cozee
Member
We are in the planning stages of remodling our home. We are currently looking into heating and cooling. I thought I would ask here and see if by chance if anyone here was heating with hydronic radiant???
Home heating
- Thread starter cozee
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low_48
Member
I've only been in shops that are heated this way. It's great there as long as you don't leave a door open too long unloading materials. Recovery of air temp takes a long time, but the thermal mass of the concrete floor works great. The last one I was in, the guy just used a large hot water heater with a pump to heat the slab. Man was that nice for working on a car when he pulled it in. I've heard some really good things about ground water heat pumps. Great year-round savings, but really high install prices.
cozee
Member
From what I have found on the web the type I am speaking of can also be mounted under wood floors, between the joists. They can be installed in slabs but not necessary as it is with electrical loop systems. A quality water heater can be used and the system can also be used to help cool the house in the summer. I can see many benefits to this type of system but wanting to speak to some who are actually using it.
DWK5150
Member
They have there plus and minuses. The main thing is really the area of the country that you live in that determines how far to go with a system like that. If you have cold winters then I would go with a high efficiency forced air system personally.
Scott
Member
Hi Greg,
I used hydronic radiant heat in my shop. My Wife and I laid out the tubing ourselves before the slab was poured. I will tell you first off that it is a really nice, comfortable kind of heat. It does not warm up quickly. It really is not difficult to set it up with different zones, so that different rooms are heated separately. Most professionally installed systems use a boiler as a heat source because you can acheive higher continuous temperatures than with a water heater. This means that the heat sours has to run for a shorter period of time, making it more efficient. I used a tankless water heater for my heat source. It works fine, but it is slower and is therefore not as efficient. I pay more to heat my shop than I had anticipated.
A few basics you should know. Radiant heat works by heating the floor - transmitting the heat up through the floor to you. Floor materials that act as insulation are not well suited for this, such as wood and carpet. If you must, wood would still be better than carpet. You can retrofit a house for radiant heat, but the best way to do it is to lay out the tubing on top of the wood subfloor, and then pour a thin layer of cement just to cover the tubing. This would raise your floor by 1" to 1 1/2", but really makes the radiant work for you. The next best option is to use pre-made wood and metal panels with grooves cut in them for the tubing. These are laid down on top of your subfloor, and then your regular flooring over the top of this. The least desirable is to apply the tubing from beneath the subfloor. They make metal panels that fit between the floor joists and have grooves in them for the tubing. You run the tubing in the metal panels, and then staple these up in between the floor joists, then you insulate below these to keep the heat moving upwards.
Please feel free to ask questions.
Scott.
I used hydronic radiant heat in my shop. My Wife and I laid out the tubing ourselves before the slab was poured. I will tell you first off that it is a really nice, comfortable kind of heat. It does not warm up quickly. It really is not difficult to set it up with different zones, so that different rooms are heated separately. Most professionally installed systems use a boiler as a heat source because you can acheive higher continuous temperatures than with a water heater. This means that the heat sours has to run for a shorter period of time, making it more efficient. I used a tankless water heater for my heat source. It works fine, but it is slower and is therefore not as efficient. I pay more to heat my shop than I had anticipated.
A few basics you should know. Radiant heat works by heating the floor - transmitting the heat up through the floor to you. Floor materials that act as insulation are not well suited for this, such as wood and carpet. If you must, wood would still be better than carpet. You can retrofit a house for radiant heat, but the best way to do it is to lay out the tubing on top of the wood subfloor, and then pour a thin layer of cement just to cover the tubing. This would raise your floor by 1" to 1 1/2", but really makes the radiant work for you. The next best option is to use pre-made wood and metal panels with grooves cut in them for the tubing. These are laid down on top of your subfloor, and then your regular flooring over the top of this. The least desirable is to apply the tubing from beneath the subfloor. They make metal panels that fit between the floor joists and have grooves in them for the tubing. You run the tubing in the metal panels, and then staple these up in between the floor joists, then you insulate below these to keep the heat moving upwards.
Please feel free to ask questions.
Scott.
jczubs
Member
Are you remodling the whole house or just adding on to it. How are you heating it now.Is your house a one story or two story do you have a basement or slab
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