Heating and Cooling

upnorth · 06-22-2007, 12:43 PM

Hi all,

Can you provide your thoughts on radiant floor heating systems (the fluid type, not the electric one) as well as high velocity (also termed mini-duct) a/c systems.

I'm thinkning of installing them in a new construction.

Thanks.

AC2717 · 06-22-2007, 12:46 PM

If this is year round then definantley do it, efficient and space saving, but costly, in my eyes well worth it if a year round housing.

upnorth · 06-22-2007, 12:52 PM

Woops... should have done a search first. There is an '04 post all over radiant floor heating. That said, any recent war stories would help. Thanks

Hermit Cover · 06-23-2007, 09:01 AM

Upnorth, I am in the process of constructing a new home on the lake and am having a complete radiant system installed on all three floors including the garage and the A/C system is a 4-zoned hi-velocity Spacepak system....adding a humidifier for heating periods and an air exchange/ purifier system to cleanse the air. Contact me off line with an email address and I'll give you more particulars. HC

dan · 06-23-2007, 12:42 PM

We've had it in our house up here for about 8yr's now. It's great. The only problem we have is the recovery time. We get a lot of natural heat from the sun and it gets chilly at dusk. This only happens in the part of the house with high ceilings. ( low of 8ft to high of 24ft) We also have a gas stove that we fire up for about a half hour, which is just enough to keep the house nice and warm till the radiant catches up. It is so nice having warm floors in the winter. If we ever build again, radiant is the way to go.

longisland60 · 06-27-2007, 12:09 PM

I built an addition to our permanent (as opposed to lake) home about 6 years ago and we installed radiant heat in a new master bathroom and hi-velocity A/C in the addition as well as the existing structure.

The radiant heating in the bathroom is installed under a tile floor and is real nice on cold nights. The rest of the addition space is heated with the existing forced hot water baseboard system. In hindsight, I wish that I had used the radiant in more rooms.

One thing to keep in mind, however, is if the home is a part-time lake house. Radiant heating takes longer to warm the room than traditional baseboard or forced hot air system. If you are like us, we keep the lake home temperature way down in the winter and boost the temperature just before we leave for the lake house (Aube thermostats with phone interface let you change temp remotely, very nice...). If you only have radiant heating, it will likely take a long time to warm things up.

As for the hi-velocity A/C system, our home is a cape style. Retrofitting A/C to this home would have been a nightmare without the high velocity system. That was the major reason why I went with that type of system. We have been very pleased with the system. The system is very quiet and the ports are barely noticeable. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to install multiple zones; we went with a single 5 ton unit. And I wish I had gone with multiple smaller units so I could better control the cooling in the house.

The system itself is a Unico, with a Trane condenser. The nice thing about the Unico exchanger is that it comes in sections, allowing it to get into the attic through the existing scuttle opening.

Good luck.

Ken (longisland60)

upnorth · 06-27-2007, 03:05 PM

Thanks all.

In reply to Longislander -- do you think that if we programmed the thermostat to go higher, say on Friday morning, then lower the temp, say on Sun morning, would that make the place cozy for our arrival on the weekends? Or does it take really long (days) to come to temp?

An option we have is that we will be installing a wood or pellet stove, mostly for atmosphere, and that could help bring the temp up quickly on the weekends and leaving the radiant floor at a steady state temp.

longisland60 · 06-27-2007, 07:02 PM

Hey Upnorth,

No, it doesn't take days to recover the temperature, but it may take several hours depending on the number of degrees that the temperature must be raised. I just wanted you to be aware that the recovery cycle for a radiant system is longer than the other methods and that for some homeowners, that longer recovery cycle may be an inconvenience worth consideration.

Take care,

Longisland60

Blue Thunder · 06-29-2007, 06:46 AM

I just installed a ductless mini split A/C system in my island home. I went with the dual zone, meaning both heat and A/C. Each wall mounted unit (3) is individually remote controlled for a total of 32K btu's. If your home is year round then this form of heat (heat pump) is not for you because it won't work that well in the real cold weather but since I'm seasonal, it was perfect for me. Affordable and fast installation as well.

Blue Thunder

06-22-2007, 12:43 PM	#1
upnorth Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Heating and Cooling Hi all, Can you provide your thoughts on radiant floor heating systems (the fluid type, not the electric one) as well as high velocity (also termed mini-duct) a/c systems. I'm thinkning of installing them in a new construction. Thanks.

06-22-2007, 12:46 PM	#2
AC2717 Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2007 Location: Maynard, MA & Paugus Bay Posts: 2,521 Thanks: 747 Thanked 344 Times in 257 Posts	year round If this is year round then definantley do it, efficient and space saving, but costly, in my eyes well worth it if a year round housing.

06-23-2007, 09:01 AM	#4
Hermit Cover Senior Member Join Date: Oct 2002 Location: Hermit Cove Posts: 354 Thanks: 20 Thanked 68 Times in 40 Posts	Answer... Upnorth, I am in the process of constructing a new home on the lake and am having a complete radiant system installed on all three floors including the garage and the A/C system is a 4-zoned hi-velocity Spacepak system....adding a humidifier for heating periods and an air exchange/ purifier system to cleanse the air. Contact me off line with an email address and I'll give you more particulars. HC

06-23-2007, 12:42 PM	#5
dan Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Location: moultonborough/billerica Posts: 42 Thanks: 21 Thanked 7 Times in 4 Posts	radiant heat We've had it in our house up here for about 8yr's now. It's great. The only problem we have is the recovery time. We get a lot of natural heat from the sun and it gets chilly at dusk. This only happens in the part of the house with high ceilings. ( low of 8ft to high of 24ft) We also have a gas stove that we fire up for about a half hour, which is just enough to keep the house nice and warm till the radiant catches up. It is so nice having warm floors in the winter. If we ever build again, radiant is the way to go. Last edited by dan; 06-27-2007 at 10:11 AM.

06-27-2007, 12:09 PM	#6
longisland60 Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 27 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	some experience with radiant and hi-velocity A/C I built an addition to our permanent (as opposed to lake) home about 6 years ago and we installed radiant heat in a new master bathroom and hi-velocity A/C in the addition as well as the existing structure. The radiant heating in the bathroom is installed under a tile floor and is real nice on cold nights. The rest of the addition space is heated with the existing forced hot water baseboard system. In hindsight, I wish that I had used the radiant in more rooms. One thing to keep in mind, however, is if the home is a part-time lake house. Radiant heating takes longer to warm the room than traditional baseboard or forced hot air system. If you are like us, we keep the lake home temperature way down in the winter and boost the temperature just before we leave for the lake house (Aube thermostats with phone interface let you change temp remotely, very nice...). If you only have radiant heating, it will likely take a long time to warm things up. As for the hi-velocity A/C system, our home is a cape style. Retrofitting A/C to this home would have been a nightmare without the high velocity system. That was the major reason why I went with that type of system. We have been very pleased with the system. The system is very quiet and the ports are barely noticeable. The only thing I would have done differently would have been to install multiple zones; we went with a single 5 ton unit. And I wish I had gone with multiple smaller units so I could better control the cooling in the house. The system itself is a Unico, with a Trane condenser. The nice thing about the Unico exchanger is that it comes in sections, allowing it to get into the attic through the existing scuttle opening. Good luck. Ken (longisland60)

06-22-2007, 12:52 PM	#3
upnorth Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Woops... should have done a search first. There is an '04 post all over radiant floor heating. That said, any recent war stories would help. Thanks

06-27-2007, 03:05 PM	#7
upnorth Senior Member Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 64 Thanks: 0 Thanked 2 Times in 2 Posts	Temp setback Thanks all. In reply to Longislander -- do you think that if we programmed the thermostat to go higher, say on Friday morning, then lower the temp, say on Sun morning, would that make the place cozy for our arrival on the weekends? Or does it take really long (days) to come to temp? An option we have is that we will be installing a wood or pellet stove, mostly for atmosphere, and that could help bring the temp up quickly on the weekends and leaving the radiant floor at a steady state temp.

06-27-2007, 07:02 PM	#8
longisland60 Member Join Date: Jan 2006 Posts: 27 Thanks: 1 Thanked 0 Times in 0 Posts	Hours, not days... Hey Upnorth, No, it doesn't take days to recover the temperature, but it may take several hours depending on the number of degrees that the temperature must be raised. I just wanted you to be aware that the recovery cycle for a radiant system is longer than the other methods and that for some homeowners, that longer recovery cycle may be an inconvenience worth consideration. Take care, Longisland60

06-29-2007, 06:46 AM	#9
Blue Thunder Senior Member Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Eastern MA & Frye Island/Sebago Lake, Maine Posts: 935 Thanks: 247 Thanked 323 Times in 148 Posts	Have you considered ductless A/C? I just installed a ductless mini split A/C system in my island home. I went with the dual zone, meaning both heat and A/C. Each wall mounted unit (3) is individually remote controlled for a total of 32K btu's. If your home is year round then this form of heat (heat pump) is not for you because it won't work that well in the real cold weather but since I'm seasonal, it was perfect for me. Affordable and fast installation as well. Blue Thunder __________________ " Live for today because yesterday is gone and tomorrow may never come"