Floor heat with doors

[Jason727]

Will floor heat alone be enough to keep the bay above freezing for an IBA?
What temp do you set the boiler to be. And will there have to be an air stat in the bay as well as outside?

 

[Roz]

Depends on how cold your location can get on a regular basis. I know operators in Maryland that just have floor heat and WW cold weather system. For most of the winter they are fine but sometimes need to close due to a long extended cold period.

We have floor, radiant heating, and doors in one location plus cold weather function on WW. In a different location we just have floor and use the doors when it is going to be at or below freezing all day.

Doors have more benefits than just keeping in the heat. They can protect Paystations from spray in some cases.

 

[Jason727]

Never thought about that. I thought about having the weep option just in case a door got stuck partially open, or we have extended single digit temps

 

[lighthousecarwash]

I just have floor heat but we do insulate the attic above the bay. Without the insulation, the floor heat just can’t keep up. We keep the return temperature on the floor heat at around 60 degrees. That seems to be the sweet spot to keep the self serve bays ice free and the autos around 45 degrees so the weeps don’t run.

 

[Mr. Dude with a face]

I am in utah, and we have two washes that have doors, and we just let the floor heat from the rest of the wash keep the bay warm. I would absolutly make sure your machine has some capability to weep or purge itself should it get too cold. For us, we can run down into about the 20's until stuff starts to go sideways. The first thing to freeze is the rails the doors ride on.
Most of the time, we have the machine programed to hold the exit door open durring the wash, even below freezing. We change that and keep it down durring the wash when it starts to get into the 20's, especially if their is wind. But yes, at some point, we simply can't run anymore and we have to close the automatic, but where we are at in Utah, that is pretty rare.

 

[Jason727]

I'm in southern Indiana. Last February, we got down to 5 degrees for a few days. Single digits are rare, Normally low teens is about it. No doors, I never closed.

 

[kentadel]

In Nebraska....Floor heat is enough, although if 0 temps persist we lose a lot of heat while doors open and close and during dryer time. We close up now instead of fighting the coldest days.