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separate zone for radiant from radiators

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DiyEverything
DiyEverything Member Posts: 15
in THE MAIN WALL
I currently have hot water radiator heat. Im remodeling my kitchen and bathroom on the 1st floor. I would like to install radiant heat under the tile. will i need a separate zone for the radiant?

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  • Jamie Hall
    Jamie Hall Member Posts: 23,330
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    Yes. Hot water radiators run a good deal hotter than radiant flooring can run. Separate zone, probably separate mixing valve.
    Br. Jamie, osb
    Building superintendent/caretaker, 7200 sq. ft. historic house museum with dependencies in New England
  • HVACNUT
    HVACNUT Member Posts: 5,841
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    Are you planning on doing this yourself? Its not really a DIY project. YouTube might give some pointers, but you need to know theory and have experience.
  • Ironman
    Ironman Member Posts: 7,376
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    A radiant floor may not have a high enough btu output per sq. ft. to heat a kitchen or bath. There will be no output from any floor area that's cover by cabinets, appliances, tub, shower, etc.

    A room by room heat loss calculation needs to be done to see how much heat is needed in each room. From there, it can be determined if the radiant will be sufficient by itself. Most usually, it's not in this type of scenario. Proper design is essential to getting radiant floors right, but it's the one thing that's almost always overlooked by DYIs and plumbers who don't know this trade. People think that just putting tubing down will make it work - a fatal false assumption.
    Bob Boan
    You can choose to do what you want, but you cannot choose the consequences.
  • RomanP
    RomanP Member Posts: 102
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    What @Ironman said ^^^

    Heat loss analysis. Kitchen could be ok, unless you have island and lots of cabinetry on perimeter. If bathroom has no exterior walls you should be good. If it has exterior walls, do the heat loss.
  • RomanP
    RomanP Member Posts: 102
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    For instance, this bathroom had a tiny 1’x2’ window. When a new HO bought this place, he did what you see now. A full size glass. Which is really cool, IMHO. You can enjoy the view of the ocean, while dropping a deuce.

    Yet, since they removed a big chunk of spray foam insulated wall and put a glass there. My original radiant floor wasn’t enough. So I offered to do a radiant wall.

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