Heated (driveway) under millings

[The_Al]

Has anyone tried to put either electric or hydronic under millings? I have been laying down dump trucks on my driveway a year, and wondered if in a small area this would be reasonable, and if anyone has experimented doing this in the past?

Thanks

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Not really do able or practicable.

#1 The heat line would not hold up, the millings would wear it out in a very short time, a steel line would be the only practicable line for this kind of use and it would cost you a fortune.

#2 Electric would be off the scale for usage cost.

#3 Without a thermal break between the ground and the drive it would just suck out all the heat you could put to it, and wouldn't hear the surface to a reasonable degree.

I'm doing a hydronic heated house, it has 2 Systems one for the house and one for the sidewalks and Garage skirt.
The house and garage is straight water on a propane boiler system.
The sidewalk and garage system is an antifreeze system, that way you can choose to heat it or not and no damage will be done in a freeze situation.
It also has a 3000 foot geothermal ground loop to heat the antifreeze to a temp somewhere in the range of about 45, this will be supplemented with an propane boiler on a short loop to rise the temp of the concrete to an above freezing temp when needed.
The concrete sidewalk and skirt will have 3" of closed cell foam under them to insulate them from ground loss.

 

[skeets]

All I know is,, there is a home,, naww not a home a mansion , (this clown has a Bentley for his everyday driver),, with about a 1/4 cement drive way..ok ,, I watched what they were doing to the house and driveway when I went that way. Anyway I watched as they cut the grade, then dug it out and put in it looked like sand then covered that with what looked like 4 inch foam then ditch witched along the edges and put in a footer, which was maybe 4 inches higher than the foam. They ran roll after roll of what looked like pex line but I doubt is thats what it was, then rebar out the wazoo and wire over top of it all then 4 or 6 inches of creat on top, all done in sections. Maybe 10 feet at a time,, wait a week then do the next and so on. And I can tell you that there is no snow no ice and it is dry.... The birds love it and the deer can be seen laying on it at night. Great idea if ya gots the money

 

[D2Cat]

So is he a clown because he owns a Bentley, or because he drives it frequently?

 

[sheepfarmer]

All I know is,, there is a home,, naww not a home a mansion , (this clown has a Bentley for his everyday driver),, with about a 1/4 cement drive way..ok ,, I watched what they were doing to the house and driveway when I went that way. Anyway I watched as they cut the grade, then dug it out and put in it looked like sand then covered that with what looked like 4 inch foam then ditch witched along the edges and put in a footer, which was maybe 4 inches higher than the foam. They ran roll after roll of what looked like pex line but I doubt is thats what it was, then rebar out the wazoo and wire over top of it all then 4 or 6 inches of creat on top, all done in sections. Maybe 10 feet at a time,, wait a week then do the next and so on. And I can tell you that there is no snow no ice and it is dry.... The birds love it and the deer can be seen laying on it at night. Great idea if ya gots the money

More important does he have someone to sweep up the deer droppings so the Bentley doesnt track them into what I assume is a pristine garage?

Actually I'm just jealous. I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven if I had hot water in the barn. Heck why not live it up and wish for a nice brick heated barn....?

 

[cerlawson]

Be prepared for a lot of maintenance. There can be legal issues as well. For instance in the winter with freezing rain or similar, driving from a wet part onto the icy area can result in accidents (deliveries, etc). I've herd of a few cases like that.

 

[Newlyme]

I'd think I'd died and gone to heaven if I had hot water in the barn.

Amen to that!
The three gallon jugs of hot water, one in each hand, wears on you after a couple trips. But the horses like it.

 

[skeets]

The Bentley IS HIS EVERY DAY DRIVER. And perhaps calling him a clown was out of line. And i really dont know about the deer droppings,,,lol

 

[North Idaho Wolfman]

Do you have any Grey Poupon?

If I could I would drive a Audi R8 V10, Yes sort of a waste of money, but man it would be a blast to run to town for groceries, " What honey we need a egg...Be right back, WOSH!"

Wife does drive a Cadillac SRX AWD, Granted I picked it up for super cheap!

Some would think we are pretentious to do heated garage, sidewalks and garage skirt, I look at it like this, if it keeps me or the wife from busting our backsides just once I'm way ahead.


And yes Skeets they use PEX for that kind of system.
They use that system up at the ski resort or the snow and Ice buildup would be way too much to handle.

 

[bucktail]

Do you have any Grey Poupon?

If I could I would drive a Audi R8 V10, Yes sort of a waste of money, but man it would be a blast to run to town for groceries, " What honey we need a egg...Be right back, WOSH!"

Wife does drive a Cadillac SRX AWD, Granted I picked it up for super cheap!

Some would think we are pretentious to do heated garage, sidewalks and garage skirt, I look at it like this, if it keeps me or the wife from busting our backsides just once I'm way ahead.


And yes Skeets they use PEX for that kind of system.
They use that system up at the ski resort or the snow and Ice buildup would be way too much to handle.

Probably won't do a heated skirt or sidewalk, but certainly going to do the garage floor on my next place. Will the concrete hold up if I just put the Pex in and don't use it for 10-15 years?

 

[Bulldog777]

Probably won't do a heated skirt or sidewalk, but certainly going to do the garage floor on my next place. Will the concrete hold up if I just put the Pex in and don't use it for 10-15 years?

Yes, just make sure you plug the ends. You can use a residential water heater and use a glycol solution pumped with a small circulation pump. We installed a 2700 sq ft freezer with this to keep the floor from freezing and cracking the concrete. I'm not an engineer, but a ground loop with the water heater supplement would be the most energy efficient, but not the cheapest installation.

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