BTU/FT. Radiant

Dave_22

I have had a I=B=R heatloss done on my currently Elec. BB heated home. I would really like to have radiant installed. How many BTU per foot is radiant rated at? I know water temp. and spacing play a part, but does anyone have some figures?
My Living room loss is 14,976 BTU/Hr. (35X12'). I was told this would require 47' of fin/line 30 BB. Could this be right? I currently have 25' electric (approx. 4500 Watts). This is my first year in the house, so I don't really know if the Elec. BB could keep up. Would it really take that much HWBB? Anyways, I would rather have radiant. The room is also carpeted. Thanks in advance.- Oops! Forgot some details. This would be a underfloor stapleup with transfer plated installed.

paul holland

Electric Baseboard

I figured your living room to need only about 25 feet of baseboard. You had 14,000 BTU load divide this by 600 BTU per foot (average residential base board output) you get 25 foot needed. I would suggest you get away from your electric heat no matter what. You will start to see why when you get your December electric bill. Paul

Dave_22

Yes...

Electric sizing seems ok, but 47' of HWBB? Does that seem right. Yes, I definitely would like to get away from electric. I have a pellet stove and woodburner also, but don't want them to be my main source of heat. Thanks again!!

Dave_22

So is there anyone out there who could tell me the approx. BTU per sq. ft. of staple up (with plates), radiant floor heat? Thanks.

chuck shaw

Quick Calculations

Dave,

I did some quick math, Your room loss is 14,976. Square footage of room is 420 (35 x 12). You would therefor need 35.65 BTU/SQFT of heat, on design day, 5*F in my area. I ran these numbers through Wirsbos ADS. And the computer tells me, based on the information you posted, that you would need to run water at appx 225*F to make the system work. You could use the radiant heat, in conjunction with panel radiators, and a two stage thermostat. This would give you some floor warming. And the radiant panels are quite nice. Otherwise, your only option may be baseboard.

Hope this helps.

Chuck Shaw

Tony_8

design temp

here is 0 F. Bbd of that length would only need to put out 300 BTU/FT. Would be able to run much lower temp than normal for bbd making it easier to stay in condensing mode when closer to design temp. Ask the guy who did the IBR why so much for so little. It would also make it easier to run in conjunction w/staple-up at the same water temp saving complications of multiple water temps.

Radiant Wizard

BTU's per sqft

First of all take that IBR Heat Loss and throw it out the window. It's worthless for the radiant. A radiant heated room that size will have a heat loss around 8,000 btu's or around 20 btu's per sqft. The biggest factor that will cause a higher btu's per sqft would be the carpet and it's pad. High R-value. Take that heat loss and please throw it away and find a way to have a radiant heat loss done.

Dave_22

I was a little off on the heat loss anyway- it was 12,900 BTU/Hr. loss. What is the the difference of a "radiant heat loss" versus I=B=R???