Quote:
Originally Posted by dremd
But wont that require you installing pex in your floors, or am I missing something?
|
I was initially opposed to radiant floor heating because forced air is so widespread and it works well. Then I started studying radiant floor heating and I learned that it is better for several reasons:
- Because it utilizes the principle of radiation, temperature stratification is greatly reduced. This solves the problem of too-hot air at the ceiling and too-cold air at the floor.
- Because people need more heat when they are relaxing and 'laying about', radiant-floor heat is advantageous because the heat source (the floor) is closer to where people are when they need the most heat.
- Because heat pumps reach greater efficiency when the difference (AKA: delta T) between the source temperature (ground loop) and the sink temperature (temperature of the water in the floor loop) is smaller. With a radiant floor heating system, the radiating area is very large, so the temperature of the water in the loop can be lower to achieve the required heat output. For instance, a working fluid temperature of around 90 degrees or even lower, is common for working fluid in floors, while working fluid temperatures of 120 and greater is common for working fluid temperatures in forced air heat exchangers.
The reduced delta-T issue and heat pumps is at play when you do a ground source heat pump. It is also at play when you do a radiant floor.
So, yes I have been planning to do a radiant floor all along.
It's not going to be easy, because I live in a very old house and a two-inch thick concrete suspended floor is just not in the cards. But I am looking into ways of getting a high efficiency floor that doesn't weigh as much as two inches of concrete.
Right now, I'm favoring a built-up floor made of layers of Wonderboard brand tile-backer board. I have done some preliminary tests on various materials and Wonderboard looks better than Durock and Hardybacker board.
I have also done some experiments with unusually high thermal transfer aggregate for concrete, but so far, no love. Nevertheless I still think it has promise.
AC_Hacker