NY Metro Area whole house renovation - Need expert opinion

[dliu123]

Thank you in advance to everyone that will offer their expert insight and opinion.

Background. Bought a fully detached brick 2 story home (legal 2 family) that is about 25 wide X 50 deep in the NYC metro area. Renovation work require internal demolition of all partition, etc.. In addition, will raise current attic to accommodate 4 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms. 3rd floor will be frame with stucco finishes.

Home layout:
Walk in - 2 car garage with a 1 bedroom, 1 Living room, kitchen and bath.
2nd Floor - 1 kitchen, 1 bathroom, and living room.
3rd Floor - 4 bedroom, 2 bathroom
craw attic.

Questions:
1. I plan to do spray foam insulation in the entire house to get good insulation as well as some sound proofing. Is spray foam a good option? I seen some online review about bad odor from poor insulation jobs. I'm hoping that is not the norm.

2. Hydronic radiant floor. I really want the entire house to be radiant floors but feel it might be a bit overkill for walk in.
Option 1 = reuse existing cast iron radiator for 1st floor and radiant floor for 2nd and 3rd.
Option 2 = radiant floors only for 2nd floor and use radiator for 1st and 3rd Floor.
Option 3 = radiant floors for all 3 floors.

I plan to use tile flooring for all 3 floors as it is more durable than wood. I'm seeing more and more of the combi boilers but not sure about reliability as high tech has more tendency to break easier. I need direct vent systems to eliminate the need for a chimney.

Any suggestion or advice is greatly appreciated. If any one has particular brand / model / setup similar, it would be of great help.

Thanks
Dan

 

[Jadnashua]

It's an easier setup if you use radiant floors everywhere...then, you only need one outlet temperature for the boiler. Radiant flooring tends to work best without much of any setback since you're limited on how hot you can make the water, the recovery rate is slower than what you can do with a radiator. You really want someone well versed in radiant to design the system for you, but you could do a lot of the work yourself, if that's the plan. To do this right, you will need to know on a room-by-room basis, the heat load required. When doing radiant floor, you typically want your boiler temp to be fairly low, and while you can do that with a conventional boiler, you need to mix it to keep the return temperature high enough so you don't damage the boiler. Without a normal flue, direct vent tends to push you more towards a mod-con.

Will each floor be a separate controller (thermostat)? Making any one zone too small makes it harder for the boiler to achieve longevity and economy. Long burns with the burner turned down is both more efficient and more comfortable than lots of ups and downs.