Three quick comments about electric radiant floor heat:
1. Electricity is expensive, around here anyway. Nat gas is about
.$60/therm; electric is $.08/kw or about $2.34/therm (1 kw = 3413 btu) (1
ccf nat gas = 103,000 btu) (1 therm = 100,000 btu)
2. Copper wire in concrete eventually fails due to metal fatigue caused
by repeated heat cycling. Only electric can be used with wire-in-floor.
Pex lasts indefinitely, any available fuel can be used and as the energy
market changes, a hydronic system can be modified to take advantage of the
lowest cost fuel.
3. Hydronic systems can use water temperatures that are reset according
to outdoor temperature thus avoiding temperature setpoint over- or
under-shooting.
One last comment, electric radiant floor heating is still far superior to
any type of forced air heating. It is also cheaper to run than any other
type of electric heating.
IMHO
John Lehman
Ohio Regional Office
J.C. Mottinger Associates, Inc.
Manufacturers' Representatives
1008 Crook St., Grafton, OH 44044
Ph: (440) 926-2404 Fax (440 ) 926-1194
JELehman@ix.netcom.com www.Wirsbo.com
> Gentlemen,
> I've been following this thread with interest. Unless I've missed it,
> nobody seems to have mentioned ELECTRIC underfloor heating. A neighbour
> of mine installed it in his home when he built it four years ago. Once
> the concrete slab is up to temperature, and nobody "plays with the
> thermostat" it is comfortable and surprisingly INEXPENSIVE. And it's fun
> to patter around the house in bare feet on tile floors in the middle of
> winter! <G> In a garage, of course, you'd have to make sure you had
> damned good weather and draught-proofing around the garage doors. Check
> it out!
>
> Cheers,
> Mark Donaldson
> Auckland (no snow)
> New Zealand
>
>
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