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I’ve been a lurker here for a while and appreciate the quality of information and advice that posts here have to offer, so here goes: We are getting close to starting a new home in central Iowa. Our weather ranges from 100+ for days on end in the summer to -20 for days on end in the winter, with not much in between it seems. All things being equal, what would you recommend as the better (in terms of both comfort and fuel-cost efficiency) long-term solutions: A) hydronic, in-floor heat (LP gas for boiler) in combination with central AC; or, B) a geothermal, forced air heat/AC system? The plan is about 90% slab on grade, so I tend to think the massing of the radiant heat in the concrete floor would be a bigger factor than the savings on LP that a geothermal system would offer. Apples to apples, which one would you do? Any advice, tips, suggestions appreciated from this lurker.
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Alexander
We are building a new home also. We are going with Hot Water Radiant Floors these floors will be heated by a Geo-Source heat pump ( Geothermal ) and we will be putting in two fancoil units with condensate pans to provide some air conditioning although we do not have the hot summers as you do, so the fancoil might not provide enough cooling for you, but you could still have radiant floors and duct for your air conditioning all run from the geothermal heat pump.
*Kelvinn,I'm in the process of planning a new home an am leaning toward a system similar to what you describe here. Like yours our summers are not terribly hot (at least not for long here in central NY). However, I'd like to find more detailed information & have no idea where to start. Where would you recommend that I look for supplies/equipment & site-specific design details - any local HVAC contractor? a HVAC supply house? or other? Thanks for any insight.
*Mr. RourkeWe are using an ECONAR heat pump, you can check out their web site at http://www.econar.com and they can steer you to dealers in your area.You can also check out the International Ground Source Heat Pump Association they have a website but I don't have it in my favourites folder I believe it is http://www.igshpa.ok.state.edu.com if this is wrong you'll have to do a search. But they have lots of info at their site. I think you will be happy with the system, the comfort of radiant with the cost savings of a heat pump sounds like the best of both worlds. Good luck on your project.
*A couple questions:By geothermal do you mean true geothermal-getting heat from a hot spring or geyser or some such? Or, do you mean a heat pump?By using a forced air system you can integrate heat and central air. What is the installed cost factor if these are split? Integrated?All the systems you mention have their fans. I happen to like forced air for its installation, ability to integrate with air and a filter system, and long term low cost maintenance.Other people are willing to pay the extra money for a radiant heat system for its more constant heat and the warm floor. They are willing to risk the jackhammer job if work is ever needed on the lines.The hotwater baseboard system has its fans too.What I am trying to say is look around your area, see what is most commonly used there, talk to people about costs, match against your own prejudices and press on.
*We have the same system as Kevin (except the geothermal is Florida Heat Pump, I believe) and it performs beautifully. The A/C is tied into the geothermal and is Unico. Feel free to ask any questions. In our case, the geothermal made sense be/c we dug an 805' well for water and came up dry. Perfect for geothermal. And the radiant made sense be/c we have almost 1 million lbs of concrete in here with high ceilings, and I'd rather heat the concrete than heat all that air.>What I am trying to say is look around your area, see what is most commonly used thereSome places that may work, some not. Here, the typical HVAC doesn't know RFH from whatever. They do forced air mostly because it never occured to them to do anything else. Would have been a BAD idea for me. So if you have special requirements or interests, you might have to look beyond what is most commonly used.Jim
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I've been a lurker here for a while and appreciate the quality of information and advice that posts here have to offer, so here goes: We are getting close to starting a new home in central Iowa. Our weather ranges from 100+ for days on end in the summer to -20 for days on end in the winter, with not much in between it seems. All things being equal, what would you recommend as the better (in terms of both comfort and fuel-cost efficiency) long-term solutions: A) hydronic, in-floor heat (LP gas for boiler) in combination with central AC; or, B) a geothermal, forced air heat/AC system? The plan is about 90% slab on grade, so I tend to think the massing of the radiant heat in the concrete floor would be a bigger factor than the savings on LP that a geothermal system would offer. Apples to apples, which one would you do? Any advice, tips, suggestions appreciated from this lurker.