[Shop-talk] hydronic heat retrofit?

[Doug Braun]

Can you modify the ductwork to emit some warm air into
that subfloor area?   The could be almost free to
"install".  You could also put a piece of insulating
board to the bottom of the joists, to trap the warm
air against the floor.

I couple of weeks ago I discovered that our house's
ductwork had an extra opening where it passed under
the kitchen.  I had always wondered why the floor got
so warm in the winter!  I also discovered a piece of
scrap wood lying on top of the duct, that had been
used to block the opening during the summer when the
AC was running.  Now I know why the basement got so
cold in the summer!

Doug


--- Chris Kantarjiev <cak at dimebank.com> wrote:

> We live in a 1927 California Craftsman that has a
> central forced air
> furnace ... that must have been some sort of
> retrofit, I'm guessing,
> but maybe not (most houses in that period were built
> with in-floor
> gas heaters). The furnace looks to have been built
> in the 60s,
> and the ducts could easily be older. One of these
> days we'll
> have to replace the furnace, and I'm not looking
> forward to that.
> 
> A couple of rooms (including the master bath) were
> added 
> after the fact, and have no heat at all - they're
> too far
> from the furnace. The living room has one duct
> outlet, but
> it's not very effective.
> 
> We have electric space heaters in a couple of places
> and they
> work, but ... well, the master bath is damned cold
> in the morning,
> and the tub is miserable for the first person to
> shower. I'd
> like to do something about that. If the floor wasn't
> tile,
> I'd think about putting electric resistance mat
> underneath,
> but I really don't want to tear out the tile.
> 
> I was wondering if it might be possible to plumb
> hydronic heat
> into the existing subfloor (2x8 joists on 16)? Not
> really the
> way it's normally done, I know, and perhaps
> prohibitively
> expensive.
> 
> I guess there are also hydronic baseboard units...
> has
> anyone here gone down this path?
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