Hi all,

I have browsed this web site for the last 2 3 week and find useful information. I'm frech canadian, so be bear with me with terms. We will build our house that have an average of

1 basement of  1000SF
1 main floor of 1000 SF
1 second floor of 800 SF
1 garage of 1100 SF

This house will be construct in quebec in Ste-Sophie city. (north of montreal).


Right now I'm fixed on the basement and garage. Since both are slab, it's easy for me to figure what need to be done.
Now I have to figure what I will do for the main and the second floor.

I found that using gypcrete is one of the solution, but When I got the price of it, 6000$ CND It's just not a solution for me.
The second thing I think is light weith ciment. I have no Idea right now of what will be the price for this.
I have seen some aluminium plates but i'm not sure this is the way to go too.

I'm a little bit lost at that point. I have not found any compagnie near montreal that have experience in residential design. We have some in comercial.

The second part of the questionnement., is the boiler. I think going electrical since in Quebec we pay around 0.006$ KW/h.

I'm still waiting for my plan to get done. I have to take a dicision if I build my house with SIP of stick frame. I think i will post in the SIP forum to have some help on this.  I'm pretty sure this will have an impact on the power of the boiler ?

I'll apprciate your help.

To résume:
I need to find a distributor that can help me to design my heating floor system.

If anybody need more info, i will provide it if i can find the answer.

Regards

Jonathan

At .06 per kilwatt hr, have you looked into a low voltage electric radiant installation? It's much easier to install, requires no maintenance and, if you have any DIY experience, you can install it yourself.

Hi,

I have though of installinig this. I think this is 2.5$ per sf. I need to level it with auto nivelin ciment too. I think this should be an option too. I take this into account.

Chicou

Chicou,
We can design a hydronic system, we would need floor plans via PDF or auto cad. We then create a loop plan and zone plan.
Electric boilers are straight forward and can be supplied pre assembled to your site.
I think Hydronic is much preferable than an electric mat. 4,000 sq feet of resistance heat would be a bit dry and uncomfortable to me.
We will be glad to work with you and ship regularly to Canada.
Dan
[email protected]

DRY!!!??  The only way that low voltage is "drier" than hydronics is the way it can take a nail through it without leaking water all over your home! I think if you drive a nail through the pex, you would definitly be a wetter system!  Holy s---, I laughed at that one.

Chicou:
You are probably probably pricing line voltage electric elements. They are cheaper than low voltage. But there is a big difference in the element design, installation and warranty. Look up Zmesh on the net. You'll see what I mean.

Heating with low voltage Zmesh element requires no mortar, cement or concrete of any kind. It staples down to a plywood substrate and you can put any type of flooring you want directly over the top. Nail solid hardwood, no damage. Carpet and padding, no problem! Tile with a mortar, also no problem. Use it as floor warming or primary heating. Primary will require a Heat Loss Calc but it does it with ease.

Since there is no way to introduce moisture (other than a leak, of course), all radiant heating systems require the use of a humidification system.
 
Do your homework. It's worth it.

I have been told similar by a local installer. That if I use hydronic for full house it will be very dry. Won't the humidity be controlled by the HRV?

if your house is well insulated, the problem is typically too much humidity, not too little. judiciously running an ERV air quality system should prevent moisture problems.

if you have a leaky house, you may need humidification in winter time, depending on where you live.

I'm not sure how radiant makes it more "dry". forced air is the driest stuff out there. just easier to put a humidifier in, perhaps.

oh boy,
I stepped in it again,
lets just say I prefer hydronic to electric mat heat. I realize that this is a personal choice, but I like hydronic. It has a feal (to me) of comfort that is diffrent in some way to other forms of heat. The same applies to hydroinc forced air vs gas furnace or electric strip heat in forced air. It presents a different texture of heat.
The resistance heat solutions are popular as well, no problem there in fact on the right house when PV comes more and more affordable with grid tye you will have a compelling solution. But the versatility of a boiler, the ability to adapt to solar h2O, heat pump air or geothermal in the future, water based heat is it.
Remember there is always the electric boiler!!!!
Good Luck,
Dan

Heating systems neither add or subtract humidity from the conditioned space. None are dryer or more humid than another. (The water has to come-from/go-to somewhere, eh? Heating systems aren't sourcing or removing water unless there's something seriously wrong! )

The exception would be unintentional humidity changes due to induced outside air infiltration from pressures generated by air handlers. (How much humidity is gained or lost then becomes dependent on how leaky the house & ducts are, and the outdoor humidity level.)

Rob has it rigtht (and warmsallup has it wrong)- tight houses retain moisture from occupants/showers/cooking/etc that must be removed to keep the conditioned space RH at healthy/comfortable levels. The notion that "... all radiant heating systems require the use of a humidification system" is unfounded. The physics of water vapor are not changed by the source of the heat. Keeping the place at a higher temperature lowers the RH (without adding or removing water- it's a vapor-pressure thing), lowering the temps raises the RH. If anything, since comfort is possible at lower temps with radiant, radiant heated houses are likely to have a higher , not lower RH (since they'll be running slightly lower average temps.)

I vote for hydronic. That way you can use a fuel souce you want to heat the water.( Electric, gas or solar)

Our radiant system requires dehumidification( tight home)

Ask your designer about 1" of regular concrete with hardibacker or similar over it (to avoid the cracks).

I haven't noticed the "texture of the heat" in different systems.

Do you have any solid hardwood flooring?

What bearing does that have to do with the OP's original post?

OK,
heat texture....... like wine, maybe its red but there is good red and ....not good.
The most dramatic example in electric vs hydronic heat comes to mind in an small office building we once had.
It was originally set up with electric base board heat. cheep effective heat. We swapped it out after a year with a boiler and panel radiators. There is a huge difference in the quality of the feeling of the heat between a panel raadiator and an electric base board. I could call it texture for lack of a better word. Both produced heat but the difference in feel are huge. Boons farm vs Good Washington Cabernet.... (plug for those Washington wines)
Same is true when you heat with a hydronic air handler vs a strip heat electric blower unit. There is a difference, both spit heat but each has its own feel.
Esoteric? maybe but I think not.
Dan

you are not comparing radiant vs radiant. you are comparing radiant radiators vs convective baseboard. that was the difference.

Hi,

This is really intersting description.

I keep that in my favorite !

Chicou

Righ now I don't plan using hardwood flooring. I though using floating floor. (I don't know the righ terms in english)

Chicou

I will

Chicou

I should have said it more better! :) Solid hardwoods have a moisture content that must be maintained. Too dry and they will split/crack. Too humid and they'll buckle. That's the only reason I asked.