*
As we are in the process of designing ( and hopefully building) a new house in the mountains of Colorado, I have read much about the benfits of radiant heat. In the process of talking to local heating contractors from the Denver area and gathering bids, we came to the unfortunate conclusion that the added comfort of a radiant heat solution was way beyond our budget.
For a new 3000 sq foot house, 2 story with an unfinished basement with tuck under garage, radiant floor heat bids from 3 contractors ranged from $23,500 to $31,000. Maybe the construction boom here has driven everything out of site, but this is at least 4X the cost of a good forced air system, which were priced between $4900 and $7600.
Did we choose the 3 highest radiant heating contractors, or are these normal prices? We were led to believe by friends in the building industry that a radiant system should cost around $3000 over a forced air system. Are these prices other people have been seeing?
Inquiring minds want to know!
Replies
*
Give us some of the specifics of the bids and the design plans. Did they include in-floor tubing in the basement and garage slabs. Was the plan for in-floor tubing and gypcrete-like material on both 1st and 2nd floors or were they for staple-up tubing under the subfloor. What was the charge for gypcrete or lightweight concrete in your area? Did they include a boiler (and if so which brand) and or water heaters? Did this include an air conditioning system? Did this include domestic hot water heating?
There are many different ways to design a hydronic/radiant system and many different variables that can alter the price. In our area (Wisconsin), it isn't too difficult to design a good radiant system with separate air conditioning that ends up costing 1.5-2 times the cost of forced air.
*Jim,This house design is two story plus basement, with the garage in the basement. The radiant heating design included 2 zones for the basement/garage lower level, 3 zones for the main floor and 3 zones for the upstairs. Tubing is in the basement/garage slab and stapled underneath the main and second story floors. No ac or domestic hot water. Unsure of the brand of the boiler. One contractor had the tubing in the slab only with baseboard units on both the main and second story floors. His price was not much less than the other two contractors on a pure radiant solution.I suppose we would consider putting radiant in the slab only and then using a conventional forced air system for the rest of the house.What do you think?
*The prices you are giving for the systems you describe are way too high. Are these from heating contractors or plumbers? Maybe radiant heat is a novelty in your area and thus the higher prices. I would suggest talking to a few plumbers who may have have more experience (in my area, the plumbers are cheaper than the heating contractors who do mostly forced air). I would also look for someone who has alot of experience with radiant systems (some of the things you mention sound like they don't have much experience - see below).I would not give up on radiant heat yet. Especially if you don't need AC (which requires a separate duct system). No one who has lived in a home with radiant heat would ever go back to forced air system (based on comfort, fuel bills, etc.).A few other thoughts. Radiant heat a different form of heat and needs to be designed carefully based on how you are using the specific rooms. It is a slow responce system. For example, if there are rooms of the house that you don't want to heat continually (spare bedrooms, unfinished basements, etc.) it may be better to design these rooms with loops of baseboard (faster responce and much cheaper). Some people use in-floor heat on the first floor living areas and baseboard on the second floor bedroom areas to reduce the cost and allow for daytime temp setbacks. In general, in-floor systems work better above the subfloor within a gypcrete-like material to give better heat transfer with a larger thermal mass. Staple-ups are much more appropriate for retrofits and not for new construction in most cases. Additional zones are expensive. I can't imagine why any house would need 8 zones. Most homes have one zone for the main living areas and maybe a zone or two for the bedroom areas to allow a little lower temp. A boiler and indirect water heater should be able to accomodate domestic hot water also.I just got a bid for a 2800 sq ft house (1 1/2 story) plus basement with tubing within the basement slab, tubing on the first floor with 1 1/2" gypcrete on the entire 1st floor and hydronic baseboard on the 2nd floor, including a boiler and indirect water heater for about $12,500 (of this the gypcrete was about $3500). There is then a duct system for AC and mechanical ventilation which was an additional $12000. If we didn't need AC, almost everyone would use radiant heat here.
*Jim,Thank you for your comments. I have not given up on radiant heat - yet. Will be taking your advice and concentrate on finding a good plumbing contractor experienced in radiant technology.Time is getting short and the builder I am working with has not worked with radiant before. He is receptive to me doing the leg work and finding a good contractor. We'll see. Last resort will be having the tubing installed in the slab, then adding the controls and boiler later. I would at least like to have radiant in the basement and garage slab as I spend a lot of time out there in our cold winters.Thanks again, Jim!Regards,Bob D.
*Bob,If you would be so inclined, have your architect or engineer email me your blueprints in dwg, dxf or whatever format he has them in. I know this is not the appropriate forumn to advertise in and of course that is not my intention. I would just be curious to see what you have got and the reason for the disparity between the quotes you have received and the 10-20K difference that another one of the respondents posted. For sure, RFH is more than Fierced Air, but for someone to make accusations of what is reasonable/unreasonable, and for me to voice my educated opinion requires much more than a passing glance from myself.Regards,Jeff
*Are you prepared to justify why you get RFH for $10,000 to $20,000 less? Your figure is ridiculously low unless your brother-in-law is installing this stuff in expectation your won't tell your sister he has been cheating on her(O labor). Get your component and material costs together Mr. Roberts, this ain't Bob Vila, Home Again, Old House Journal, The Tribune Homes Tab or This Old House. These are serious folks who trust what they hear on this forumn.One RFH job does not create the Standard. Of course, I know you aren't that type of fellow, are you?Regards,Jeff
*You might want to use RFH only in the bathrooms and possably the kitchen. That could save a lot of money. Don't forget that an energy efficient envelope is more important than the type of heat.
*He simply asked the question - does radiant heat (without AC) cost 4 times the cost of forced air as he has been quoted. In general, in my area it clearly doesn't. As I responded, 1.5-2 times is a much more realistic. If in fact radiant systems were 4 times as expensive, they would almost never be used (which is certainly not the case). I stand by my general numbers based on my experiences in my area.
*I live in NW Ohio. I have an old (55yrs) house with a 20'x20' area I want to re-model, using radiant heat. My concern is that this area is on a slab (originally a garage) with most likely no vapor barrier or insulation. If I use radiant heat will I pump a lot of heat into the ground? Should I insulate over the slab first? If so how? I am planning this area to be a kitchen/dining area.
If you live in MA I may be able to help you. We specialize in radiant heat and have been installing it since 1992. We also work with DIYers by letting them invest in sweat equity.Ted Gregoriadis
[email protected]
*
As we are in the process of designing ( and hopefully building) a new house in the mountains of Colorado, I have read much about the benfits of radiant heat. In the process of talking to local heating contractors from the Denver area and gathering bids, we came to the unfortunate conclusion that the added comfort of a radiant heat solution was way beyond our budget.
For a new 3000 sq foot house, 2 story with an unfinished basement with tuck under garage, radiant floor heat bids from 3 contractors ranged from $23,500 to $31,000. Maybe the construction boom here has driven everything out of site, but this is at least 4X the cost of a good forced air system, which were priced between $4900 and $7600.
Did we choose the 3 highest radiant heating contractors, or are these normal prices? We were led to believe by friends in the building industry that a radiant system should cost around $3000 over a forced air system. Are these prices other people have been seeing?
Inquiring minds want to know!