Heating choices....Help?

[InTooDeep]

We are renovating Circa 1906 home........enough said yet? We have ALL bare stud walls. Oil-fired boiler was replaced 5 years ago. I keep thinking that we should go with some under-floor heat instead of putting ALL the old CI radiators back in. Yes, most of the old radiators have been dragged from the house (1st and 2nd floor). They would be sandblasted and fitted with new valves before re-installation. My question is.........with all these walls and floors exposed (old pine floors) could we, and would it be better to run the pex under the upstairs floor for heat instead of dragging those ole radiators back up the stairs? Also, the 1st floor has a crawl-space so the pex could also be run there. This old place is about 4,200 sq feet and on the Bay so we are subject to brutal winter winds. What would be the proper way to install, insulate and regulate under-floor heat?

[Rich]

Installation is pretty simple.. typically stapled to underside of subfloor with metal heat shields to direct the heat up. It will run into several zone manifolds where it gets controlled between the thermostat and modulating valves back at the boilers. There's a little more to it than that - but basicly that's it.

[el tigre]

For a wealth of detail about what you want to do, I suggest you spend some time at http://www.radiantdirect.com/ We used them when we built our new house a couple years ago and have been very satisfied with them. We found there is a lot of misleading information out there from plumbers wanting to sell you a high-priced job. We talked with 3 plumbers who "specialized" in radiant heat systems and got a different story from each as to the best way to proceed.

This site will give you some very valuable information on exactly how to insulate the rim joists and how to plan your tubing runs for maximum efficiency.

[InTooDeep]

Thanks for the link, I will check them out.

Linda