Does radiant heat make sense for So. Cal beach house renovation?

jim lockard

Sounds like radiant would make a whole lot of sense for your home and nows the time.
I recently installed (Heatweave) electric radiant when we replaced the kitchen floor with ceramic tile and its great.
Being on the beach in S.D. Cal. how do forced air duct systems hold up to salt air?(metal or ductboard-Hate ductboard-falls apart grows mold) would there be a chance for mold growth in the duct system? (I know UV lamps)
How do A/C-H/P units hold up in the salt air?.Check find a pro maybe a contractor in your area. sounds like a nice house in a great location, radiant heat would be a 1st class way to go. Keep us posted. J.Lockard

Susan_5

Does radiant heat make sense for So.Cal beach house renovation?

Hello,

I'm glad I found this site since you guys are definitely the experts, from all I've read. Thanks very much in advance for your help, and I apologize for such a lengthy posting. Here goes...

We're renovating a small cottage about 4 blocks from the beach in the San Diego area, where the temps rarely go above 80F or fall below 45F. The cottage consists of a one-story wood structure on cement slab that's about 1100 sf. We're adding on another 800sf for a master bedroom, for a total living area of almost 2000 sf. Our contractor is completely gutting the place and we're replacing everything...new insulation, windows, siding, electrical, plumbing, floors, etc. At this point, the concrete slab is completely exposed and has been jack-hammered in several places where new sinks will be. The footings have been dug for the new foundation for the addition. The only parts still standing of the original house are the studs and the roof, which is about to be replaced, and the wood beam ceiling, which we want to keep.

We had originally decided (for cost purposes, and also because I'm not sure my contractor has much experience with radiant) to go with forced hot air heat. We don't need A/C. As we were in the early stages of work, I mentioned the fact that I had been in homes with radiant heat and loved it and asked if we could do it. Our contractor quickly discouraged it because, he told me, 1) it's way more expensive to install, 2) we would have to dig up the concrete floor 3) we may have problems getting the floor height to work after using the extra inches for the radiant installation, etc. I think he also was discouraging me because he hasn't worked w/radiant heat before and probably his HVAC sub is not an expert in it either. I'm not sure I understand his concern about raising the floor a bit since we're replacing all doors and don't have kitchen cabinets or anything else in the house that might be a problem.

Over the past few weeks, we've been discussing how to install the ductwork for the forced air system (since the house had in-wall gas heaters in most rooms, there was never any existing ductwork). The fact that we now are talking about putting soffits up on the ceiling (which are beamed and pine paneled and are one of the only original characteristics of the house worth saving) concerns me. I mentioned the other day again to our builder that we should explore radiant heating since we're now talking about incurring the expense of soffits as well as losing the charm of the beamed ceiling (or at least part of it in most rooms), and to me, it makes sense to revisit the possibility of going with radiant heat. So he has agreed to meet with the radiant heating contractor, who I found by doing a web search, and who tells me he's the largest radiant heat contractor in the San Diego area. He sounds very knowledgeable. We're meeting w/him later this week, which I'm looking forward to. I'm sure we'll learn a lot from him, but I wanted to come to you for your opinions, which will perhaps be more neutral and unbiased.

I have a few skeptics to overcome (including my husband, who sees increasing dollar signs and is probably more inclined to just stick with the "tried and true" forced air system). I feel a little like I'm out here on a ledge by myself, advocating something that I don't even know much about, and certainly I don't want to insist on doing something that's either going to be a lot more costly and/or cause more problems down the road. So...I need some help here. I'll gladly go with forced air if that's what makes most sense, but I know how much I love the feel of the radiant heat.

So, I wanted to know what the experts--you--would do in my situation. Please keep in mind that, since we're near the beach, our homes and stuff can get pretty moist. Does that impact negatively (or positively) on radiant heat? Also, a few other things: 1) we were planning to use a tankless water heater, due to space constraints...will this work okay and/or is there a certain type that works best for radiant heat? and 2) we were planning to use an engineered hardwood flooring..is this ok?

Many, many thanks for your greatly appreciated advice/opinions!!

hr

At the very least

install the tube and have it "radiant ready", a Wirsbo phrase, I believe.

The cost to tube a job that small would be peanuts, then you have the option later.

Just in case your builder is wrong, about radiant

hot rod

To Learn More About This Professional, Click Here to Visit Their Ad in "Find A Contractor"

George_10

Make sure you ask your radiant contractor about

cleaning and treating your system when it is installed.
This small measure can save you from all sorts of future problems and maintain the efficiency of your system.

You can check us out at www.rhomarwater.com under hydronic products.

Good luck with your project.

George

jerry scharf

some questions I would ask myself

Susan,

I am not one of the experts on this forum, but have gone through the process of making some of the decisions you are facing. There are some questions that jump out at me.

First, is this your main living house? Is this an weekend house? Will the unit be rented or shared with others without you being there? If this is an occasional house or will be used by others, I would say that the cost of the radiant would be very hard to justify, IMO. Also, most people are used to blowing air, and some could have difficulties with managing the radiant system.

If this is your primary house, then I willplod on. First, you may be one of the few people that have a smaller heat load than I do. I know the San Diego elecrtic prices went out of site, but you could probably pay for a whole lot of cost difference between gas and electric for the fixed plumbing cost of a gas boiler hydronic system.

One thing I would realy want to get a handle on in your case is how you are going to not heat the dirt. You can be almost certain that there is no insulation under the slab. Moist dirt has an amazing ability to transport heat away from a building, and putting the heat source right on top only gives the energy more push. So somehow you need to get insulation and radiant heat in a way that you don't decrease the room height too much. You also have the problem of matching the floor heights (changes between 3/4 and 4 inches is a no-no.)

The big thing that stands out is the compromising of the house design with ducts and valances. How much of what you bought was the charm of the place, and how much is lost in sacrificing some of it. I don't think anyone can even tell you how to approach putting a value on it. I can tell you that I have made the mistake in the past of undervaluing the annoyance of things that I got by with in my own house. I now will do a whole lot of reseach and alternative ideas to try t find a way to get what I want in a way that can work. This does mean that I have to be a whole lot more selective on subs, as they need to be willing to look for new ways to do things.

I hope this helps a little,
jerry

Joe_13

Hot air's big pitch

was always the AC you could add. But if you don't plan on AC, why install second class heating? Even pannel rads and BB is better then hot air and would be very easy to install. I'd get a single ductless minisplit HP on one wall just for the few warm/humid days and probably use the HP heat in fall and spring until it got to that bone chilling 45 degrees (wind chills are below zero right now in NY) You have nat gas service so get a small wall hung combo boiler would give you hot water and heat the house. Take up less floor space then a hot water tank and has a higher efficency rating.