radiant is it worth it in this application

KevMcG_2

I just bought a house and gutted the bathroom.
Initially I was thinking of putting radiant in the mud floor I am putting down.
But on 2nd thought I think I may just go with a sumrad (burnham radiant radiator)recessed in the wall.

The house was built in the late 50's. It has HWBB.
There is a round York oil boiler in the basement (original).
Currently it is one zone but will be easy enough to break into 3.

The bathroom is on the 2nd floor directly across the hall from the stairs.

My initial intentions were to set up a P/S manifold in the boiler room (with an indirect) during any spare time I had and next year change the boiler (a couple quick cuts and 2 unions and slip her in).

Then I started thinking I would have to leave the bathroom door shut all the time, so the heat coming up the stairs wouldn't effect the thermostat in the bathroom. Then I started thinking the boiler would be cycling a lot just for the 5x5 mud floor.
Am I off base here or what?
I know the sumrad is the easy way out (use the base board loop that was there).

Then another brilliant thought accord, if I put the sumrad on monoflow tees I could put a ball valve under the rad, put the radiant in and see what works better.
I am very well aware you should not mix bb with cast, but being in a bathroom I thought it may be nice if I got up in the middle of the night and the house was cool and the rad next to the throne was still warm.

I would hate to go through the radiant effort and the P/S to find my worries were right.

Almost forgot to mention I plan on remolding the kithchen and 1/2 bath on the 1st floor at a later date and was thinking radiant there as well. However , since its not a big house and the dinning room is attached to the kithen I am starting to think radiant may not be a great choice then either. The dinning room and all other rooms besides the Kitchen/ baths have hard wood floors , so radiant, in any form (other than convection) is not in the future for those rooms.

Grunting threw all the fun of new home ownership. Thank God this house is mid 20th century and not 19th century, with the time limit I have.

Thank you for any opinions.

Bob Bona_4

For

a 5X5 area, P/S could be overkill. Short cycling could be a possible drawback. I would use a slab sensor/air sensor stat (read tekmar 511)for your new zone for better accuracy if the adjacent areas may affect temp control.. another option is to grab the water from the radiation loop and instal a 3 way mixer up there in the bath..details in Dan's books.

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Bob Bona_4

double post n/m

Al Letellier

bath radiant

I agree with Bob. Go ahead and use radiant,especially if you plan to do other areas. Bath must be on it's own zone to work the way you want it too.
Why is everyone afraid of using radiant under hardwood? Done right and properly controlled, it works great with minimal problems. Want to do it in my house but they used tar paper between the sub and finish. Don't want to smell it or rip it out, but my bath and front and rear entries are radiant and the kitchen is next.

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hot_rod

I'd like to see you

stick with the radiant bath floors! So much nicer than a rust prone, space grabing radiator Nothing in the world like warm floors in the bath areas!

Consider an electric radiant cable product for that small of an area. Simple to install, lots of nice wall stats available, some with set back and floor sensor options.

Another hydronic thought would be to add an Ergomax or Thermomax indirect. This would add some capacitance to your system to lessen the short cycling from a micro zone calling.

hot rod

KevMcG_2

Thanks for your opinions

I too would hate to put the mud down with out radiant.
Being a plumber and having a boiler in the house makes it hard to put electric in. But maybe,economically, it makes more sense.

Bob I don't have much space to put a mixer in up stairs.Plus I can't see the bath staying as comfortable if its relying on the basboard zone to circulate. Besides while the bath floor is up it won't be that difficult to get some tube down to the basement via a 1st floor closet.

HotRod my radiant experience is very limited. Who makes the Ergomax or Thermomax? How many gallons should the buffer be?

May not be a bad idea if I intend to put radiant in the Kithcen and 1/2 bath later.
If the Kitchen is open right into the dinning room (no wall)will that cause any conflicts with the baseboard in the living room? would a floor/ air sensor work there as well.

AL , like you,getting radiant under the hard wood floors wouldn't be worth it.

Any tips on preffered tube would be great. Was thinking of wirsbo.
Should I bother with plates on top of sub floor or just staple tube right to it ? I will insulate under the floor.

Thanks again,


Kevin

hot_rod

Ergomax as buffer

try this link. Some nice installations here!

hot rod

http://www.pmmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2379,78589,00.html