Quote:
Originally Posted by Daox
The sunroom is probably the newest part of the entire house. It has been added on within the last 10 years. It is 2x6 construction with standard fiberglass insulation and polystyrene (not sure on the thickness) on the outside. It has blown in cellulose insulation above it, and a insulated floor with an unaccessable crawlspace under it. It has with hydronic in floor heating.
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This sounds like a great candidate for a solar-thermal radiant floor set-up to me. Wish my "sunporch" was starting out this functional (facing east, non-functioning windows, uninsulated slab floor, prob no ceiling insulation)
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That hydronic radiant floor system is begging to be linked up to a DIY panel or two on the roof (like the "Build-It-Solar" ones...). Part of the plumbing job is already done. Maybe trimming that tree would let you put one on the east end of the sunroom roof?
As far as thermal mass:
I'm not clear why you'd want to put it outside the insulated space (below the floor). ?
It isn't really a passive-solar designed room, so: Unless the room gets uncomfortably hot during the day in the heating season, with the house door open, or you want to use the room at night without heating it, why add thermal mass? You could just circulate the heat into the house during the day & close it off at night. Would it really stay warm enough to add heat to the house at night even with loads of mass?