My "energy efficient" foundation slab ended up heating the whole neighborhood

I built a house near Austin last summer and the builder talked me into this fancy radiant heating setup in the slab. First cold snap hit in October and my electric bill jumped to $680. Turns out the insulation guy forgot a layer under the pipes. So basically I was heating the ground for two blocks. Builder came back to fix it after I showed him the thermal images. Anyone else deal with a slab install that went sideways?

2 comments

2 Comments

robin_wright1mo ago

Had a buddy near San Antonio with almost the exact same issue on his build. He ended up using that reflective bubble wrap insulation under the pipes after digging it back up and his next bill dropped by like 40 percent. Thermal imaging is a lifesaver for catching stuff the naked eye would miss.

gavins431mo ago

Yeah I get what you're saying but I gotta wonder if a $600 bill is really that crazy for a cold snap in Texas. People act like the sky is falling over a couple hundred bucks. And @robin_wright, that bubble wrap stuff works okay but I've seen guys spend months digging up slabs just to save like 30 bucks a month in the long run. Seems like a lot of headache for something that might not even be that big of a deal if you just adjust your thermostat or throw on a hoodie. Plus thermal imaging is cool and all but half the time those guys are just trying to upsell you on some fix you don't really need.