Radiant Hot water Heat in older home

Constantin

... that we gutted. Hence, retrofitting a modern heating system was not that difficult. Furthermore, our home never had any beautiful cast iron radiators, it was a gravity-based air-system that was later updated to run on forced air.

If disrupting the home to the minimum possible is what you're after, I think your idea to use staple-up tubing in the basement ceiling is a good idea. Put in some plates, insulate it well, but do not expect it to carry the entire heating load, unless you have a heat loss calculation that shows that it'll work. If you live in a cold climate and the house has not been insulated, chances are it won't work by itself.

That's not all bad though, as you could use a two-stage thermostat to have the floor come on first, and then supplement with the steam system as necessary. TRV vents on the steam radiators could then allow the steam system to continue to work normally even in the rooms with floor heating.

You could install a ceiling-based system like the KaRO stuff in the second floor, though that would probably be pretty expensive. I'd continue to rely on steam up there until you feel like peeling off the ceilings below or peeling the walls or the floor off/up in the rooms above.

Which brings me to the three most important points. For one, in order for radiant to work well, the place has to be insulated and the loads reduced to the point where the radiant system can operate efficiently. Secondly, I'd get a boiler to do the legwork, not a hot water heater. Lastly, find a good professional who has done this sort of thing before. The "Find a Pro" button on this website has helped many a mere homeowner like you or me before.

Steve Harp

Radiant Hot water Heat in older home

How well does a radiant hot water system work, for example one shown at Radiantec's web page, in a older home that is currently being heated by a one pipe natural gas fired steam system?

I need to replace my boiler and am looking at puttin ~ 7 k into that approach. The radiant HW looks attractive because I can either get a HE water boiler or perhaps use the Polaris HW heater. My steam radiator are not suitale for conversion to HW. My thought is that using the poly tubing is a "good" way to get into a hot water heat system.

Installation via the basement for the first floor looks relatively straight forward. The second floor looks like it would be near impossible unless the first floor ceiling come s off. Perhaps the second floor could be heated ( and cooled) with a heat pump system?

If anyone has any thoughts and experience with a radiant HW system instalation and use in an existing home I would love to hear about it.

Steve

[Deleted User]

Well said...

Most importantly, don't allow yourslef to get sucked into the web of deception that these internet peddlars sell. Granted, its not rocket science, but it not as easy as they portray. They also tend to use a mish mash of materials, some of which are not approved in certain appliactions. For example, if you chose not to use a water heater as your heat source (wise decision IMPO) then the tubing is misappplied, because it is rated for potable use only. If you use the water heater for a heat source, make DAMNED sure that the manufacturer of the appliance has approved it for that use. If not, you have NO warranty.

These people aslo do not perform an exact heat loss/heat gain calculation as required by code in most states. States operating under the I codes require that dual use systems have the capacity to cover BOTH the space heating demand, AND the DHW demand without falling short in capacity.

As far as installed cost is concerned, they obviously don't value your labor. Do you? I do.

Proceed with caution. It's good to see consumers doing research on thier own as it pertains to the applications of hydronic radiant heating systems. Its just too bad there are no truth detectors on these web sites to differentiate between the truth and pure BS.

Contrary to many of these web sites wording, there ARE a BUNCH of dissatisfied customers out there with lemon systems purchased off the net. It's just that they are too emberassed to admit they got taken to file the necessary paper work for it to show up on the BBB radar screen. I know because I have worked on a lot of them.

Buyer, beware. You can do it right, or you can do it again, and again, and again. Your call. Your time and your money.

Ain't no such thing as a "good deal" on incompetent systems.

ME

ALH_4

Retrofits

I really like steel panel radiators with TRV's as a retrofit approach where access is limited. Use a constant circulation modulating condensing boiler and size the radiators to operate at reduced temperatures. It allows you to zone as much as you like without installing thermostat wires. get to the 2nd floor by running two pipes through the corner of a closet? A little strategic planning can usually get some pipes to the 2nd floor. The condensing boiler also gives you a high efficiency water heater when coupled with an indirect hot water tank.

As always, insulation is of primary importance when looking to reduce fuel bills.

-Andrew