BUYING HOME WITH RADIANT HEAT > GreenBuildingTalk - Green Building Forums on Insulating Concrete Forms (ICF), Structural Insulated Panels (SIP), Radiant Heating, Geothermal Heat Pumps, Solar Power

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Posts:2321

03/06/2004 11:18 PM
I am looking at a 50 year old home with radiant heat. How can I tell if this is in good working order. Some of the rooms haved a thick carpet on them, is this advisable? What questions should I ask? I'm a widow, and don't want to get in over my head on this. Thanks

alternety

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Posts:84

03/07/2004 1:57 PM
Is it all in-floor or some baseboard. Is the in-floor in concrete? Big difference. If it is embedded in concrete it would have been copper tube. I beleive there are some issues with copper burried in concrete corroding over time. I suggest getting a contractor specializing in boilers and radiant heating to check the system. A 50 year old boiler should be inspected very carefully and a system pressure test would probably be useful. At the very least, the boiler will not be very efficient, and there is a good chance it is way oversized. Carpets are not optimal. You should ask to see a year or more of heating fuel bills. If the system has slab leaks, the system will be getting make up water. This has oxygen. It may cause corrosion of the boiler and pumps.

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03/07/2004 7:28 PM
Yes it is all in conrete. Thank you for your advise. I will do what you suggest.

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