Home heating nerds - what does "hydronic heat" mean to you? (1 Viewer)

[Otis]

House I'm looking at has this. According to the broker, it's "state of the art," and the kind of heating system they put in all the nice homes these days. She doesn't seem to know a damn thing about it. I've done some reading online and it's not totally clear to me. Anyone know wtf this means? TIA

 

[bostonfred]

Your boiler heats hot water and pumps it through plastic pipes under the floor (or in some cases, behind the walls, or in a regular baseboard). The popular way is to heat the floor because it feels nice. It doesn't have to get hot, though. Just warm enough to make the air warm up around it.

Its kind of like the old school metal radiators, but instead of one little metal thing in the corner, its distributed all around the room. Because its got more surface area, it doesn't have to get as hot. It works better than blowing hot air, because blowing air means a filter, it means dust, it means losing heat in the ducts, and it means a physical fan that's pushing the air. Lots of moving parts that can break, not as energy efficient, and when the hot air comes out of the duct on one side of the room, its warmer than the air on the other side of the room, so you get hot and cold pockets.

A warm floor also conducts heat upwards to the room, and to the next floor, too, so you can set the temperature lower and get a nice even distribution of heat without the dry nosebleedy air you see with other kinds of heating. Which is nice for your baby and toddler because you might not need a humidifer for them as often. And if you have dust allergies in the family, its a lot nicer.

If you're looking at a home that already has it, its priced in to the home price, but it might be worth it. If you're looking to put it into an existing home, the costs can be a lot higher for obvious reasons.

 

[Otis]

Your boiler heats hot water and pumps it through plastic pipes under the floor (or in some cases, behind the walls, or in a regular baseboard). The popular way is to heat the floor because it feels nice. It doesn't have to get hot, though. Just warm enough to make the air warm up around it.

Its kind of like the old school metal radiators, but instead of one little metal thing in the corner, its distributed all around the room. Because its got more surface area, it doesn't have to get as hot. It works better than blowing hot air, because blowing air means a filter, it means dust, it means losing heat in the ducts, and it means a physical fan that's pushing the air. Lots of moving parts that can break, not as energy efficient, and when the hot air comes out of the duct on one side of the room, its warmer than the air on the other side of the room, so you get hot and cold pockets.

A warm floor also conducts heat upwards to the room, and to the next floor, too, so you can set the temperature lower and get a nice even distribution of heat without the dry nosebleedy air you see with other kinds of heating. Which is nice for your baby and toddler because you might not need a humidifer for them as often. And if you have dust allergies in the family, its a lot nicer.

If you're looking at a home that already has it, its priced in to the home price, but it might be worth it. If you're looking to put it into an existing home, the costs can be a lot higher for obvious reasons.

This is what I thought too, and it sounds awesome. But the broker showing us the house is clueless. She thinks it is better than normal forced air because it doesn't dry the air the same way. But it's not forced air at all. She asked if there is "radiant heat," and the sellers told her there is not. But I'm assuming these plastic tubes are run all throughout the floors in the house and that's what heats it. But the "no" on radiant heat confused me, because this sounds a lot like radiant heat.

I didn't see radiators or baseboard heating. They completely gutted the entire house down to the studs last year and put in all the latest and greatest. So, I assume this is the "in the floors" stuff, which sounds great.

Thanks.

 

[The General]

House I'm looking at has this. According to the broker, it's "state of the art," and the kind of heating system they put in all the nice homes these days. She doesn't seem to know a damn thing about it. I've done some reading online and it's not totally clear to me. Anyone know wtf this means? TIA

Had this system in the floor of my last place. Had it underneath a couple of different types of flooring - a stone tile and hardwood, both felt great to walk on in bare feet. No problems with it.

 

[Otis]

House I'm looking at has this. According to the broker, it's "state of the art," and the kind of heating system they put in all the nice homes these days. She doesn't seem to know a damn thing about it. I've done some reading online and it's not totally clear to me. Anyone know wtf this means? TIA

Had this system in the floor of my last place. Had it underneath a couple of different types of flooring - a stone tile and hardwood, both felt great to walk on in bare feet. No problems with it.

Thx. Sounds pretty sweet.

 

[Sand]

Meaning = a bull#### marketeer word.

 

[The Duff Man]

Hydronic heat is a lot more efficient.

Put the heat into water and move that around the house with a pump versus put the heat directly into the air and then try to control where it goes.

SOMETHING in the house will likely be radiating heat, either small rads (not the old cast iron ones you are thinking of) or under the floor.

There are studies that show it is healthier because you dont blow dust, pollen or spores around, like forced air does. Dont know how valid that is.

More info here

http://www.beautifulheat.com/