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An earlier reply to a post about Radiant floor heating mentioned up a site for a company in Vermont which sells DIY kits for Radiant floors. Looking through that Site, I noticed that they advised to run cool water through floors in the summer to avoid problems with Stagnant water in the PEX tubing, and to get “Free Summer Cooling”
As with the person who posted earlier, I am looking at building a new home in Southern Ontario, and plan on heating it with Radiant floors. We will be building on a Concrete Slab foundation (partial basement under one side of the house) in order to get the most efficiency from the radiant floor system. Because of the radiant floors we have been careful with our selection of flooring materials. Our main gathering areas will be done in Laminate wood, our Kitchens and Bathrooms in Ceramics and our upstairs bedrooms in Low Pile Carpeting.
My concern with the Radiant floor being used to cool the house is with the effects of condensation on the floor covering. Wouldn’t moisture in the air collect on the cooler floors and cause the wood flooring to delaminate, and the carpeting to mildew? Wouldn’t the Ceramic be prone to condensation causing slips and falls?
Maybe if there was a way to dry out the house in the summer this would work better, but I can’t think of a way to move out the moisture and keep the cool air in.
If anyone has experience with cooling a house through a radiant floor I’d be very interested to hear of it since summer cooling is our biggest challenge in our home design at this point.
Thanks for your help,
Chris Potvin
Replies
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An earlier reply to a post about Radiant floor heating mentioned up a site for a company in Vermont which sells DIY kits for Radiant floors. Looking through that Site, I noticed that they advised to run cool water through floors in the summer to avoid problems with Stagnant water in the PEX tubing, and to get "Free Summer Cooling"
As with the person who posted earlier, I am looking at building a new home in Southern Ontario, and plan on heating it with Radiant floors. We will be building on a Concrete Slab foundation (partial basement under one side of the house) in order to get the most efficiency from the radiant floor system. Because of the radiant floors we have been careful with our selection of flooring materials. Our main gathering areas will be done in Laminate wood, our Kitchens and Bathrooms in Ceramics and our upstairs bedrooms in Low Pile Carpeting.
My concern with the Radiant floor being used to cool the house is with the effects of condensation on the floor covering. Wouldn't moisture in the air collect on the cooler floors and cause the wood flooring to delaminate, and the carpeting to mildew? Wouldn't the Ceramic be prone to condensation causing slips and falls?
Maybe if there was a way to dry out the house in the summer this would work better, but I can't think of a way to move out the moisture and keep the cool air in.
If anyone has experience with cooling a house through a radiant floor I'd be very interested to hear of it since summer cooling is our biggest challenge in our home design at this point.
Thanks for your help,
Chris Potvin