In Floor Heating

Is in floor heating the right choice for you?

You read so much about the efficiency and effectiveness of radiant heating it's hard to ignore it as an heating option. We opted for a total home, hot water system. The two illustrations show the tubing in the kitchen/dining room area. The installation is pretty standard stuff, however, there are a few options when it comes to the heat source. We don't have access to natural gas, which leaves oil, electricity or wood for fuel options. Geo thermal is still too expensive for any reasonable period of cost recovery, especially with only 2 occupants. We did the wood thing 30 years ago, too much work at this stage in our lives. Air conditioning is not a big deal in our area, there goes the heat pump, and forced air can be a bit dusty in a log home. We decided on a hot water system driven by a 25 Kw, Hydra electric hot water furnace with an off hours regulator to capture the best kw price. Tubing was installed in the basement and on the main floor. Nothing in the loft. In my opinion the cost of installation for this type of heating seems to be a bit over priced, however I wouldn't fool around with the fly by night lads. Track down the professionals and get them to do it right the first time. You'll pay more, but it's guaranteed, and trust me you'll sleep a lot better. Our layout is fairly open so we settled on 5 zones, 4 on the main floor and a single zone in the basement. In hind sight, an extra zone in the basement would have been better. The biggest issue with the installation of in floor heating is the over pour. A basement usually has about a 4" over pour, no problem to use a power trowel and create a surface you could eat off of. The main floor however, only has an inch and a half to work with. Remember, all walls, exterior and interior, sit on a 2 x 6 pressure treated sill to allow for the over pour. Once the tubing is layed you might have an inch or so of over pour. Most contractors won't use a power trowel for fear of nicking a hose and instead try to smooth the surface out by hand. Bad idea. I was shocked when I seen the results. The basement surface was excellent, the main floor another story. There was no way that ceramic tile or hardwood could be layed directly on top. Too rough and uneven, it was bad. Four days later one of the over pour crew came back to grind the entire floor using an 8" grinder. Three an a half hours later there was cement dust from floor to ceiling. I spent an entire day with a shop vac cleaning up he mess, however the floor is now level and ready for finishing. Advice: ask how they plan to smooth out the floor and get a guarantee that it will be level and ready for whatever finishing material you plan to use.

Tips of the week:

1. Make the sure the air pressure in the heating tubes is between 40 and 50 psi before the over pour. This keeps the tubes from collapsing due to the weight of the cement.

2. Place some protective sheeting over the logs to prevent the cement from splashing on them, it won't come of.

3. Ask the installer how they plan to achieve a smooth finish and get a guarantee that it will be level and ready for whatever finish material you plan to use.