Want to Remodel My Home

Hi Jeff,
We just went through this HVAC system evaluation for our new house and opted for a geothermal forced air system.

Remember that with a radiant only heating system you will have the following issues: 6-12 hour lag time for room temperture changes, thinner carpet pads, the floors will be raised 3" for the gypcrete(unless the less efficient staple-up radiant is used), possible wood floor issues(shrinkage, etc) and no A/C(unless you use the existing ducting or install a UNICO type system(which also makes noise).

You could talk to any remodeling contractor, I know a few good ones here in Ft. Collins if you are in this area.

Mark
85 308 Red/Tan

 

The least intursive (and that's a relative term) would be either hydronic radiant baseboard with a boiler or electric baseboard heating. Any change is going to be tough but with baseboards you wouldn't have to go through all the trouble taking up the floor coverings.

For AC you could install some wall mounted units if you are going take out the maority of your duct work.

Get a consult from an Electrician and or a Plumbing/radiant heat contractor.

 

What a job........

Can I ask why? There might be a better solution.

 

Jeff,

That's what I thought, and why I asked.....

I would think putting in a new system would be very expensive and might not be the best solution.

Forced air is a bit loud but there are things you can do to quiet them. Further, if you have allergies, these systems can work to your advantage.

Are they in a sound insulated utility closet. Is the duct work wrapped or flex duct? Also, they make very good filtration systems that could help keep the air cleaner.

I agree that most home systems are very poorly designed. You might want to talk to a contractor that designs commercial systems as well as residential. They would have a better understanding of your issues.

Do you have a central vac? They are great for people with allergies.

 

Jeff,

I have been a custom builder in Colorado for 30 years. I installed my first radiant floor 25 years ago. Both custom homes I have built for myself have had radiant floors, I would never consider anything else.

Benefits:
Incomprable comfort
No drafty forced air
Highly reduced household dust levels
No visible registers or diffusers
No noise
Very efficient
You can install a sidearm hot water heater that uses the heating boiler and
you never run out of hot water. I also use high efficiency boilers with closed system combustion air and powered exhaust vents to further increase efficiency.

Downside: expensive to install
Lag for some people. I prefer to set the thermostats and leave them 24 hours.
I leave the bedrooms cooler and the rest of the house at 70. I still have the lowest heat bill per sq ft in the neighborhood by 25%.
Lag can also be mitigated by using 1 1/2 inches of air-entrained lightweight concrete as the thermal mass. You don't need 3 inches of concrete.

Having said all that, retrofit to radiant would be expensive and tear up the house. You would have to either raise the floors 1 1/2 inches, get access to the bottom of the floors to do staple-up (which I have used with success including under wood floors, but it has to be done correctly) or a combination of both.

If I was doing an extensive remodel anyway I would go with radiant. The Romans got it right thousands of years ago.

 

Would you care to elaborate? I recently purchased an apartment in a brand- new building and my only complaint is the tremendous noise the forced air system creates.

 

I have radiant heat in my house and it works great....I like it much better then the forced heat we had in are last house. We just had an addition put on the house and had the water lines run in between the floor joyces in the basement then the heat comes up through the floor and heats the room...works great

 

The way the ducting is run has alot to do with noise on forced air systems. If you have a bunch of right angles, it will be louder. If the ducting has more gentle radius', it is quieter.

Air is noisy when it hits right angles.

Kinda like aerodynamics on car....gentle flowing lines reduce noise and make the car more efficient.

My two cents worth....

 

Good point!

 

I'd be happy to..........

The poster above brings up some good points.

1. The ductwork can be insulated on the inside or outside.
2. the system can be sized correctly. Many systems (esp. apts.) are over sized and will create to much velocity in the ductwork. This is also a problem in the summer when the unit isn't on enough to de-humidify the inside air.
3. Variable speed motors run slower and more efficient
4. The utility room can be insulated

I will say that apts. can be tough to fix because of size constraints.

 

This may be overly-simplistic, but can one downgrade the fan. It sounds like his is moving a great deal of air. Is moving to a lower velocity fan an option? It may take longer to heat/cool rooms, but it sounds like that isn't an issue.

 

If you tell me the modle numbers I'll try and find out.

 

Ok,

I'll see what I can find out for you tomorrow.

 

Hey Jeff. I just retrofit my house to radiant heat about 3 years ago. I went through the ceilings for staple-up, did in-slab for a new room, went with baseboard heaters in the basement, and threw in a heated sidewalk while I was already insane. I did the work myself, except for the boiler install and heat exchanger for the sidewalk. Here are a couple things to consider:

1. Stick with one type of system. Each of the types of heat I put in run on different pumps, at different temperatures, and in some cases different pipe or through a heat exchanger. This adds cost and complexity. My utility room looks like a bowl of spagetti with all the pipes!

2. You really do have to keep the house at a pretty consistant temperature to avoid lag times. I do lower the temp at night, but not much, and get the heat on at 5 am.

3. It is not a silent system, at least not the staple up that I use in the main house. You hear little clicks as it heats, not as annoying as forced air, but you should know.

4. Yes, it's awesome. The heat is even and comfortable, especially for the kids that spend most of the time on the floor. I heated my garage and don't have to worry about dust blowing or dangerous open flame. The heated sidewalk was a luxury, but makes my north facing entry easy to keep clear.

If you'd like, PM me and I'd be happy to answer questions about my system.
-Matt

 

Jeff,

After 10 calls to Carrier, I finally got a call back. Long story short........... No changing to vari speed on that unit.

You said the house was brand new, was it spec.? Did the builder have an option for a vari speed?

If you want to talk further, pm me your number and I'll give you a call.

 

Just finished our new house with radiant and would have it no other way. Neighbors and friends come over and WANT to take their shoes off to warm up the feet. About 2 hr delay from turn up to realized temp increase. Zoned every room in the house seperate including the master bath which is kept higher than all others. Nothing like getting in the shower with a warm tile floor! Even ran the tubing under the tub which CAN be felt. Used 1 zone for the domestic hot water and scrapped the hot water heater and in place put a highly insulated water storage tank rated at 1/2 degree per hour heat loss.
Dave

PS the main floor is in Gypcrete but the upstairs is tubing stapled to the underside of the subflooring

 

Holy cow!!! The ghost of Helms returns!!!

 

Radiant heat sounds VERY cool but what about A/C? I still don't understand that part. I'm a BIG pansy when it comes to being hot so I have to have my cold air.

 

You watched the movie money pit, seems that contractors have no idea what the term "budget" means and it has been a full time job watching over this. Not "done" yet but are they ever? Between the house and nursing Kris back from a broken back we have had a hand full.
I have to get my girl up this way and the ladies can jump on the horses while we sit and have a beer in the shade.
Dave