My Current Huge Project With Radiant In Floor Heating

I've been slowly sorting out the new library, putting up shelves, clearing the floor of books.. moving clocks.. Setting up the new location for the internet modem and wireless router. And instaling my Christmas present: a new Laser color printer/all in one.. It is really amazing how good the color laser photo prints are.. almost as good as my high-end ink jet photo printer.. who's ink drys out every two months.. to the tune of $95 for new ink cartridges..

So this new 'laser color' printer should work till the laser pigments run out.. it's a powder, not an ink..

I'm amazed at the number of books I've read over the years.. both for entertainment and for technical enlightenment.

Greg L

big project - these are the kind that are never done

LsFarm wrote:I'm amazed at the number of books I've read over the years.. both for entertainment and for technical enlightenment.
Greg L

enlightenment books? -- like the kind that teaches you to fly a rock like a glider and land on water
Hope that never happens to you.

The 'enlightenment' I was refering to was when the dim light bulb over my head flashes bright with a new understanding of something.. like P/S plumbing of a hydronic system, or proper sizing of a circulator.. You know: Technical Enlightenment ..

As for the enlightenment about flying.. there is an old saw from flight instructors:

Instructor to student pilot: So, do you know know why the wing provides lift ?
Student: Sure, it's Bernoulii's Law. The faster the air flow the less pressure on the surface..
Instructor: nope,
Student: ??? really ?? what does provide the lift..
Instructor: Magic, pure magic.. Now don't piss off the Magic, and lets go flying..



Flying lesson: pull back on stick or wheel, the houses get smaller.. push forward on the stick or wheel, the houses get larger..

Hey, I don't want to talk about flying.. I'm off work for about a week.. LOL..

Greg L

View out the 9' patio door during a heavy snow/wind event:
I sure enjoy my new family room..

Greg L

LsFarm wrote:
I sure enjoy my new family room..

Greg L

Do you just lay on the heated floor on a mat like a big ole hound dog ???

Rick

Who says radiant isn't the way to go? Here are my two "hounds" enjoying the feel of the floor directly over the EFM.

I knew there was inside stuff The last book I read on technical enlightenment was "The Idiots Guide To Volkswagon Repair" back in the 60's, very deep for the old farm guy

Ok Greg, many others including myself have been following your updates on you house project and are very impressed. You have done a beautiful job with a lot of well thought out improvments.

NOW FOR THE MILLION DOLLAR QUESTION. How much of an improvement have you noticed in the amount of coal used thus far? Every time I read an update, I think to myself "He's got to be using considerably less coal this year!!"

Inquiring minds want to know!! lol

Yeah - I want to know how good that closed-cell foam really is!

Wow, absolutely beautful job there Gregg! It took me quite awhile to read through this very thorough documentary. I learned a ton of information about materials that will some day be used in the addition that never happens in our 2 bed 2 bath house with 2.5 kids & a dog! My poor wife.

You came to mind recently when I was thinking about coal usage and your old drafty house. I was thinking, "Why doesn't he seal up the house to make his coal supply last longer? It will be cheaper in the long run." [insert Stings commentary here ]

Apparently you were all over that and then some!!!

So with this brutal winter that we had, how is your coal usage coming? I seem to recall you used to average 250lbs per day in the winter with the old drafty house.

I guess it's time for an update on the project. [Inquiring minds want to know !] I haven't done much additional work since Christmas, the rush to get the house ready for the family get-togethers and parties was enough work for a while.. I've installed a few more shelves in the upstairs 'library' and moved some stuff around.. Hey, I even moved my exercise equipement around.. and I'm been slowly working on increasing my time on the eliptical.. my knees are not protesting too much.

Now, I'm heating about 40% more cubic feet of living space, maybe only 20% more floor space. But I'm keeping the main level of the new section at 69 or 70*. I don't even bother turning on the floor heat for the upstairs library. With the excellent insulation in the room, it stays 55-60 with only what heat migrates up there, it doesn't lose much to the outdoors.. this Library is ~21x32x 7.5' It has four exterior windows, Anderson brand.
I'm not heating the basement floor at all yet.. the only heat the basement gets is residual radiant from the main floor above, and any heat shed from the P/S plumbing for the upstairs floor. Getting the floor pex hooked into it's distribution manifold is near the top of my 'list', but out of sight becomes out of mind real easy. The basement stays a very comfortable ~60* with the warm floor above. The basement walls are insulated on the outside from the heat loss to the frozen ground. Once I start circulating hot water in the basement slab, I'll finish installing insulation between the floor joists to keep the mail level floor from shedding much heat into the basement.. The laser thermometer says the bottom of the 3/4 plywood under the 'suspended slab' is only 65*, so the plywood is providing some insulation, the 1.5" suspended slab with the Slate floor on it is usually at 72-74*, measured on the main floor. The hot water circulates only about once an hour when it's sub-zero, or once every hour or two when 20*.. every 3 hours when in the 30's and 40's. There isn't much heat loss in the place.

I did split the big main hotwater baseboard zone in the old part of the house. I split off my master bedroom, and made it it's own zone.. I keep that room at 68*, and the master bathroom with heated floor and some hidden baseboard is around 72*.. perfect for me..
The remaining part of the house is set at 55*, I've only heard the hot water circulate in that main loop a few times.. I think it's just 'coasting' along from being adjacent to the other heated portions of the house.. Most of this old section has new siding 10 years ago, with 1" foam and Tyvek housewrap over the old siding.. and it has 90% older double pane windows that are fairly good quality.. there are a few leaks around the door onto the front porch, but the old section is fairly tight now.

As for the coal use, I don't have specific numbers. I don't count the amount of buckets of coal I transfer from the walkin coal building into the hopper each week, But I'll try to ramble on a bit and see if it distills down to some numbers.. My hopper for the AA260 holds ~1500#. I used to make sure it was heaping full before I went away on a 5-day trip. Usually when I came back, it was nearly empty. Of course this varied a lot with wind and temperatures. So before I used roughly ~250# per day in cold and windy weather. Sometimes near 300# per day. I was heating the shop floor at the same time to ~50*. So this was also a fairly large BTU consumer. [and it still is]

Now with the big changes in the heating of the house, I don't bother heaping the coal in the hopper, I pretty much just fill it level, This I think is about 1250#, it's about 5-6 buckets less than heaping it full.
When I get back from a 5 day trip, there is still enough coal for a few days in the hopper, usually two days. I will sometimes just add a few buckets to make sure I have enough untill I get around to the 30 minute job of filling the hopper for the next week. I've still got to get my auger system rigged up, this would shorten this job by half.
I still heat the shop floor, it's 2400sqft, I keep it at ~50-55*, I've been doing a fair amount of truck transmission work since January, [I have to pay for the new house somehow ] .

So I think I'm down to maybe 150-200# per day on average. I know I've gained at least a day or two from the 'full hopper measure'. But there are so many variables, the weather, the amount of shop heat used, the quality of the coal used etc.. When I've tried to use buckets to count and measure, it's roughly 4-6 buckets, and they weigh around 30-35#. I don't fill them to the very top, 'cause I tend to spill some when filling the hopper if they are completely full.

I'm sorry I can't be more specific, but I'm not real particular about keeping track of the coal use.. I just bring in a 22-24 ton load, I use around half of it [maybe less this year] and the remainder stays and adds to the stored supply of coal. I use it as needed..
I'll get another 24 tons this year, and I'll try to get my auger setup installed, this will streamline my weekly loading chore quite a bit. I want to keep a supply for several year's worth of heat on the property.

I may buy some more spray foam and tighten up the shop. It can stand some addtional insulation and sealing of the exterior walls.. We'll see. I have a very busy summer with car shows. several truck transmissions and a new [old] car to get ready for car shows. And of course I need to find time and ambition for the above projects around my three+ 5-day flights per month.. I know: I need to retire !! Nope, not enough $$ in the bank yet.

Any questions: ask away, I'll try to answer.

As I've been reading the forum and typing, it's 14* outside, and I've been up, nursing a cup of coffee for about 2 hours, and the floor heat hasn't run once yet.. Gotta love this type of heating.. and I'm sitting in my recliner with nothing but shorts and a Tee-shirt on, The thermostat [air temp] is set 69*.

Greg L

Shorts & a T-shirt?? I'll bet that's a sight we could all do without in the morning.

If the weather there has been as cold as it has been here this year, I would say your probably doing pretty good.

Thanks Fred, I won't post a photo of the occupied recliner.

Cecil: yes it's been a cold winter, and tons of snow.. I'm glad it's almost over. I'm sure the coal use is down, but while it certainly isn't half or anything significantly less than before, I'm heating so much more space that I regularly occupy, this is the new section with the good insulation and floor heat, and NOT heating the unoccupied older section of the house, except for my Master bed/bath.. well the comparrisons are hard to make.. but the most important thing is that I'm REALLY comfortable here in the new place..

Now, if that Raccoon shows his masked muzzle.. I'm ready..
Greg L

Because this thread has not been bumped since prior to me finding this fantastic forum Im bumping for anyone who joined in last couple years like me

I vote for a Home Renovation/Housing/Construction/Land section be made (If Greg did not become such a good friend I never would have known or found this thread )