Quote:
Originally Posted by fatlazyless
"...am I better to hook up a small Rinnai 6000 btu, non-vented, propane heater down in the crawl space. They sell these at Amerigas-Laconia for just $200, marked down from $400..."
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Your Rinnai heater idea is not "radiant" enough.
In an ideal world, a whole-house radiant heater would be:
1) made out of huge block of concrete directly under living spaces,
2) heated by a recirculating solar water heater,
3) backed up with another energy source for cloudy days.
Since solar water heating is still an uneconomical concept in North America's upper latitudes, that "block" would have to be heated by a conventional energy source. For other ideas on radiant and passive heating, you could visit locations like the
Hanover House.
For such a small heater, your crawl space floor would act like a giant "heat sink" and I doubt you'd notice
any heat difference for the whole house.
Since the heater is on sale (and you already have propane plumbed to the house), you could enclose a portion of the crawl space below a single room to give it a try. I'd suggest enclosing the crawl space area below wherever the living room couch and TV is located.