Considering Radiant, but have some concerns

Andy58

Hi all,

I am in the process of GC'ing my home construction, and need to make a decision on the heat within a week or so, but my plumber has been talking me out of radiant, I just think he is unfamiliar with it. Anyway, I have a few concerns about my situation. I plan on stapling the pex under the sub floor and putting hardwood flooring on top of it.

I have read on a website(full of very useful radiant advice) that aluminum plates are unnecessary, he recommends creating a 2 inch airspace with Foil double bubble Foil, stapled into the joist, and then filling the rest of the joist with fiberglass. The lack of aluminum will slow the heating, but once the floor is heated, its irrelevant(in his opinion).

The other concern is that I am installing a high efficiency wood burning fireplace, I am worried that if I keep the fire going for a week, the floor will lose its heat, and then will take a couple of days to catch up once the fire goes out.

Also, what is the recommended water temperature for this application, I am also concerned about damage/warping of the wood floor?

Thanks in advance for the collective wisdom!!!

Andy

Andy58

a little more info

Just to be clear, the fireplace is located in the living room, and is not heating the floor, a gas boiler is providing the heat

Andy58

a little more info

Just to be clear, the fireplace is located in the living room, and is not heating the floor, a gas boiler is providing the heat

Gordy

Websites

 Be very wary of some information you read on radiant over the Internet. You get what you pay for, and a lot of websites want to cater to the DIY looking for a quality system for a cheap price. In doing so you end up with a system with less than desirable performance because its not properly designed, and a website that does not answer the phone. If radiant is going to be used as your main heat source then plates are a must. This person may be talking floor warming, and the primary heat source is something else.



Above all, and first thing is a heat load room by room to determine if radiant can satisfy the load in each room on its own. It may need supplemental heat such as baseboard if loads are high. If this is a fresh build I would do over the top sleeper, or warm board. Pushing the radiant through sub, and finished floor is just creating higher water temps which equals more fuel.



Sounds like the plumber is not to familiar with radiant heat. I recommend you find someone who is before you go further.



Plenty of excellent info here browse the library, and forums. Plenty of what not to do systems out there. They end up here looking for solutions to their problems.



Gordy