DIY Radiant heat company

gillisc

I live in Virginia and will be starting a new house on a concrete slab with polished floors. I would like to install a radiant heat system in the slab myself. Any recommendations on a good DIY company that is easy to work with and designs good systems.

Ironman

I'm in VA. What part are you located in?

Proper design is the key to getting a radiant system that performs well.

There are a lot of internet companies that are scam artists and try to get you to buy from them by offering the lowest cost. Beware of them. There's no shortcut to doing it right and a tankless water heater is NOT a substitute for a boiler.

Mad Dog_2

Uponor...D.I.Y.R. (Do it yourself, right out of the gate.) They have great specs and installation info. Are you up for this? You get ONE chance to do Radiant or Snowmelt in a Poured Slab Mad Dog

gillisc

Ironman, I am located in Northern Virginia. Any suggestions?

gillisc

Do you know anyone that will build the system for you that has a good reputation?

hot_rod

maybe send it to one of the tube manufacturers. Rehau is in Virginia if you want close to home design help.

Consider a 6" on center design to allow the lowest possible supply, maybe put you in heat pump design range.

https://www.rehau.com/us-en/design-services

gillisc

Thanks, Hot Rod. Does anyone know anything good or bad about Radiant Floor Company , Vermont , or Blue Ridge Company, WA or Krell Distributing, Syracuse, NY. ? I understand they build and design systems.

GroundUp

I design and build these systems, and am based out of MN. The issue with any of the online outfits like Blueridge, is that their systems are all "one size fits all" type things with little or no regard to the actual requirements of that particular system, and then you still have to put everything together.

gillisc

Groundup, under those circumstances what would be the best approach if I am doing it myself? Any suggestions?

EdTheHeaterMan

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1744439#Comment_1744439

Get in touch with the tubing manufacturer as @hot_rod said. You may be able to do this thru a local supply house in your area. If you deal directly with the manufacturer for the design, they will eventually route you to the supply house in your area to actually purchase the material.

You could also get some insight from the supply house about what contractors might be willing to say, install the boiler if you do the floor tubing work.  That way you can  save on the floor tubing labor and perhaps even purchase the tubing and manifolds yourself and save some $$$.  I was one of those contractors that would allow a customer to do their own tubing to save on costs.  Sorry I’m retired now and live nowhere near  Virginia. 

GroundUp

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1744439#Comment_1744439

I'm not typically the type to try to advertise myself on the internet, but I'm tired of seeing handy folks being taken advantage of by greedy contractors. Still a licensed heating contractor, I provide DIY systems to any of my clients who are willing and able to tackle the project. There's no reason that greed needs to drive construction. If you'd like to talk about it, please feel free to send me a PM and maybe I can set you up with a DIY system remotely, to keep some money in your pocket while still having a professionally designed system.

yellowdog

@gillisc stay away from radiantech out of vermont. never seen or heard anything good about them.

Ironman

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1744399#Comment_1744399

I'm about 2-1/2 hours from you near Staunton.

You might try Dan Foley of Foley Mechanic in Lorton.

Something that you should understand is that there's a lot more to this than just laying tubing in the ground: a proper design starts with an accurate, scientific heat loss calculation. Everything is built on that. Beyond the floor, you've got system piping, pumps, controls and their wiring, proper installation and setup of the boiler or other heat source, system commissioning and adjustments, etc. A lot of this requires specialized tools, training and experience.

I'd be willing to help to whatever degree you'd like, but I don't know of any "one stop" place that can give you all that you need.

As mentioned, most are scam artists trying to sell something cheap.