I’ll be building a new home in the mountains of Colorado.  I’m trying to educate myself on ways to heat my new home before I start construction.  My home will be about 2200 sq/ft of finished space over a full unfinished walkout basement.  I plan to finish the basement myself over the next couple years.  The finished space over the basement will consist of two floors, the second at minimum being a loft area, but most likely a couple bedrooms and a bath.  The main floor will have a Great Room, high ceiling.  This seems the perfect candidate for radiant heat.  I have a couple questions:

 

1. Am I correct that this type home would work well with radiant heat?
2. I assume thane the in-floor plumbing would be installed on each floor, basement, main and second floor?
3. Throughout the house I would like to have a mix of stone/tile, hardwood and carpet floors.  Will radiant heat work with this mix?
4. What would be a “ballpark” figure in the added cost of installation be over a forced air system (either electric or propane)?
5. What other issues should I be looking at?

 

Thanks

Where will you be building, and at what elevation?

Radiant Floor works well with any home.
I assume that you mean the tubing? If so, yes and I recommend gypcrete over 'staple-up' for above grade floors.
Sure.
I'd figure $2 per sqft for the installation of the pex(or Kitec). Maybe even less. Add to that the controls and boiler. Will you need A/C? If not(I don't at 8,900') then radiant is the best way to go. Not the cheapest, but the best.
Super Insulate. Use SIPS or ICF's or spray foam. You'll save money for the life of the home.

Good Luck!

Are you able to point the walkout basement to the south? If so, you should investigate the free heat you can get from the sun. Passive solar heating works best with high mass concrete floors and walls like you will have in the basement, and this will provide a great heat base for the rest of your house. High elevation also makes solar heat more accessible because of the higher intensity sunlight. Solar heating of the water for the radiant heat further reduces your heating costs by a lot, and not too high of an initial cost. Solar water heating has by far the fastest payback time of any renewable energy system. I built and lived in one, and am in the process of planning another passive solar heated house in northeast Wyoming at 5000 ft elev. They are great and need not cost anything extra, just put most of the windows on the south side rather than spread out over all four sides. Check it out!... Dave