Radiant heat in the fall

jeffk · 02-13-2009, 06:24 PM

Sunbeam Lodge,

I would think that you want the radiant heat to be doing most of the heating and if is is the other system would hardly never come on. Since the radiant heat must first heat the mass of the floor I would think that if it only comes on while the air heating is on it will never actually get the floor heated up enough to be effective. Is the heat on in the house all the time or just during visits? As others have pointed out it could take quite a bit of time to heat the floor from a cold state.

Once the house is heated I guess I would shut off the air system and let the radiant system do the job. Otherwise, even with 2 thermostats you're going to be playing games trying to keep them balanced. If the air thermostat was set too high it would kick on and the warm air temp would shut off the radiant even though the floor wasn't up to the right temp. If you need a quick hit of heat, turn up the both systems and then then turn the air down again after the chill is gone. The radaint will catch up in a while.

02-13-2009, 06:24 PM	#9
jeffk Senior Member Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: Center Harbor Posts: 1,191 Thanks: 210 Thanked 460 Times in 263 Posts	Sunbeam Lodge, I would think that you want the radiant heat to be doing most of the heating and if is is the other system would hardly never come on. Since the radiant heat must first heat the mass of the floor I would think that if it only comes on while the air heating is on it will never actually get the floor heated up enough to be effective. Is the heat on in the house all the time or just during visits? As others have pointed out it could take quite a bit of time to heat the floor from a cold state. Once the house is heated I guess I would shut off the air system and let the radiant system do the job. Otherwise, even with 2 thermostats you're going to be playing games trying to keep them balanced. If the air thermostat was set too high it would kick on and the warm air temp would shut off the radiant even though the floor wasn't up to the right temp. If you need a quick hit of heat, turn up the both systems and then then turn the air down again after the chill is gone. The radaint will catch up in a while.