Radient Heat

[headshrink]

Question for all you contracters out there.... Reef related question also included.

I stayed in a place up in Truckee during winter that had radient heat.... I really liked it. The owner is rich, I am not - but I am wondering how feezable it would be to add radient heat to my house. It is in the Sacramento area, so obviously it wouldn't be needed all year. It is a 2yr old house, 2,000 Sq FT concrete slab. Mostly carpet, some vinal. If it was doable, it wouldn't be untill we could afford to replace carpet with probably hardwood throughout most of the house.

- What is involved?

- What drives the system (main water heater, aux water heater, tankless heater)?

- Is it even reasonably efficant or cost effective to replace my forced air system?
(I wouldn't get rid of it, only use the AC portion in the summer. I guess the furnace could sit there.)

- Is it effective for cooling too?

- Is it insane to install raqdient heat in a relatively new house in Sacramento?


- What kind of $$ are we talking about (1K,3K, 5K, 10K, 20K, + ?)


Has anyone done a mini radient system for reef (not talking about the undergravel heater, but something under sump)?

 

[BruiseAndy]

Re: Radient Heat

<a href=showthread.php?s=&postid=6752685#post6752685 target=_blank>Originally posted</a> by headshrink
Question for all you contracters out there.... Reef related question also included.

I stayed in a place up in Truckee during winter that had radient heat.... I really liked it. The owner is rich, I am not - but I am wondering how feezable it would be to add radient heat to my house. It is in the Sacramento area, so obviously it wouldn't be needed all year. It is a 2yr old house, 2,000 Sq FT concrete slab. Mostly carpet, some vinal. If it was doable, it wouldn't be untill we could afford to replace carpet with probably hardwood throughout most of the house.

- What is involved?

NOT A DIY PROJECT.


Without knowing further info about your subfloor it's hard to say. You have to run piping that's about 3/8"-5/8" O.D. depending on application. You could also go with electric (expensive option to do a whole house but much easier to zone). With the piping option that has problems as far as do I have to raise floor level? With electric it is not a concern as it is very thin and does well under wood floors. You could also consider only doing bathrooms and bedrooms.

- What drives the system (main water heater, aux water heater, tankless heater)?

All of the above plus a stand alone boiler or electricity.

- Is it even reasonably efficant or cost effective to replace my forced air system?
(I wouldn't get rid of it, only use the AC portion in the summer. I guess the furnace could sit there.)

doubtful a 96% efficent furnace will probably cost 1/4 of an underfloor install.

- Is it effective for cooling too?

no

- Is it insane to install raqdient heat in a relatively new house in Sacramento?

kinda sorta, do not think it would add considerably to resale value of home vs the install cost.

- What kind of $$ are we talking about (1K,3K, 5K, 10K, 20K, + ?)

hard to say without seeing house but i would say for a whole house in californias market probably not the first 3 of those numbers

Has anyone done a mini radient system for reef (not talking about the undergravel heater, but something under sump)?

Seen heat exchangers used to heat spas in homes and many pools uses boilers (water heaters) with heat exchangers to heat pools.

 

[headshrink]

lol, well that settles it then. I guess I have to only be insane in my fantasies.

 

[BruiseAndy]

What I could suggest is get the electric mat stuff and do it in your bathrooms and master bedroom.

 

[stugray]

I have seen the DIY for houses that have a basement. The lines attach to the bottom of the floor between the joists.

For concrete floor, it either needs to be installed before the concrete is poured, or a new wooden floor is installed over the concrete.

The ads for the DIY can be found in the back of popular science magazine.

Stu