboard[R] (from the company of the same name), a tongue-and-groove plywood structural subfloor panel with channels for tubing, and covered with aluminum. It is manufactured from sustainable and recycled resources, and is installed as a standard subfloor.

Advantages Over Wet Systems

For the builder, dry radiant means a condensed building period, he says. He doesn't have to worry about the wet material in the building or wait for the gypcrete or concrete to dry. And he won't have to clear the building of other trades for an entire day while concrete is being poured.

He adds that the homeowner is assured he is getting a flat floor, not wavy or bumpy. And because the response time is much quicker, it makes heating during the shoulder months of the year - spring and fall - much easier.

There's also the perception of the installation from the homeowner's point of view. "Even though radiant tubing has been embedded in concrete flooring systems for many years and accounts for a very large percentage of radiant floor heating installations, some homeowners still don't like the fact of placing the tubing in concrete to never access it again without major demolition," Holdorf notes.

Another plus for subfloor systems is it's ideally suited for retrofit applications. "Dry systems in general are much easier to retrofit because they don't involve digging up concrete to place the tubing," Andersson notes.

"Dry systems are often the only alternative for areas of the country where it is difficult or too expensive to get a concrete installer to do the job," Fries says. "Also, many retrofit jobs are just too small for a wet system."

And, with subfloor radiant systems there are no costly framing adaptations required to support the weight of concrete, Fiefhaus adds.

But its versatility allows for use in new construction and with all types of flooring materials. Thin-set tile can be applied with cement board over the plates/panels, carpeted floors can be installed by covering the radiant subfloor with plywood, and hardwood flooring can be applied directly on top, says Schmidt.

Because these systems have a lower mass, they react quicker to water temperature changes, Andersson says. They also use lower water temperatures, and react to increased heat load in the room, dissipating the heat quicker.

"There are a lot of inherent differences between 'wet' and 'dry' radiant systems," Holdorf says. "One is not necessarily better than the other. Mostly it has to deal with making the radiant system fit the construction of the house, not making the house fit the radiant system."