Combining Heat Pump and Hydronic radiant
Newbie Home sweet home
2 years ago
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Radiant Heat - Electric or Hydronic??
Comments (28)Thanks David. Being precise and listing every point and sub point is tricky. English was my worst subject in school, I'm better at building bathrooms than building paragraphs. I work harder posting more information but like you mentioned everyone needs to dig deeper, find all the questions that need answering and then go about finding the correct answers and then confirming the source of the answer. I have spoken with my supplier and received info back from them direct, I then worked out my own math to confirm and then double check the Heat Loss table. We adjust the cable spacing only a little to try and fudge out dips and valleys. And never bring the cable in closer than spec'd. Again, I'll post my math and equations with as much detail as I can provide so people can understand the process I use to work out these calculations. I build stuff every day, I read and hone my skills everyday and I work with pros everyday. I have learned a lot and which each new project there is always the "X" factor. Your gut can tell you when something just doesn't look right and inspectors should be shown what your doing and not left out of the loop. We have a great group of men and women checking our projects here in Vancouver, get to know your local inspectors - it's worth it. My building inspector left my home raving about it yesterday - he went on to say it should be entered in a contest and hopes he gets to come back for the final so he can see my home completed. These are not monsters or people to avoid- they are your last double check on your project and honestly speaking you should be the last check on any project. It's your project - don't trust anyones opinion as fact. Work it out yourself or spend your time finding the right contractor. There are many guys out there who know what their doing, take out permits and do the job right. That said they seem to be the minority......See MoreElectric v hydronic radiant heat for small area?
Comments (4)Yes, electric heat is typically always cheaper to install (First cost)and yes electric heat will probably cost more to operate if your current boiler is natural gas. Your boiler (Assuming a remodel not expansion) is sized for the whole house heat loss and would operate more efficiently heating the kitchen. I would install a hot water toe kick heater and allow for an access panel in the bottom of the cabinet in which it is installed as you will have to bleed air from this unit. Installation may be slighly higher than electric heating system, but keeps your central heating system intact. This will give you a separate zone for the kitchen, have a remote thermostat for this system installed if you like. Keep Warm, Dan Martyn...See MoreAir-sourced heat pump for hydronic heat?
Comments (6)I guess you are out in the boonies with no nat gas. I can't help with equipment. It is a relatively low volume kind of demand for equipment, I'm sure. You may be forced into the industrial/commercial area and if you are not big enough, you may be out of luck. Assuming that you can get a suitably sized unit, if your hydronic system is designed to deliver heat with a low enough water temperature, it can probably be done efficiently. What is the water temperature currently set to? Try heatinghelp.com and terrylove.com. I've seen some good hydronic heat/boiler threads in both places. If you have to stick with an electric boiler, you might look at the installation of a large storage tank and going to day/night rates. You'd have to run some numbers to see if it will work for you....See Morebest flooring for hydronic radiant floor heat
Comments (10)Do you need ROOM heat or do you want "warm toes"? If you need to heat the entire house using in-floor radiant heat (I'm assuming you are going with hydronic?) then the best option is always concrete, tile or stone. They offer the least resistance which means the most amount of heat pours through them and into the house. If you want warm feet (because the rest of the house is being heated by a fully operational forced air or baseboard heat system) then you can have engineered hardwood as a lovely option. There are SOME engineered hardwood floors that allow it being used over hydronic in-floor radiant heat....but do NOT count on it being "OK" with every engineered product you look at. And if you go with hardwood, you do NOT want to used underlayment or soft underpad with the heating system. The underpad will block quite a bit of the heat, creating excess load on your heat system (in essence you are heating the pad under the floor while the room remains chilly). Carpet is an amazing product when used with in-floor radiant heat. Carpet breathes nicely. And the underpad is the thing that has to have the "hydronic heating" allowance which means you can choose the pad that is best suited for your situation. The other thing to be aware of with wood and in-floor radiant heat: low humidity. In-floor radiant heat is KNOWN to dry out wood flooring products. Because the wood is SOOOO close to the elements, the first thing that heats up (and dries out) is the wood. To combat this issue, you MUST add in humidity control in the home. That means you will need a system (separate from the heating system) that has the ability to add/subtract humidity throughout the year. In Montana the outdoor humidity is often very low to begin with. If you then decrease it even more with a dry heat, then the interior humidity levels can be extremely low. And wood does NOT like that. A wood floor requires humidity to "sit" around about 45% all year round. Please check your building specifications to find out HOW you are going to add that humidity to your home. And then find out if you have the ability to change the humidity levels with the touch of a button (humidistat). This usually involves a system with heating/cooling ducts so that moisture can be added to the air in an even way... For right now, I would assume you HAVE to go with tile/stone/concrete until you find out the HVAC humidity control system that is currently in place for your build....See MoreNewbie Home sweet home
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