Heat run installed in sill plate?

ht in pa_2

Is installing the heat runs in the sill plate of the exterior 6" wall correct? This is in a new home in central Pa. While doing some rough-in plumbing at this house, I couldn't help but notice that the 6" sill plate had been cut out in every room to install the register boots, leaving NO insulation in the wall in that area. Wouldn't it be better to install the registers in the floor, just inside of the sill plate? Could the hot air against the uninsulated wall cause condensation? I'd appreciate any comments. Thank you.

Brad White_143

Violating the Thermal Envelope

in my opinion, has no excuse. That is your boat; would you use a through-hull fitting for interior piping? No, you would not. Leak potential. The registers should be moved inboard, yes.

OK, sometimes you admit defeat and have to run in an exterior wall in a renovation, but only as a rare exception. But at least you finish it with rigid, dense or foamed-in-place insulation to get what you can for R-Value. New construction? I can not see why you would ever want to do that. Is this a habit on this project?

Condensation is not a concern in winter because the air would be warm and dry. Summer cooling, if done, is another matter. However, the heat loss will increase, not just because of the missing insulation but because there will be an even higher temperature difference at that point.

My $0.02

Brad

ht in pa_2

Thanks Brad for your comments. Yes, this is all new construction, and the hot air furnace is set up for A.C., minus the heat pump at this time. This whole job has been a BIG headache for the homeowner! They shopped around to find a General Contractor who would let them (the H.O.) buy their own material for the job. Well, only one G.C. would agree to this, and agreed to work by the hour, with payment every two weeks. The H.O. was told the G.C. has been building houses for over 20 years. This house was started about two years ago, before the building code requirements were in effect in this area. After the rough electrial and plumbing was done, and the drywall was hung, the H.O. finally realized there were some major problems. The H.O. then "fired " the G.C. and are now paying once again to have the problems corrected. My first job was to set up the furnace correctly; which was blowing out soot. Since the plumbing had NO vents on the fixtures, I'm now installing proper venting, all the way to the roof. Oh yes, the G.C. did have 2 or 3 of those $5 burp vents teed into the main drain in the bsmt. Well, I could go on about the electrical, heat runs, etc. but my wife's waiting for me to take her out to breakfast. Thanks again Brad. Anyone else care to comment?

Unknown

I hope

I hope u have it in writing that if anything goes wrong with anything on this job, u won't be held liable... Most of the time I stayed away from those jobs as they are lawyer's dream....