Do I replace my 75 year old in-floor radiant, or do in wall radiant?

Ashamed_Rips

The basement has had a leak and has been shut off for seven years, main floor heat has kept my home comfortable in upper midwest this entire time. House was built in the 50s, and the system is all original. My boiler is also 15 years old this Winter… so I'm certainly pushing my luck with the main floor heating, so now bears the question, can I use my existing system, replace the broiler, and install wall radiant, or do I throw the towel in and accept drilling up my floors

ScottSecor

Most 1950's homes with radiant heat around here (NJ) are built on concrete slabs. On rare occasions we see radiant ceilings from that tine frame.

What type of radiant heat fo you have?

What did they use for radiant tubing?

leonz

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/202729/do-i-replace-my-75-year-old-in-floor-radiant-or-do-in-wall-radiant

Why make more work for yourself when you can install wall hung cast steel or cast iron hot water panel radiators to replace the in floor radiant that was obviously copper tubing??

Why are you worried about your hot water boiler? Is it leaking? Did someone YOU TRUST tell you it needs to be replaced?

Ashamed_Rips

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1873308#Comment_1873308

Copper piping, currently the in-floor slab heat from the original build in the 50s

DCContrarian

Almost certainly there is no insulation under that concrete. Unless you're prepared to take it all up and retrofit insulation I'd say abandon it and go with wall radiators or baseboards.

ScottSecor

And you have a basement under this concrete slab? That is very unusual.

In my area there are many homes that were built in the 1950's and 1960's with copper tubing embedded in a concrete slab. Of the roughly one thousand homes with this type of system, I would guess about ninety percent are still in operation. Boilers have been replaced in all of the ones I have seen. The replacement boilers appear to last about twenty five years on average, really depends on maintenance and of course how much make up water is added.

hot_rod

How has the fuel bill been?

Radiant walls or ceilings are an easier retrofit, compared to demoing a slab and insulating, etc.

A few other posters are in the process of doing radiant walls, maybe they will pipe in.

Usually the lower 3' of a wall is adequate. A heat load calculation, room by room would help with sizing.

What about AC?

Ashamed_Rips

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1873330#Comment_1873330

$260 in the winter give or take, cooling with window units and that needs fixed first, thinking of installing mini split systems somehow for cooling and lower my energy bill in the summer. Radiant heaters may be the best way to go is now what I'm thinking honestly.

Ashamed_Rips

Yes, the basement walks out and the upper/main level is cement with the same in floor heating as the basement. I was stunned it was cement when I moved in.

Ashamed_Rips

I was also considering baseboards, thanks for the input.

Alan (California Radiant) Forbes

Baseboards are ugly, fall apart after a few confrontations with the vacuum cleaner and dust collectors. Output is limited: 500 BTU's per foot.

Panel rads are pretty and output is vast depending on size and thickness. They are also expensive.