Gas and Oil Home Heating Furnaces - Radiant floor Heating

Recently got a quote for radiant floor heating for a 2000 sqft home with a full basement. $29K WOW! Suppose I look at too many Hometime, and This Ol House series. I was under the impression that the cost would be slightly higher than conventional forced air or oil baseboard heating. Not so. But, I really do want this type of heat. I searched the net and found a few nice sites for the do-it yourselfer. RadiantDirect appealed to me because they do alot of the prelim set up for you. The quoted me $6744 which includes a P-Poloris burner. An additional $1200 for a Trinity burner. This includes all the PEX tubing, manifolds, thermastats, brass fittings, etc. Of course, I would have to do the installation. Doesn't sound too difficult.
Now in comparison, this pricing seems too good to be true. How can the pros possible charge $22K for labor? Anyone out there have experience with installing a radiant floor system? Is there something I should be looking for? Anyone have a feel to advise me if I'm safe with this option? I understand this PEX is some tuff stuff, and my chances of leakages is less than minimal. Any feedback would be appreciated.

Try http://www.radiantec.com/pricing.htm besides showcasing the individual components and their prices, they too will give an estimate or if you want just a ballpark estimate. They probably know some contractors in your area too.

You could probably run the Pex tubing and the difussers. I would leave the manifold and controls to the contractor.

brombergerj:

What are you planning to do with the main floor heat, and do you have any provision for future a/c.

Read the anouncement at the top of this forum for more questions we need answered.

Boy! did you get 3 bids for this job? Dont stop at just one. A old rule that works most of the time. If you add up the cost of all the things that are going into a job from all of the equipment the shipping the tax and the last bolt and nut and just double it ,most of the time it will come out what the job should cost. This would be on a job thats ready to go and no bad hold up's or unforeseen things in it. If you go this way what are you going to do for A/C;) ED

Thanks guys...very helpful. I do need to get more quotes. I did briefly check out Radiantec this morning. Seems they've been around awhile. Of course, there is always conflicting information. One company states you need the heating plates to remove the heat from the tubing...other claims that the plates have no significant advantages. One company states I only need one boiler, other one states I should keep them seperate....decisions, decisions.
I will get a quote from these guys and check it out.
There aren't many contractors in this area that are familiar with the installation of this stuff. When I rec'd the astronomical quote from the pro, he cautioned me about getting it done right, eluding to the fact, that "other" reputable companies and especially do-it-yourselfers have problems with the installation. I need to sluff this off as a scare tactic.
Thanks for the advise...of course, any more advise would be welcome.
As for the A/C...I want to look at the system that utilizes the flexible 3" venting ducts. Very inconspicious. No idea on that cost yet.

You don't need the difussers if you're putting the pex tubing in floor. But if you're going to install it under floor, which in my opinion is the best way because you have easy access to it if something should go wrong, the diffussers are the best way to hold the tubing up against the floor without piercing or crimping the tubing.

I would recommend the boiler because it gives you a lot of options among other things. You could have an indirect domestic water, baseboards to heat the basement and easier to add a zone if you ever decide to add an addition to the home.

The 3" diameter ducts are known as a "mini duct system". Search the web for it and you'll see a lot of companies and look for some reviews on it. Mini duct systems, just like radiant floor systems, cost considerably more than a conventional or low velocity system. One of the reasons is because it is a high velocity system and the ducts must be well sealed and secured where they connect. This makes the installation more expensive. It is also an advantage because there is little air leakage, unlike most low velocity systems, they usually leak a lot. I use a "Duct Blaster" to measure duct leakage on forced air systems. 99 out of 100 homes tested that had low velocity systems in attic the air tightness of the ducts were 1/5th what they were supposed to be.

Now if you ask a HVAC person they will say, "So What!", You can't make duct absolutely air tight!", "What's the problem? and so on. Try telling that to someone who is being told to leave their home because we just condemned it. There is a simple rule with the volume of air in a home and that is it remains constant. You cannot let air out of the home without letting the same volume air into it. Cold air entering a wall will actually dry out the wall, warm air will condense. Therein lies the problem with leaky low velocity systems in attic. When the air leaks in the ducts in the attic, it depressurizes the home. This sucks warm air from outside into your walls.

When air infiltrates the home because of depressurization, the vast majority of the air comes in from your windows and doors. A very small percentage will actual enter your walls. So how big of problem is this? Have you ever heard of "Tyvek"? It is an air infiltration barrier applied on the outside of walls on a home. I am an Energy Conservationist and I can tell you the reason Tyvek was invented and its primary purpose is not to conserve energy, it is a side effect of the product.

So what's the problem? You can't make ducts air tight. Or better yet, "Who cares? It's not my house."