Copper pipe for radiant floor heat?

rob_11

Hello,
At some point I will be installing kitchen cabinets where my hot water baseboard radiators currently exist. Upon removal of these radiators, I was thinking of installing new pipes, beginning and ending where the old radiators began and ended, then attaching the pipes to the underside of the floor and properly insulating below the pipe. The floor is 1/2" pine, tongue and groove, and nailed to the joists. The floor joists are 24" on center, so I was figuring on 2 pipes, 8" on center between the joists.

Does this sound like a reasonable way to heat the kitchen?

Additionaly, I have already removed a lot of piping from the same piping series, so I believe there is enough capacity.

Thank you in advance for your comments and suggestions.

heretic

unlikely to work

It's not really a matter of 'capacity'.

There are several problems with that approach.
One is that the supply water temperature is likely going to be far too high for a wooden floor to handle. This presumes you get flow...

Another is that the pressure change from extending the loop from a short run of baseboard to a long run snaking through all of the joist cavities may cause the water to flow elsewhere instead(path of least resistence). Depending on the design, this could throw off the balance of the rest of your heating system. Any downstream emitters would get little residual heat.

Several other issues to consider...

The more conventional underfloor approach would involve a zone (or subzone) with its own circulator and a mixing device. I would suggest doing more research on the matter.

This article is a good place to start:
http://www.pmmag.com/CDA/ArticleInformation/features/BNP__Features__Item/0,2379,62497,00.html