MidAtlantic
New Member
Hope this is the right section of the forum for this fairly wide-ranging question. Also hope that this long essay doesn't put everyone off reading my post
Edit: please note that based on what people here are saying and some other discussions I've had offline, I've already changed my mind quite a lot since I wrote this post. My planning got so complicated because of the separate zone for the underfloor water heating, so I'm now thinking maybe a small electric underfloor heat may be the best way forward; if it's small and used sparingly, it need not be too expensive.
TL;DR: I'm a beginner reno/DIYer. We want underfloor heating, started looking at water underfloor heating, then started realising this might mean lots more decisions. Need help figuring out my plan please.
I've lived in rented places for a long time, followed by a fairly modern condo with my wife, but now we have our first house. The house is solid, but it's old by North American standards; our best guess is that it was built in 1906. It has water radiator heating and no ductwork, and we'd like to keep it that way. We're in Canada, so although sometimes it can get a bit hot in summer we have a window unit for the bedroom those few days when it's too hot to sleep.
I'm currently interviewing contractors to remodel the main bathroom in our house, which is mostly from the seventies, apart from some newer tiles & taps (maybe from the nineties?) With our first kid due to arrive in November, we're thinking that the time to gut & remodel the main bathroom is now, and not next year when we will have a baby and will be getting no sleep etc.
Most of the decisions are fairly easy: tiles, vanity, sink, bathtub, shower head, taps and so on. Where it gets more complicated is that we would like to add underfloor heating.
I know there's two main types: electric and water. We plan to live in the house for a long time, so I'm more or less dismissing electric due to the significantly higher operation cost & lower efficiency. I know electric is generally much easier to install, however. I'm not completely closed to the idea of electric, but it would take a lot to convince me that this is a good idea.
So: water underfloor heating. I understand that the best way to do this is lay PEX and then overpour: great thermal mass. Unfortunately this idea is probably out as I don't think the huge extra weight would do our old semi-detached house any favours. Without overpour, some other solution is needed to get the heat to where it needs to go.
We also need a separate circuit for the underfloor heating, since I believe it's not good to run radiator-temperature water through underfloor heating, despite what a couple of general contractors have told us recently.
At this point the simple (hah!) bathroom reno project planning arted looking more complicated. I took a look at our hot water equipment in the basement, and figured out that it's fairly old. By looking at the serial numbers and some websites, I now know that we have a Kenmore Economizer 6 tank (August 2001), and a Slant Fin Galaxy 125 boiler (around 2005, but Slant Fin serial number system is weird so hard to tell exactly).
Clearly, the tank is near the end of its useful life and the boiler is getting old too. Although we haven't had any issues with either of them yet, I'd rather replace them with a Grade A modern efficient solution... and before they decide to go kaput in the middle of a Canadian winter.
If it isn't obvious already, there's a lot I don't know about plumbing. I'm fairly handy and definitely technically-minded, so I'm not afraid to read through complex stuff if it will help me, but I am trying hard to educate myself before I start spending too much money. Figuring out exactly what my plan should be is the first step.
So the decisions I'm facing include:
I'm pretty sure that there's more info I'll need to post if anyone is going to have a chance of helping me, and I'm happy to do that. Appreciate all advice and thoughts from anyone who has taken the time to read this far. The #1 thing I've learned so far is that there's a lot I don't know, and #2 thing is that doing your research beforehand will [hopefully] save upset and wasted $ down the road.
One last thing: I may not bring much plumbing/reno knowledge to the forum, but I can almost certainly help with computer stuff. I'll try to keep an eye on that forum too.
Edit: please note that as I'm a new user here my replies aren't showing up, although I am responding! It says a Moderator needs to approve them before they will appear. Sorry to those who have taken the time to respond to me - I am grateful!
Edit: please note that based on what people here are saying and some other discussions I've had offline, I've already changed my mind quite a lot since I wrote this post. My planning got so complicated because of the separate zone for the underfloor water heating, so I'm now thinking maybe a small electric underfloor heat may be the best way forward; if it's small and used sparingly, it need not be too expensive.
TL;DR: I'm a beginner reno/DIYer. We want underfloor heating, started looking at water underfloor heating, then started realising this might mean lots more decisions. Need help figuring out my plan please.
I've lived in rented places for a long time, followed by a fairly modern condo with my wife, but now we have our first house. The house is solid, but it's old by North American standards; our best guess is that it was built in 1906. It has water radiator heating and no ductwork, and we'd like to keep it that way. We're in Canada, so although sometimes it can get a bit hot in summer we have a window unit for the bedroom those few days when it's too hot to sleep.
I'm currently interviewing contractors to remodel the main bathroom in our house, which is mostly from the seventies, apart from some newer tiles & taps (maybe from the nineties?) With our first kid due to arrive in November, we're thinking that the time to gut & remodel the main bathroom is now, and not next year when we will have a baby and will be getting no sleep etc.
Most of the decisions are fairly easy: tiles, vanity, sink, bathtub, shower head, taps and so on. Where it gets more complicated is that we would like to add underfloor heating.
I know there's two main types: electric and water. We plan to live in the house for a long time, so I'm more or less dismissing electric due to the significantly higher operation cost & lower efficiency. I know electric is generally much easier to install, however. I'm not completely closed to the idea of electric, but it would take a lot to convince me that this is a good idea.
So: water underfloor heating. I understand that the best way to do this is lay PEX and then overpour: great thermal mass. Unfortunately this idea is probably out as I don't think the huge extra weight would do our old semi-detached house any favours. Without overpour, some other solution is needed to get the heat to where it needs to go.
We also need a separate circuit for the underfloor heating, since I believe it's not good to run radiator-temperature water through underfloor heating, despite what a couple of general contractors have told us recently.
At this point the simple (hah!) bathroom reno project planning arted looking more complicated. I took a look at our hot water equipment in the basement, and figured out that it's fairly old. By looking at the serial numbers and some websites, I now know that we have a Kenmore Economizer 6 tank (August 2001), and a Slant Fin Galaxy 125 boiler (around 2005, but Slant Fin serial number system is weird so hard to tell exactly).
Clearly, the tank is near the end of its useful life and the boiler is getting old too. Although we haven't had any issues with either of them yet, I'd rather replace them with a Grade A modern efficient solution... and before they decide to go kaput in the middle of a Canadian winter.
If it isn't obvious already, there's a lot I don't know about plumbing. I'm fairly handy and definitely technically-minded, so I'm not afraid to read through complex stuff if it will help me, but I am trying hard to educate myself before I start spending too much money. Figuring out exactly what my plan should be is the first step.
So the decisions I'm facing include:
- Electric or water underfloor heating? Probably water, but would like to hear any and all ideas.
- Best way to ensure that underfloor heating is efficient? Without overpour, I think the best option may be aluminum plates to direct heat upwards through the tile and towards our toes. I know I don't want to waste lots of money heating the joist space.
[*]Separate water circuit needed for water underfloor heating? I think so, but what's needed to make that happen?
[*]Replace water tank and/or boiler? Probably a bigger question, but if there's any advantage to getting the work done at the same time, I need to consider this now. Should I try to get this work done in one hit? Should this question be in one of the specialised forums for boilers/heaters?
[*]Other stuff that maybe I'm not thinking of...?
I'm pretty sure that there's more info I'll need to post if anyone is going to have a chance of helping me, and I'm happy to do that. Appreciate all advice and thoughts from anyone who has taken the time to read this far. The #1 thing I've learned so far is that there's a lot I don't know, and #2 thing is that doing your research beforehand will [hopefully] save upset and wasted $ down the road.
One last thing: I may not bring much plumbing/reno knowledge to the forum, but I can almost certainly help with computer stuff. I'll try to keep an eye on that forum too.
Edit: please note that as I'm a new user here my replies aren't showing up, although I am responding! It says a Moderator needs to approve them before they will appear. Sorry to those who have taken the time to respond to me - I am grateful!
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