I cannot imagine trying to protect the tubing from nails, ladders, etc. I also did not like Warmboard's recommendation to install the tubing immediately after installation of the subfloor. Not exactly economical if my math is/was correct. The price I received from Warmboard was in the neighborhood of $145/sheet. Steve: I only found two types of subflooring with built in tubing channels - Warmboard and another one I cannot recall. The best is radiant with geothermal as well as AC with geothermal, but thats the most expensive as that requires one system for delivering heat and one system for delivering AC. So, you want to separate out the two factors and then decide what you want to do. You can do regular hvac units with forced air as well. You can do geothermal with forced air or radiant heat. Radiant gains its advantage because forced air has losses associated with transferring the heated air through ducts. ![]() It takes the same amount of energy to transfer the heat. Regarding efficiency, terry is not quite right. Radiant is definitely the best for heat as its the most comfortable. Keep in mind that if you are in a AC area, that if you go radiant, you'll also have to consider a forced air system as well. ![]() You can do that with forced air or with heat - radiant (floor or baseboard). The method to deliver the heat/cool to your house is the other side of the equation. Geothermal is just the heat removal (or addition) to the equation. We just came through a late but severe winter (-28 F) so I will be VERY disappointed if the geo does not work next winter. A local excavator can probably give you an estimate based on the type of terrain and number of trenches. Installation of the ground tubing is the biggest variable. Keep in mind a boiler can heat your fluid high enough for below-floor installation. You can easily see the diffence in materials by getting a quote for both geo and boiler. Most companies I researched offering geothermal also offered boilers. There are too many variables for each installation to give a useful comparison. Up front costs will be more but the efficiency is greater and payback begins immediately with considerably lower energy bills. This added layer affects all your doors, base cabinets, toilets, etc.Ĭ. This requires adding a layer of 7"-wide strips of 5/8" ply/OSB, spaced to allow the tubing to run between the strips, on top of the subfloor. The geo heat pump cannot heat the fluid high enough for below-floor installation. My vendor's ( ) system requires me to install floor tubing on top of my subfloor. A nearby deep pond, on your property of course, is good as well.ī. I had to pay a substantial amount for fill dirt as the boulders could not go back into my trenches. I had no choice but horizontal but I still dealt with lots of boulders below ground. ![]() Study your terrain as fully as possible to determine if you should go with horizontal or vertical ground loop installation. A solid will take longer to heat but the efficiency is greater than keeping air heated.Ī. Once heated, a solid will retain that heat much longer than air will. However, I have been in places with radiant heat and the science is simple. I cannot give you any performance data as I am still installing my geothermal with radiant heat system. I buy wind electricity from them and I’m located in Connecticut. Con Edison offers renewable resource electricity. 5.Is there any way you can generate some of your own electricity using photovoltaic panels or Dow solar roof shingles? Now that I am re-reading your post, I see you are located on Long Island. 4.Is your electrical supply dependable? If you have outages during the year, then your geo thermal system will need a bank of batteries or generator back up which will need to run on gasoline, natural gas or propane. However, if the natural gas source is through “fracking” then I personally would not use it due to its potential toxic pollution of ground water. ![]() If your electricity source is coal, a heat pump may result in 1 or 2 tons more carbon dioxide emissions than a natural gas furnace. Unless your electricity is from a renewable resource such as water, solar or wind, then you are not as eco-friendly as you may think. Many homeowners are surprised by their electrical usage. 2.There is an increased use of electricity for the evaporator, compressor, and heat exchanger/pump. Be sure to get all the info on warranty, etc. Geo-thermal systems are said to have an 18-25 year life span with routine maintenance and then it’s another system. If you are concerned about eco-friendly and system cost savings, you need to consider the following: 1.
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