Question on hose material for hydronic radiant heat

[FatLenny]

Hi guys,
I'm in the process of buying a house, and I really like the radiant heat in the floor in one of the rooms that appears to be an addition. During the inspection today the inspector showed me the tubing used and it looks like some sort of rubber (almost looks like a radiator hose for a car). I am not sure how old the system is, but I'm pretty sure the tubes are embedded in the concrete slab in this particular room that has the radiant heat. Water damage always gives me intense paranoia and I have been having visions of having to jack-hammer through the tile and slab to replace all of the tubing. Does anybody know what this material is and/or whether or not I should be worried. I've tried to attach a file hopefully it works, although I've visited this forum many times, it is my first time posting. Thanks for any info/suggestions!
Lenny

 

[Dana]

EPDM tubing for radiant heating systems has a VERY checkered history (including class action lawsuits, not always successful.)

While some vendors swear they have fixed the problem (Watts/Onix makes that claim), I'm personally a bit reluctant to use it. Vintage matters- stuff from the 1980s & '90s are highly suspect, but there are basic chemistry compatibility issues with other parts of the hydronic system that can go awry, with field reports of unidentified black goo blocking the heat exchangers on some condensing boilers.

 

[Sponsor]

 

[FatLenny]

Thank you for the response Dana! I have been doing a little more research and it turns out the system was installed 07/98. It has well-water (with a good filter setup) for the water. The company that installed it no longer exists (not a good omen haha!). I'm trying to dig up more records.

 

[FatLenny]

Hey everyone,
I was able to go visit the house again and actually identify the tubing, it looks like Heatway Entran Onix, which I see mixed reviews on throughout the web. Looks like some people say it is rock solid, whereas others say that it causes gunk in their boilers. It looks as if Heatway went bankrupt due to the Goodyear Entran II debacle (a separate product from the Onix line), and then Watts purchased them. Watts is advertising 25 year warranty, I doubt that carries over from Heatway years, but since install was in 1998, maybe I got a good 5-10 years before repair? The tubing itself still feels good, no evidence of cracking or dryness that I could see. Anyways, I'm just making suppositions, I have no expertise with this stuff, any comments much appreciated, I know this topic has probably been beat to death already haha!
Thanks!
Lenny

 

[Dana]

What does the 25 year guarantee cover?

The tubing itself? (probably)

The cost of installing the replacement tubing? (probably not)

The cost of repair/replacement of other system components damaged by the tubing? (definitely not!)

So, buying into this house comes with the non-zero risk of major heating system repairs at some point. But that's true with every house- it's a matter of degree, and the actual risk is hard to assess.

 

[FatLenny]

Thanks Dana, definitely agreed! And if Heataway went bankrupt, I doubt Watts would honor any pre-bankruptcy warranties, and like you say it is probably just the tubing, and probably pro-rated at that, leaving the warranty holder with approximately $1.25 recompense haha!

The good news is that this heating system is just for an addition 15' x 20' addition so the rest of the HVAC checks out well and could pick up some of the slack were this system to stop functioning.