Radiant floor heating

eeore58

I live in NYC in a condo I own. My upstairs neighbors installed radiant floors throughout their entire apartment two summers ago. I was unaware. My understand was it was a large remodeling. Last winter, the noise from pipes when the heat goes on is incredible after construction was finished. I couldn't understand the change. My super told me of the radiant flooring when a pipe had to be replaced. Now, as we get into cooler temps again...the noise has started up again. I do not live in a very old building. Could this be due to their flooring? Also, my electric bill has increased massively last year and this. Could that have anything to do with it as well?

SuperTech

I doubt that anything you are experiencing is related to radiant floor heating installation. Radiant floor heating is known for being a nearly silent form of heating and it uses very little electricity.

EdTheHeaterMan

How is your condo heated?

What months did you see the largest electric increase?

Were the meter reading for the kWh larger, or did you use the same kWh and it is just a price increase for the same amount of electricity?

What is the heat source of the building? …or the other condos that did not do a major renovation?

DanHolohan

Can you describe the noise? What sort of floor does your neighbor have?

GroundUp

If they did a poor job of an overlay and/or used a tubing with the EVOH barrier on the outside, it's certainly possible that you're hearing it during expansion and contraction as it heats up and cools down. As for the electric bill, it should be unaffected by what happened in another unit unless somehow they tapped into your service for something in that unit or perhaps nicked one of your wires in the process dumping stray voltage. Have you looked at the actual bill showing kWh used and price per kWh, or just the price? It's possible that the price per kWh simply rose and is causing the hike you're seeing but if the actual kWh usage has hiked dramatically while everything in you unit remained the same, then there is cause for concern.

eeore58

@GroundUp there was definitely an increase in price per kWh. Significant. I am sure a lot of it is due to that. However, there has been a huge increase in usage that doesn't really add up. Of course, that may have absolutely nothing to do with upstairs neighborsand entirely something else. When I called ConEd, thry did say the usage has increased exponentially. However, they said they don't look into those issues. It is up to me to hire someone to check. Again, that issue could be due to any number of things and completely unrelated to the floors above.

eeore58

@DanHolohan it is sort of a droning noise that lasts for a short bit, stops, then restarts after a period of time. Separately there is also a large ticking noise. As for types of floors, I am not at all sure. I had a leak in my ceiling and the super mentioned he thought it was due to the radiant floors the neighbors had installed (it was repaired at yheir cost. So no issues). It was the first I learned (they had done construction in their 3,200 Sq. Ft. Apt for over a year and I thought it was just remodeling. It is very difficult to get approved for that flooring for entire units in our building.) That is as much info as I have. Which is little. I have had this apartment for 12 years. The building was gutted 14 years ago. It's the 1st I have heard these noises. Perhaps it is a coincidence? Love to figure it out though since it is a significant change

DanHolohan

Sounds like expansion/contraction.

eeore58

@EdTheHeaterMan the building has a boiler. It's the typical setup for a building.

The price increase was something I was curious about. I am leaning towards that it has absolutely nothing to do with upstairs. Our price per kwh has definitely increased. For sure. However, the usage has increased a ton. Which doesn't really make sense. The increase coincidentally matched up to their renovation.

Energy is provided by ConEd. I did reach out to them to see if they could have suggestions as to what I may be doing or what I missed to cause the increase. They didn't have much feedback but did say the increase seemed unusual. That I should hire someone to come test the meters. Evidently, Coned does not do that.

All the units are provided with the same type of heat. I have been here for 12 years. The unit above us is the 1st to install radiant floors in an entire unit. Some have it just for bathrooms.

eeore58

@DanHolohan i was thinking that. Though the noise increase is significant. Noise I haven't heard in 12 years of being in the same apartment. The droning is a new noise. Can those noises suddenly increase so drastically after all this time? Possibly settle down as we move into winter?

DanHolohan

A lot depends on how they installed the floor. An outdoor-reset control that would better control the temperature of the entering water the tubing would help if it is an expansion/contraction situation.

EdTheHeaterMan

@eeore58 said" @EdTheHeaterMan the building has a boiler. It's the typical setup for a building.

A central boiler for the entire building. Is it a steam boiler, that feeding Steam Radiators in each unit, like so many buildings in your area? Is it a Water boiler that feeds baseboard radiators like the newer buildings that were renovated after 1990s?

I guess I want to see a picture of some of your radiators in order to tell what your typical setup is in your building is.

If it is steam that would need a fancy heat exchanger to make radiant floor heat. If it is Water then it is easier to do. Your typical might be different from other typical buildings

delcrossv

Wonder if the pump for the radiant isn't on the OP's meter.

Stranger things have happened with renovations.

DCContrarian

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1816537#Comment_1816537

I wouldn't see that as a big drain on the electric. However, if then installed electric underfloor heat on the OP's meter that would move the dial.

DCContrarian

Question for @eeore58 : Do you only see the higher electric bills during the heating season?

SuperTech

If it was electric radiant, wouldn't that be completely silent? I suppose wether it's hydronic or electric you might still get some expansion noise depending on the quality of the installation. The sound described could be a circulator, but those are not typically very noisy.

hot_rod

some of the heat transfer plates can make a ticking noise if not installed properly. They must have done some sort of overlay from above. Record the noises on your phone.

I suspect the ticking is heard in their unit also.