Jump to content

Hydronic floor Radiant heat


Airehead

Recommended Posts

As of tonight, we are seriously considering putting radiant floor heat in the garage, basement, and living quarters of the new house.  We wil still need the forced air system -- especially for the AC but will do heat too.  3 zones, with 3 separate pumps.

What says you--- the wise forumites?

 

image.jpeg

Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, maddmaxx said:

Wow, they sure have come a long way in that business.  My only problem with it is the amount of work necessary when something breaks/leaks.  Then it's time to call Jack Hammer.

Nice avatar, maxx!  Did you change that just for me, so I don;t get you mixed up with petite? :flirtyeyess:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

17 minutes ago, Zephyr said:

I put it in our previous house.  Not having it is the biggest thing we miss in the house we are in now.  We loved it.

And an added bonus, if you throw your clothes on the floor, in the morning it feels like they are warm out of the dryer.  

I remember when I was young and our clothes ended up on the floor.

 

Well, I almost remember.

  • Heart 1
  • Awesome 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Radiant heat can create a very comfortable environment in a home.

Keep in mind that the heating system will be buried in the slab.  The tubing heats the slab and the slab heats the space.  Therefore it does not react quickly, because the system has to heat tons of concrete particularly in the garage or basement.  It will react relatively more quickly in the house where the sub-floors and floors are made of wood.  It will never react as quickly as the hot air system you're also installing.  That can be a blessing if for some reason you lose both heating system because the heat built up in the mass of concrete will slowly dissipate.  It can be a bit frustrating because you will turn the thermostat up at it may seem like nothing is getting warmer for a long time.

Your floors and below grade walls in the garage and basement will have to be well insulated because you will heat the slab and want the heat to project up into the space, not into the ground.  The ground under those slabs will have to well drained to keep water away from the slabs.  Insulating those slabs will do you little good if you have a high water table and water seeps through the insulation and contacts the slab, especially if you have a sump pump in the basement.  The water will absorb the heat from the slab, seep into the sump, and the sump will pump away that ground water you paid to warm up.  That pumped, warmed water makes room for colder water from the ground to cozy up against the slab, and the process repeats, and your system never catches up because it wasn't designed to heat the underground water.  Remember, you're using water inside the pipes to absorb the heat from the boiler/furnace and put it in the slab - so water against the slabs will be just as effective in taking it away.

If you install it inside the house, and hire a flooring contractor to install wood floors, I'd recommend telling the contractor you've got radiant heat before he starts driving nails to hold the floor in place.

I'd also suggest putting in the contract for the heat installation that the contractor has to take pictures of all the piping from all angles before it's covered over with concrete or flooring, with references to which room the photo refers to.  (They can do this easily with a small dry erase board.)  These will serve as your 'as-built' documents if you want to do remodeling later or you need to make repairs.  For example, if you wanted to remodel the upstairs bathroom the photos will tell you where NOT to cut the floor for installing any new water or waste lines.  I would suggest, too, you write in the contract that the contractor mark up the drawings to show how everything actually was installed, but even the best contractors are notorious for marking inaccurately, marking little, or marking nothing at all.

Having two heating systems will require a bit of extra attention in the set up.  You do not want to run the A/C in the summer only to have the radiant heat come on too because the separate thermostat thinks it's cold in the house but it was only fooled because the AC is on.  The two systems would fight each other in such a situation and your bills will rise.

Your forced air system will have to have certain size ducts and a certain size motor/fan to push cool air throughout the house.  With radiant heat, though, the heating side of your forced air system will not need to be so large because the radiant heat is taking part of the load.  Talk to the designer or contractor how this will be addressed.  If the forced air heat is sized to only cover what the radiant heat does not, it may be too small to heat the house if the radiant system fails.  If the forced air heat is sized to heat the entire house, it may be too large to operate efficiently when the radiant heat is on, and it may cycle on/off because it is 'oversized' for operating in tandem with the radiant heat.

None of the items I mentioned are a show-stopper type of concern.  These items I suggest checking up front so the system meets your expectations from the start and well into into its service life.  I much prefer to consider the potential issues before the system in installed than to start solving issues after the construction is done and the system doesn't run the way it's supposed to.

Last suggestion:  Put in at least a dozen sensors of various types around the system, each with the ability to connect to a computer or programmable controller that can read the sensors' output and store it.  Mr. Aire would enjoy that considerably, I would guess.  ;)

  • Awesome 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

2 hours ago, maddmaxx said:

Wow, they sure have come a long way in that business.  My only problem with it is the amount of work necessary when something breaks/leaks.  Then it's time to call Jack Hammer.

...this.  It's great until something starts to leak.  Then it's very problematic finding and fixing the leak.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
  • Recently Browsing   0 members

    • No registered users viewing this page.
×
×
  • Create New...