RE: [GBlist] Heating backup and radiant floor heating

["Ralph Bicknese" <ralph.bicknese@christnerinc.com>]

Sacie:

Radiant heating is probably the most comfortable form of heating.  It is
also very effective if that radiant heat comes from  a broad expanse of
floor because it provides heat closer to where it is needed most.  Heat
delivered in that location offers the advantage of working with nature
because heat rises naturally.  This helps reduce stratification problems
associated with delivering the heat at another location such as from ceiling
level.

The system you described sounds like it has many advantages.  I would like
to remind readers radiant heat can be provided by a number of means
including simple direct gain passive solar whereby sunlight enters a room
through a window and strikes and heats thermal mass on a floor (such as tile
or stone on a mortar bed, concrete, etc).

I appreciate your desire and efforts to reduce the need to burn fossil fuels
to heat your house but I question whether using a wood stove to provide a
significant quantity of heat is the right one.  Perhaps if used only very
occasionally damage will be minimized. I myself have been faced with the
moral dilemma of cutting a perfectly good "forest of trees" to burn and
never did install the wood stove I intended too 12 years ago.  I love the
ambiance a fire provides and I love the smell of wood smoke.  But the mere
fact that I smell the wood smoke of my neighbors reminds me they are not
providing heat very efficiently and are creating air pollution.  Even
efficient stoves still add more pollution than I care to.  I do not remember
how efficient burning wood for heat is or how polluting it is compared to
receiving heat from power provided from a coal fired power plant or from
burning natural or propane gas. But regardless of how equal the pollution
and energy content is, replacing one poor heating source with another may
not be the right answer.

Perhaps a better solution is to save the money you would have spent on a
wood stove and put it toward a wind generator or photovoltaic system.

Just "fuel" for thought.

Cheers,
Ralph Bicknese



-----Original Message-----
From: Sacie H Lambertson [mailto:dlambert@grasshoppernet.com]
Sent: Wednesday, January 23, 2002 2:31 PM
To: greenbuilding@crest.org
Subject: Re: [GBlist] Heating backup and radiant floor heating

As usual, in the most recent edition of EBN (Environmental Building News)
there is an excellent lead article is about radiant floor heating (RFH);
the jist of the article is a discussion on the pros and cons of this type
of heating system and where its use is uneconomical or does not make sense.
 In general, Alex Wilson suggests that tight, well insulated (super
insulated) residences should not need this type of system for a variety of
reasons, the high cost being a major factor.

However he did not mention the DIY system sold by Radiantec in Vermont; we
bought from them and saved ourselves a LOT of money by installing the tubes
and manifolds ourselves.  And while Alex's argument is persuasive, I'm in
the camp that this type of heat is the best one could have.  (We're using
it for back-up as well, since we have a forest of trees on our property to
use in a good stove).
                        Sacie Lambertson

______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________


______________________________________________________________________
This greenbuilding dialogue is sponsored by REPP/CREST, creator of
Solstice http://www.crest.org, and BuildingGreen, Inc., publisher of
Environmental Building News and GreenSpec http://www.BuildingGreen.com
______________________________________________________________________