Power bills are ruining my life, Wirsbo radiant in-floor heating.

nzxtinertia

First off, I know absolutely nothing about this system. I don't necessarily have a great idea of where the runs go, I don't necessarily know if I understand the loop plumbing right, I know nothing about in-floor heat short of it's general operating practice. I am pretty technically inclined, however that knowledge is mostly with mechanics and fabrication (as that's what I do professionally).

My ~3000sq/ft home with three zones, running off an electric boiler, gives us anywhere from $1000-$1500 electric bills PER MONTH. Summer months this is closer to ~$200, with my fab shop running constantly. So the heating bill is easily 90% of that. We've resorted to keeping the house at ~60f all winter, and even then it's nearly $900-$1100 monthly. The house is a single level, slab on grade, located in Northern Minnesota. It's supplemented with a propane fireplace on one end, and we've been using space heaters on the other end to pick up the slack (as to not run the floors as much).

EVERY SINGLE REPAIR PERSON that has seen this setup, gives us the "Oh looks fine to me" and then writes us a $300 bill. Can someone tell me if this is right, or if there's absolutely anything I can do? We're selling the house, as it's far too big for us. But we're really looking to get this squared away.

I am partially disabled, and my wife works full time. Starting a business with this much constant drain on our finances has been a disaster.

clammy

First things first its electric and even though they are said to be 100 % eff there 100 % eff in removing money from your wallet and usually expensive to operate unless you have a low electrical rate . I suspect as good as you think your tech are i would state they stink being the first thing i see is a what looks like a gate or globe valve which is illegal to have before a safety relief valve any tech that does not see this and recommend and remove it is a idiot and due to safety concern does not have the brain power or awareness or sense of perception to repair or evaluate anything on your system aside from see the pumps operate . I will say they did a neat piping job . Personally i think i would have piped it a little differently and not used a boiler primary loop but this is me . Does this system contain a out door reset and being your system is from the looks and you description of it is radiant do you know if the there was insulation installed under you in slab tubing . if not this will always run up your energy bill quickly and never really heat the space w out costing a fortune .

If after running your radiant in floor zone for a few hours use a strap on or clamp on digital thermometer and check the temp difference between your system supply and returns if you are experiencing more then a 15 or 20 degree temp difference you can be assured that there is zero insulation below your tubing . Usually a well designed radiant in floor system temp dif should be 10 degree or less .What is the aquastat temperature setting if done correctly in slab radiant should not see temps over 105 if they are running it higher them its issues w slab insulation . If footage markings on the tubing can be seen i would see if you can fiqure out the loop lengths on 1/2 tubing 300 ft is max over that there s issues .

The aquastat on the boiler should be set for no more then 110 f if all in slab heating if it s set higher well then it clear that there is no slab insulation and that your heating the earth . hence costing you a fortune .

If you are able to contact the builder or the original installer and find out if the slab was insulated if it was not then its time to possible dump the radiant and have panel radiators installed and sized for mid temp 140 max temp at design temp .

At 300 bucks a visit to say all is good i could do that all day long . But if all where good your electric bill would not be so high . On a final note just in case no has informed you of this . Radiant systems like a set and forget thermostat setting due to the lower temps and that there recover from temperature set backs slowly and using temp setbacks only makes the boiler operate longer . So in other words if your using a set back thermostats and setting the temperature back at nite or when not at home stop doing so low temperature and radiant system will always cost more and not provide comfort using thermostat set backs it dont work and totally increases energy consumption .

Is there no natural gas in your area and as for heating costs and tax bills my dad always said big house big bill small house small bills . so always except big bills w a big house it really just common sense which i know is not to common much any more cause the computer and internet is our barometer of common sense and instant knowledge from all walks of life just like the guy behind the curtain ,the wizard of oz lol

peace and good luck clammy

maybe some one smarter then me w 40 years of doing this yunk will chime in peanut gallery please .

peace and good luck clammy

Hot_water_fan

There’s not much to square away. It’s expensive to use electric resistance and unless you’re going to install a different boiler or an air to water heat pump, then selling the house is the best option available. Does this house have AC? If so, is that a heat pump by any chance?

UNLESS - does your utility offer any sort of electric space heating rate? It’s relatively common.

psb75

+++ What clammy said. Running an electric boiler in northern MN is gonna be $$$. There's that. How well is the slab insulated underneath and on its edge? Check for any snowmelt around the slab edge outside the blg. What do the temp. gauges on the system read when the boiler is in the middle of a heating cycle: 1.) hot supply water going out and 2.) cooler return water temp. coming back? I notice one secondary circulator is valved "off" and the other two are "on." Why is that? The photo of the manifold(s) arrangement is hard to discern the connections because of overlap. Is there a temp. mixing valve?

hot_rod

maybe have an energy audit done this would be a blower door test to find any air leakage and an infrared scan to see how well the insulation is working.
The best way to lower heating cost is to lower the heating load

Check with your utility for audit info.

Kaos

The simplest upgrade you can do is add in a mini split. If open living space, one in there can cut probably 1/3 of your heating cost out.

Intplm.

@nzxtinertia

Your radiant slab should maintain its heat for a substantial amount of time. The best thing to do is leave it on and leave it alone. If you don't, you are just starting the heating cycle all over again when you turn up the t-stat, reheating from scratch and costing more.

What @clammy mentions above, (as well as pretty much everything else he said is very good advice) If there isn't adequite insulation of the radiant piping, you are then heating the earth and not your conditioned space. Any reputable installer would insulate accordingly.

One thing that caught my eye was something @psb75 touched on. Are you using one of your heating zones as a snow melt loop? Come to think of it. Are you using any zones that are not needed? This can be a big addition to your bill.

P.S. Have that valve that is installed under your relief valve removed.