Radiant in my House

Aaron_in_Maine

I am in the planning stages of building my house the project is still a good year or so away. I haven't done much new construction only a few over the years and those were baseboard. My business does mostly service and boiler replacements. So any pointers would be appreciated.
The heating system is going to be radiant floors. The question I am posing is what type of system would you put in your home if building from scratch. The floors are going to be tile in the kitchen and bathrooms and wood or the porcelain tile that looks like wood in the living and dining room and halls and carpet in the bedrooms. I have a quote for Warmboard-S I am leaning towards it because of the low operating temps and responsiveness. But I am open to doing research on other products and methods as we are well over a year away.

Mark Eatherton

Well, your first choice would be my first choice. I am also applying WB as radiant walls in a project I am working on at my guest house in the mountains. And your choice of finished flooring goods are great as well. Highly conductive = low entering water temperatures and excellent emitting surface temperatures.

Don't forget to insulate the outboard block outs for the joist bays, and (obviously) the joist spaces below the panel.

If WB can't be used, then my preference would be to use any method that keeps primary transfer in the conductive mode as much as possible before it goes to radiant energy transfer. If my only option were to come in from below, I'd stick with the better/more expensive extruded aluminum heat transfer plates. The lighter flashing style of plates don't get a really good "bite" in the tubing, and it can significantly affect the heat transfer chain. And the surface interface of the plates to the subfloor is also a critical detail. If the plate doesn't have a good clean "bite" on the floor to which it is being applied, transfer will be negatively affected.

Quite honestly, if you can see your way clear to do it, I'd suggest doing a radiant ceiling. I have ceilings at my 2nd home, and I LOVE it. When it gets real cold outside, the ceiling literally glows warmth into the room, giving you a very good feeling of comfort. You also don't HAVE to do 1 foot per square foot of ceiling space because your feet are not in contact with the ceiling, therefore you don't NEED to put one foot of pipe per square foot of space, unless of you;re are interested in "future proofing" the system to make it more compatible with alternative energy sources (GSHP or Solar Thermal). This will put you into a situation whereby you can relate the excellent comfort of the ceilings to your customers. It's a lot easier and less expensive to retrofit a ceiling than it is a floor. You will then be able to equate the comfort in first person terms to the end consumer, and you also have a "live in lab" where you can tae potential clients to let them experience your brand of radiant comfort. Then if the consumer wants to cover their floor with bear rugs, they can do so without affecting the radiant output.

Radiant floors are great in bathrooms, and other areas where you will be most poorly clothed, and possibly wet (bathrooms and walk in closets). Otherwise, they are an expensive option just for the purpose of being able to have your toes as a part of the radiant experience.

As homes get tighter and better insulated, radiant floors get a lot less warm, and the consumers get a lot ore upset with the fact they paid significant money for warm floors, but the floors are barely more than tepid...

Radiant walls, done right are also an excellent methodology. Regardless of the method you choose, keep the primary heat transfer modes in as much of a conductive mode as possible, insulate well on the back side of the panel to guarantee the right direction on energy flow and the overall efficiency of the radiant panels will be excellent. Otherwise, you will need to raise the operating temperatures in order to overcome the loss of heat transfer efficiency. Conductivity is the KING of heat transfer!

ME

hot_rod

I like WB as a great transfer and structural material, however I would tube my next home at 6" on center anywhere tube would be installed. Mainly to leverage the lowest possible SWT, but also the most consistent floor surface temperature. Maybe a goal could be 100 SWT at design!

Although, until you define the structure and it's efficiency, designing the heating system, especially the distribution may be premature. A tight well designed home could be heated with just appliance, lighting and occupant BTU output. Toss in a little passive solar.

I'd skip radiant floors in the bedrooms of my next home, instead radiant ceilings or low temperature panel rads. I like super quick response, large surface area, and the ability to TRV. Some folks like carpet in bedrooms, so radiant floors, especially with beds and furnishings, not such a good match up.

Being a pet owner, no more carpet anywhere for me. In fact I'd have concrete floors everywhere and furniture suspended so I could take a hose to the entire home for clean up But I haven't sold my wife on that concept, yet!

Mark Eatherton

hot rod said:

I like WB as a great transfer and structural material, however I would tube my next home at 6" on center anywhere tube would be installed. Mainly to leverage the lowest possible SWT, but also the most consistent floor surface temperature. Maybe a goal could be 100 SWT at design!

Although, until you define the structure and it's efficiency, designing the heating system, especially the distribution may be premature. A tight well designed home could be heated with just appliance, lighting and occupant BTU output. Toss in a little passive solar.

I'd skip radiant floors in the bedrooms of my next home, instead radiant ceilings or low temperature panel rads. I like super quick response, large surface area, and the ability to TRV. Some folks like carpet in bedrooms, so radiant floors, especially with beds and furnishings, not such a good match up.

Being a pet owner, no more carpet anywhere for me. In fact I'd have concrete floors everywhere and furniture suspended so I could take a hose to the entire home for clean up But I haven't sold my wife on that concept, yet!

Good luck with the convincing HR. I seem to remember her reaction to the new radiant ceiling heating system you delivered to her kitchen I am sure she's use to it by now though...

These women just don't understand mans need for pushing the envelope...

Happy New Year!

ME

Rich_49

Have a good look at SunBoard Aaron . Just as responsive as WB , closer spacing , graphite coating moves heat faster than Al . WB is the best 12" O.c product there is , period . As Bob said above closer spacing is key . SunBoard also allows all the clowns to destroy everything before your board is down so the damage is far less excessive . WB gets beat to death , don't care what precautions you take . Do yourself a favor and don't buy the Hype , buy a good product . Manufactured closer to you , less shipping , easier to handle . You should also check out WarmBoards new product line or system as it were , Warmsource , it's called . You can skip all that nonsense too and just buy SunBoard and HTP stuff .