Which is a better heating system for a new home – Forced Air, Hot Water Baseboard, or In-floor Radiant?
Which is a better heating system for a new home Forced Air, Hot Water Baseboard, or In floor Radiant?
Builders Saratoga Helping to make Educated Selections With regards to Your Heating
Quite a few American central heating strategies employ a furnace which directs forced warm air by means of ductwork. This particular product has long been preferred by builders in the US due to their super-cheap installment pricing, particularly if joined with central cooling. But with increasing fuel prices, the continuing expenses connected with energy use has to be thought-about.
A different problem with forced hot air is it’s the confirmed more uncomfortable heat delivery method, since it just isn’t going to ward off the loss of body heat of the occupants in comparison with other systems.
Numerous householders also use the word furnace to make reference to their boiler, though the two are not precisely the same. A boiler warms water, and as it happens, a furnace warms up and blows air.
The hot water heating techniques which use boilers can include hot water baseboards and radiators. These kinds of heat delivery systems are next up on the comfort and ease levels. Although much better over hot air forced out of ducts, they also rely upon a certain amount of air activity also known as conduction, to supply heating to the house.
An additional heating strategy that utilizes a boiler or hot water heater is radiant panel heating. The particular radiant panels can be built into ceilings and walls, but are most frequently utilized as a radiant floor system.
Radiant panel heat has been defined as the confirmed most comfortable type of central heating, because it warms up each of the surfaces within the space to match the skin temperature of the people in the room. The actual result is no loss of body heat, along with a natural sense of comfort.
As a result of the principles of physics that are ideally used by radiant panel systems, they are also significantly more energy efficient than forced hot air. Hence not only are you going to benefit from the greatest level of comfort and ease in your own home, you can expect to rest easy since your energy savings will last for the life of your residence.
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May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Properly installed, you should not have any kind of a problem with the Radiant Heating, and if you do , it should be under warranty.
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
i would talk to your contracter about propex radiant floor heating, it is very safe but it is pretty pricey
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
If you can afford radiant then get it($14 per sqft).
I have horrible allergies and what works very well for me is baseboard heat and central air conditioning.
The central air keeps the house dry in the summer, the baseboard heats without mold, dust etc…
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
What do you want all the inherent problems for? A gas fired iron boiler w. rads lasts 50 years and can be converted to all types of gas if natural runs out.
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
If you have allergies and pets, stay away from the forced air heating system. Go with the hydronic baseboard. The new oil burners have a very high efficiency and you can vent through a wall with a power venting system. I just installed one for a good customer and the power venter is spectacular.
Good luck with your decision.
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
solar panneling.
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Radiant is the best if you can afford.
Radiant heats objects such as wall, concrete…..forced hot air is only heating the air.
Something to consider……….
Look at cost of radiant system plus A/C system (if needed) with ductwork compared to forced air heat and just needing condenser and a-coil.
The cost of hot air with A/c installed upfront will be substantially cheaper than radiant with a/c and ductwork. You can have the builder install an electronic air cleaner and if you want to go to the extreme, HEPA filtration system that will seriously reduce dust, pollen, etc.
**Deal with a very reputable company if you decide to go the HEPA route. Motor selection and duct sizing is extremely critical!
Good Luck!
Newt
Good luck with your choice!
Newt
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
Forced air gives you the option in the future for central air conditioning. We built outr home 2 years ago and put hot water baseboard. It is a quick way to heat a space and less noicy than forced air.
Another consideration is how do you planon heating your domestic hot water? We have something called a "Super-Stor" that constantly maintains 50 gals or so of hot water. the water is heated by our furnace. We hardly ever use our baseboard heat though because we have and use a woodstove. Would you consider heating with a woodstove??? Or a pellet stove??? These are perhaps the most intense beautiful forms of home heating.
good luck.
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
go with forced air heating. with forced air you filter about all the air in the house in about a half hour of operation. if you add a hepa cartridge filter or an electrostatic filter to this you have a real nice mold/pollen/dust removal system.
another thing to consider…..unless you dont want a/c you still need ductwork and an air handler.
as far as whats the cheapest to operate :
1) geothermal heat pump
2) air to air heat pump with gas backup (duel fuel)
3)air to air heat pump with electric backup
4) air conditioner with gas heat
of course if you reverse the list you have a list of up front (installation) costs
get with a NATE certified hvac dealer and get plenty of bids on going every way
hope this helps,
Possum
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
From an economic standpoint a forced-air system is hard to beat. And incorporating air-conditioning is easiest with a forced-air system. Hydronic systems are subject to leaks and freezing. Indoor air quality can be aided with the installation of UV light, HEPA filter system, and humidification. Allergies are hard to deal with with any system. Every time you open an exterior door, you invite irritants to come calling. A positive pressure would do it, but is costly and impractical. Sometimes the best things in life are the simple things. So – forced-air wins!
May 4th, 2010 at 3:34 pm
I am building a house and I am installing the radiant heating (you know, hot water tubes in the floor kind) on an elevated wooden floor, but it can be just as easily be installed on a concrete subfloor. The radiant heating tubing is laid out on the floor between furring strips (esentially spacers) that bring the level of the floor up and allow for the radiant heating plumbing between the furring strips. You just have to be careful when installing the hardwood flooring, making sure you don’t nail into any of the plumbing.
The show "This Old House" has had several episodes where
they installed both radiant heat plumbing and a hardwood floor over a concrete subfloor.
The furring strips are secured to a concrete subfloor with concrete anchors. These anchors look like nails, but hardened and driven into the concrete with a driver that uses .22 caliber blanks. Sears carries this driver and the .22 blanks. You would have to go to Home Depot or Lowe’s to get the concrete anchors.
Another consideration is to buy an air cleaner to cut down on airborne allergens in the room.