Hydronic radiant floor heating questions

Hi, I’ve read through all of the posts concerning radiant floor heating and still have some questions. We are in the process of planning a renovation of a 2600 sq ft. 3 story attached brownstone. The house is in “estate” condition with original details we wish to save, but all of the systems of the house are shot.

We are replacing all plumbing, electrical and heating. We are also doing joist sistering on the 2nd floor and 1st floor extension. A lot of the demolition has been done so we can see hopefully all of the issues we are facing. We will save the plaster ceilings on all floors, original parquet on 1st floor. The flooring on 2nd and 3rd floor as well as as 1st floor extension has been removed in order to perform electrical, plumbing and joist repair.

The architect proposed mini splits with hyper heat. I’m fine with this for supplemental heat and of course cooling. I really don’t want to be cold or too dry in the winter and think since we are taking up the floors on the 2nd and 3rd floors, that putting in a hydronic radiant floor heating system makes sense.

My spouse is concerned that is the system has problems or leaks that we’d have to rip up the floor. I’ve not seen evidence of this in my research, but maybe someone can educate me about the pitfalls.

The architect thinks a radiant system will be very expensive and blow our budget. I got one rough estimate from a plumber of $50K, which doesn’t phase me considering some of the other costs. Any knowledge of the typical cost in NYC?

This particular plumber did tell me that an electric hot water heater with heat pump is not code for NYC. I have friends in Philly installing this. Can anyone speak to what is code here? I’d like to consider eventually adding solar to mitigate the ongoing costs. Or should we just go with gas since the current monthly cost would be lower than electric and/or is an electric hot water heater not up to code for this here?

Lastly, I’d like to also use hydronic radiant heat on the 1st floor under the existing parquet. We have access to the joists underneath in the basement. We would install reflector plates? Plumber thought this would be fine, we just would have cold spots where the existing joists run.

Anything else I should consider?

Thank you!

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 3 years and 9 months ago

26

Please log in, in order to post replies!

26 replies

Newest Oldest

hasibur.rahman07 | 3 years and 9 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#137705 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#5117 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "193777"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(16) "hasibur.rahman07"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$Bsaw5CO31JqBHatsqn.rMKRsczt9tJ."
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(16) "hasibur-rahman07"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(26) "hasibur.rahman07@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 13:54:29"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(29) "hasibur rahman hasibur rahman"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(193777)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Re-lining the chimney is at least double or more now

Guest User | 3 years and 9 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "201692"

its your choice…boiler with separate hot water heater, boiler with indirect tank, combi boiler (probably with a buffer tank) depends on the location of the machine room, etc you will probably need to reline the chimney which is generally around 3 grand…

hasibur.rahman07 | 3 years and 9 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#137694 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#137693 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "193777"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(16) "hasibur.rahman07"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$Bsaw5CO31JqBHatsqn.rMKRsczt9tJ."
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(16) "hasibur-rahman07"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(26) "hasibur.rahman07@gmail.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 13:54:29"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(29) "hasibur rahman hasibur rahman"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(193777)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(1) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(1) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(3) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Or a combination boiler that does both

shahnandersen

in General Discussion 3 years and 9 months ago

string(1) "2"
object(WP_User)#137703 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#137685 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(1) "6"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(13) "shahnandersen"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(13) "shahnandersen"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(31) "brownstoner@brownstoner.com.old"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(27) "brownstoner.com/renovation1"
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2006-09-08 20:12:54"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(6)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(0) {
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Not a passivhaus. It’s a normal brownstone.

We are replacing the windows at the back. I’m undecided on replacing front original windows. We are landmarked.

Do we need a boiler for heat and a hot water heater for hot water?

Guest User | 3 years and 9 months ago

string(1) "3"
string(6) "201692"

you can’t use a hot water heater for space heating in nyc…you have to use a boiler…for what you are describing, the standard in nyc is a HE boiler split into various zones, either by multiple pumps or zone valves or a combination thereof. I’m not a fan of reflector panels, warm board is (in my opinion) a way better choice, but naturally more expensive. Personally I don’t lie the quality of heat produced by heat pump mini splits, especially on the real cold end. If you are even considering that as a viable option i assume that you are hyper insulating the envelope and replacing all windows

dorkofwindsor | 3 years and 9 months ago

string(1) "1"
object(WP_User)#4904 (8) {
  ["data"]=>
  object(stdClass)#5124 (12) {
    ["ID"]=>
    string(6) "176774"
    ["user_login"]=>
    string(13) "dorkofwindsor"
    ["user_pass"]=>
    string(34) "$P$Bov.472kQmY8OGlKN.dDXa5nt5gnOG0"
    ["user_nicename"]=>
    string(13) "dorkofwindsor"
    ["user_email"]=>
    string(23) "dorkofwindsor@yahoo.com"
    ["user_url"]=>
    string(28) "/forums/users/dorkofwindsor/"
    ["user_registered"]=>
    string(19) "2017-08-10 14:25:48"
    ["user_activation_key"]=>
    string(0) ""
    ["user_status"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["display_name"]=>
    string(13) "dorkofwindsor"
    ["spam"]=>
    string(1) "0"
    ["deleted"]=>
    string(1) "0"
  }
  ["ID"]=>
  int(176774)
  ["caps"]=>
  array(2) {
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["cap_key"]=>
  string(15) "wp_capabilities"
  ["roles"]=>
  array(2) {
    [0]=>
    string(10) "subscriber"
    [1]=>
    string(15) "bbp_participant"
  }
  ["allcaps"]=>
  array(4) {
    ["read"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["level_0"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["subscriber"]=>
    bool(true)
    ["bbp_participant"]=>
    bool(true)
  }
  ["filter"]=>
  NULL
  ["site_id":"WP_User":private]=>
  int(1)
}

Is this a passivhaus? Or something with a really tight envelope?