Radiant floor information

dgranger

We bought an old house and totally gutted it and are starting fresh. We have decided to go with In floor radiant heat on the main floor. We have 3 runs of oxygen barrier pex on this floor. We are reluctant to do in floor on the second floor due to cost. Does anyone out there have a schematic for what we may need? We would have 2 zones, main floor and upstairs. We did not purchase the propane boiler yet. Also what are your thoughts on running radiant vs baseboard in the second story? We just insulated the entire house with r30. The house is 1800 sq ft and we replaced all the windows, but there are 20. Any thought or advice will be helpful.

Gordy

Before you install, or buy anything else perform a heatloss calculation first. This is the main driver for a comprehensive radiant system design.

Brewbeer

If you install enough of it, baseboard can be run at at radiant supply temps. I have a low temp baseboard system, and it runs at 102 F supply water temps when it is 32 F outside.

Gordy

One step at a time. Heatloss first.

To @dgranger . We get way to many people that come here "after" they have installed tubing for radiant. With loops to long, did not use plates, and wrong spacing for tubing. Or after they have already bought their boiler that is way to big for the load, and short cycles. Along with many other issues after the money is spent the system installed wrong, poor design, and now they need to straighten it out. This usually ends up costing more money.

Yes if you install enough baseboard you can run lower water temps. However to know how much requires a heat load calculation on the envelope.

We are all here to help don't be afraid to ask questions. We love to educate. Radiant gets a bad wrap when it's not done right. We are here to try, and insure it does not through education.