auxiliary heat in kitchen extension - seeking advice

My kitchen is an extension. When we renovated a decade ago, we took out the hot water radiator and had a hydronic radiant system installed under an engineered wood floor. It never gets warm enough (possibly the wood rather than stone floor is a contributing factor). I am wondering if the best approach to improve the heat situation would be to install some Runtal panels (which given the current configuration of the kitchen would involve extending the existing pipes in the basement that fed the old radiator) or putting in some kind of a.c/heater combo that goes on a wall. There is an existing through-the-wall a.c. and I don’t have a 220 line. Heating with electricity seems like it would more expensive than just using our existing hot water system but this is definitely not my area of expertise. Any ideas/suggestions?

mvdub

in Radiators 11 years and 2 months ago

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janeinteriorsnyc | 11 years and 2 months ago

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I’ve use small electric heaters with fans, in the kick plate of the cabinets in kitchens and my clients have been happy with the amount of warmth generated and the cost of running the heaters when they are needed. They were fairly inexpensive and the installation was uncomplicated. www.janeinteriorsnyc.com

Lurker | 11 years and 2 months ago

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As someone considering this move I’m interested in your specifics if you’re willing to keep talking. Can you say whether there is insulation under your radiant system, and assuming 16 on center joists did you do 2 loops or one per joist bay? And aluminum heat transfer panels screwed from underneath? And what sort of hydronic boiler? We’re thinking of adding a system since our basement is gutted, and currently there’s 3/4 inch subfloor and we intend to layer another 3/4 of flooring above and are concerned about whether it’ll suffice.

Green Mountain | 11 years and 2 months ago

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No eye rolling here. Mine rolled when I attended the Talking Transition Tent on Green Housing. I was the only HIC among engineers, architects, academics and wonks. They seem to have never met my clients. We all want to conserve energy, as long as we can have a lot glass in our kitchens and bathrooms. Bathrooms especially concern me when space is tight, or the existing radiator is in the best location for the bathtub or shower stall. If the house already has a hot water heating system, I often suggest radiant hot water heat under the tile floor, and maybe a hot water towel warmer too. This gets rid of the radiator, but I want to be sure they would have enough heat on cold days.

eman134 | 11 years and 2 months ago

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As MP posted..add radiation…runtal panels are great, but a cheaper option would be simple cast iron radiators

Master Plvmber | 11 years and 2 months ago

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Just add a radiator, as you suggested, and have a 2-stage thermostat installed. When the heat from the floor can’t keep up with the heating demand, the second stage will enable the radiator to warm the air in the room. Runtal panels work great for this, but you can use anything really.

mvdub | 11 years and 2 months ago

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The kitchen is a single story 12×16 (roughly) extension on a wood frame house and was a gut reno, so there is insulation in the walls and ceiling. I’m not sure how high the ceiling is but I would say maybe 9.5 feet or 10 feet. And yes, it has windows — it has one double hung new construction Anderson window and some fixed oblong windows. It also has (drum roll) a ginormous sliding glass door that’s maybe 8’x 8′. And, down a few steps there’s a door to the back yard and a door to the basement, which is, yes, under the kitchen. The kitchen floor is probably about 4 feet or so above ground level. The basement walls are a combo of stone and brick, uninsulated. So I’m sure all you heating experts out there are rolling your eyes.

Green Mountain | 11 years and 2 months ago

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Have you considered your heat loss? Do you have a cold basement or cellar under your kitchen? Are the interior bricks of your exterior walls exposed or do you have horse hair plaster there? Is the room, ceiling or roof above insulated? Do you have skylights, windows or glass doors? How high is your ceiling? More than a couple of us here are interested in what went wrong with your hot water radiant heat.