BASEBORAD ADD-ON

Michael J. Brennan

Got a call from a buddy of mine stating that his new radiant system is lacking comfort in his bedrooms (floors are carpeted) but are fine throughout the rest of the house (tiled floors)he is interested in installing baseboard in each room (as a back up), he has a Weil Mclain Gold CGI 5, total of 4 zones, 2 for radiant, 1 for a hydro coil, and 1 for an indirect heater. he also has a Argo ARM-4P switching relay, each zone has its own pump. I know i can add Argo AD-1 for an additional baseboard zone. would an additional baseboard loop be a good idea? what about using a 2-stage t-stat? any other ideas would be appriciated. thanks guys and Happy New Year

hot_rod

How much lacking?

you may be able to bump the supply temperature to the carpeted zones. Is it a transfer plate installation or bare tube staple up, or other?

Does it have a radiant friendly carpet pad below it? That bonded foam pad is a bad mix with radiant floor heat.

The load calc should tell you what those rooms need for BTU/ square foot. any output chart, like the RPA RadPad or others will tell you what that floor build up is capable of providing.

hot rod

Michael J. Brennan

The radiant install is on slab, w/concrete poured over the radiant, i believe the radiant tubing was spaced between 4" and 6", whichever teh design called for, i will look into the paddind situation, and try to bump up the zones a bit (although i believe this method was tried before) if none of these methods work would baseboard be the answer? thanks again

hot_rod

baseboard is an option

I guess the hydro air handler doesn't cover the cold area?, That would be a simple second stage fix.

Panel rads with TRVs would be another option. Possibly a home run piping with 3/8" pex.

My RadPad shows 1/2" carpet with 1/2" urethane pad is an r-2.4. With a 140F supply, probably as high as you want to supply directly under that carpet and pad, you should see about 28 btu/ square foot at a 70F room temperature.

If the load calc showed 35 or more BTU/ sq. ft. required, there's your problem. Most load calc programs will flash a warning in red when the radiant floor panel cannot meet the load.

Loads higher then that in a home would have me looking for leaks or insulation issues, unless all the exterior walls are glass

It would be best to determine how much you are shy before you start adding any supplemental emitters. You, and the homeowner, want to get it right on this go around.

hot rod

Michael J. Brennan

thanks for the input Hot Rod, I am going to stop by the house early next week to look thinks over, im not sure what the hydro coil supplies, this is a one story ranch, i hope it serves the bedrooms as well as the living areas, might be able to avoid baseboard altogether by bumping things up a bit