Replacing electric heat

Drew

I currently have electric baseboard heat in my three bedroom ranch that sits on a slab. The only place I have room for a heating unit is were my hot water heater is. I spoke with one HVAC person and he said that it could be done for around $18,000 but I would have a hard time finding anyone to do that type of job with all the effort that would go into snaking the lines. Is running the line somthing a handy person could do and then have a professional come in and do all the hook ups or is there different gauge pex that I would have to calculate and end up running line that could not be used. Also is forced hot water the best uption?

bigugh_4

First

your answer to the question, is hot water heat the best answer? is yes! The trick to good BB hot water heat is a whole house heat loss calculation. that is the start. snaking flexable piping is an expertise easily done. Doors are your only big problem as Over them creates a place for air to trap and bind up the system. Air removal at high points in flexable piping systems can be tricky. Most folks set pipe the system to be Blasted free of air by house in coming pressure and flow. (keep it away from the boiler please.) There are fittings that can be installed with small air vents at high points also. Do use a boiler and indirect H/W tank. there are stackable units avalible for tight places. Fresh air for combustion is needed. Have fun!

Joe_13

If you go gas, it would be nice to get a wall hung boiler and and indirect tank for the closet. A munchkin or peerless pinnacle would fit right over a low boy tank with a stand. If you have full attic access, you might be able to run main insulated lines and drop down walls and closets with PEX. Try to wrap as much of the wall as you can, pass through partitions before heading back up for doorways. Get a heat loss calculated for each room to see how much true fin tube you need for the room. The rest can be dummy enclosures with 3/4 tubing running on to the next room. Air vents in the attic lines will be needed to purge air from the loops. Think about how many zoned loops you want to put in. There are also BB's with built in loops so that all the connections can be made from one end of the BB section. Makes running a loop out from a closet much easier.