# Radiant Heat



## lentzla (Apr 29, 2005)

I am looking to install some radiant heat and have received quotes from www.warmquest.com and http://www.heatizon.com, but both of these are electrical, which is what I wanted to install originally, but someone told me about hydronic radiant heat and I wanted to know if there was an advantage to either. Please let me know. And if you could refer me to someone who deals with hydronics that would be great. thanks


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## 747 (Jan 21, 2005)

are you talking new construction or existing construction. First depending on your area natural gas boiler which would supply the radiant floor heating would have a cheaper operating cost then electric. I have never heard of a electric radiant floor heating system. Any heating contractor would be able to install a gas radiant floor heating system. All assume your talking existing construction. It would go something like this. PEX TUBING would be installed in two loops between each floor joice than a piece of aluminum with groves in it would be installed to hold tubes in place. you would than insulate under the aluminum so the heat would go up instead of down. NEW CONSTRUCTION instead of going under inbetween the floor joist you would put it on top of the plywood subfloor after a installation of what i call groved board is layed down and then screwed down. You then just insert pex into the groves. HYDRONIC IS NOTHING MORE THAN A FANCY WORD MEANING HOT WATER GAS BOILER. :Thumbs: I SERIOUSLY HAVE NEVER HEARD OF A ELECTRIC FLOOR HEATING SYSTEM FOR A WHOLE HOUSE  YOUR IN THE CORRECT LOCATION FOR THE ELECTRIC QUESTION BUT GO TO HVAC FOR THE HYDRONIC RADIANT FLOOR HEATING SYSTEM.


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## boogie (Jul 30, 2004)

ive installed many electrical in floor heating systems mainly in one or two rooms of a house (bathrooms,mud room, kitchen) it is a sheet product put on after the backer board but before the tile
many consideratons when installing and have to take great care to not damage pad.
an ohm meter is placed on the leads during installation to keep check for no breaks in pad
hope this helps in anyway


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## Technical Craft (Sep 21, 2005)

*Radiant Heating - In floor - electric*

I am remodeling a two story, 1900 sq. ft home. It is completely gutted to the
stud walls. Even the floor is coming out.

It is in a moderate to cold climate in North Eastern Pennsylvania. We rarely dip below zero but some Jan/Feb winters can have a stretch of 10 to 15
below.

I want to go all electric for my main heat source in the house. I have been searching and reading for quite a while and find 99% of people say electric
is too expensive. I can't find anyone that actually has all electric heat
to give me a estimate on what my monthly bill would be.
I am going to supplement with propane fireplaces, one on each floor. All the floors in the house will be tile.

I'm beginning to think there is a deep seeded prejudice against electric heat
simply by never actually having used it. "It's too expensive..don't even think about it."

Is it too expensive? Has anyone ever actually done and all electric installation with in-floor radiant heat and can tell me what their bills were in the winter months?

Has anyone ever done the homework on what it coats to maintain their other heat sources? Pumps, motors, pipes, filters, humidifiers, annual maintainance, service contracts, unexpected or out of warranty repairs, chimney sweep and the never ending rise in petroleum products and that whole unstable market?
All of those things are avoided with electric heat.

The house will have all the latest insulation technologies, including all new insulation and windows. I can't believe that electic heat is still too expensive
yet I cant find any real data to support that belief.

I found a company called Floor Heatech. They told me their product is meant to be a main heat source for cold climate installations. There product has a Lifetime warranty for residential installations and a 10 year warranty on Commercial. Has anyone here ever dealt with Floor Heatech? Considering how long I have been looking, they sound too good to be true. all the other electric
in-floor radiant heat websites say it's just for "warming the tile"

There are several stings in this forum about failing Tube-hot water systems
installed in the 1990's. Bad product from Goodyear and or the installation companies and yet I have never heard that from anyone on the street. It's just "electric is too expensive...put in the hot water system". How expensive is
it tear out a leaking tube system? I bet some of those people will go all electric after that experience.


Can anyone here give me a real world report?

Thanks,

Phil


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## steven62 (Aug 22, 2007)

*Electric Floor heat*

First let me tackle the cost of using electric floor heat.
Having a heat loss calculation for your home, or the rooms to be heated in this manner is the first priority. Suntouch does this for free.
Second, a basic calculation ca be used to determine approximate cost to operate. If you know how many watts the system uses (Usually 12 watts) multiply the number of square feet to be installed by the number of watts.
This is the amount of power consumed in an hour.
Multiply this number by the number of hours it will be on, (This is where the heat loss calculation is extremely valuable)
Find from your power company, or your bill, what you pay per Kilowatt/Hour (1000 watts= 1 Kilowatt)
There, you will see what it will cost you to run it.
Heat loss is the biggest factor when choosing whether to use electric radiant floor heat as it produces in the range of around 40 BTU/hr.
Hydronic systems are the most practical for whole house heating, and the boiler can be heated with electricity if that is the most economical choice.
The biggest cost with Hydronic is the boiler, pumps and panel. The cost per square foot to install the tubing is comparible to the square foot cost of the electric mats or cables and both can be done by a novice.
I hope this helps!


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## J87513 (Jan 15, 2007)

All I can tell you is that electrical rad floor heating burns up electricity like an amigo in construction drinks beer. The electricity costs will KILL YOUR BILL!


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## RobertWilber (Mar 5, 2006)

I hope he made a heating decision before now....


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## Magnettica (Dec 19, 2006)

Is this job still going on?


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## fridaymean (Feb 17, 2006)

Technical Craft said:


> I am remodeling a two story, 1900 sq. ft home. It is completely gutted to the
> stud walls. Even the floor is coming out.
> 
> It is in a moderate to cold climate in North Eastern Pennsylvania. We rarely dip below zero but some Jan/Feb winters can have a stretch of 10 to 15
> ...



Isn't most of our electricity generated from petrolium products?

Why would you suppliiment?

We did put one of these systems in a couple of years ago. WHAT A PAIN!


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