if you maintain a suitable humidity level for comfort and preventing mold problems, wood floor should be fine. the problem with wood floors is the oscillation between too humid and too dry. If you install it dry or humid and it stays that way, it's usually fine, but the goal for everyone is a nice, moderate humidity level.

Your right about base board electric vs hydronidc radiant,the topic was radiant, I was speaking to
a broader point, there is a marked difference in the feel of a electric heat in general, broader concept. Perhaps not so pronounced in the electric mat.
However is there an argument here; try to qualify the electric field effect one may experience by having a mesh of low level current every 9 inches.
(whoa boys what is he talking now.... fruit juice or what)
So as implied I prefer my hydronic pipe radiant every 9 as to the electric.
Personal choice and opinion. no science here.
Dan

Hi,

for the humidity level, i think i will have something dedicated to this. right now in my house, I don't have anythink that control the humidity and it's not so funny at all. In winter it's really too dry and in winter really to humid.

I will try to put something in place to control it

regards

Chicou

Hi,

My Idea of heating sources is really hydronic. Since I pay for the boiler, manifold ect..

The point is do I need to put concrete on top of it. I think yes to have a better thermic resistivity What are the other alternative. Does have one ?

regards

Jonathan

We have ours in concrete. 1.5 ". We engineered for the extra weight and we acid stained it. Wonderful floors, easy to clean and heaven to step on to on a really cold morning.

We even had the floor layout start in the entry area where are winter boots are. Dries our shoes all winter and putting on toasty boots at 20 below is really a treat.

standard concrete or gypcrete ?

Chicou

Though it's moot in this thread, if you use Zmesh, you don't have the added cost of "engineering for the extra weight" and still have the same effect. And, the controls mount on a wall.

Posted By warmsmeallup on 27 Jun 2009 06:24 AM

Posted By jmagill on 06/26/2009 4:54 PM
We have ours in concrete. 1.5 ". We engineered for the extra weight and we acid stained it.

Though it's moot in this thread, if you use Zmesh, you don't have the added cost of "engineering for the extra weight" and still have the same effect. And, the controls mount on a wall.

Do you have an idea of what could be the per sq feet price ?

regards

chicou

It's a custom fit system. I'll either need covered square footage or a layout to scale.

Jonathan, I am in Cantley (près de Gatineau), email me if you like since I went trough this too and might be able to share what i found... pietruATgmail.com

chicou,
Have you tried getting another quote on gypcrete as here for 1800 sq ft it would run around 4000.00 if it is prepped. I personally like hydronics as the tube will be there forever mol and it is very flexible as far as heat source. Electric will be faster and probably cheaper. Eric

electric is not usually cheaper as far as I can tell.

Electric boilers are certainly cheaper to buy, but can be 4 times more expensive to operate. I start with a heat load analysis and next find the cost of fuel per therm. My own electric company has off-peak rates that rival natural gas (as long as they have off-peak to sell).

Hi all,

The project is now started. I have decided to go with an underfloor staple up system on the 1 floor and second floor. On the basement, it's in floor like any other installation. I use an electric boiler (Thermolec I think) because I don't have access to natural gaz. As for the mazout (oil)  In Quebec, we have a 0.90$ / liter and goes up to 1.05 to 1.10$ in the winter. I'd pay 0.06$/KwH.

So this is whyI decided to go with the electric boiler. This is cheaper (1/3) of the other system. I hope to not have too much problem with this setup.

chicou

No oil or gas are not always cheaper
oil @ 1$ per L =2.71 per therm x 85% eff = 3.19 per usable therm
electric @ .06$ =1.78 per therm x 100% = 1.78 per usable therm
LP @ 1.70$ =1.85 per therm x 92% = 2.00 per usable therm
Now I'm not saying this is true everywhere, actually the opposite in that you must take local conditions into consideration.
Now i would take the reliability and low maintenance of an electric boiler any day if I lived where Chicou does.
actually I would strongly consider geo with radiant but that's another story...Eric

FWIW, my post was not about electric boilers. when someone mentions "preferring hydronics", I think the choice is generally between hydronic or mats. mats are not usually cheaper than hydronic except for small areas.

electric boilers are of course cheaper than gas boilers. cost of operation is pretty easy to figure out based on local energy rates, and as all of us wetheads know, the beauty of hydronics is it can change heat sources anytime.

If you have natural gas, it is a no-brainer - I don't care where you live. Geo not-withstanding.

If you can't afford heavy plate, light plates will due. If you can't afford light plates, "ultra-fin" minimum. Staple-up is no longer considered in informed circles.

Of course, I disagree, having seen the math on geo systems in areas with natural gas. On large heat loads, and if you're doing cooling as well, Geo can be very cost effective. Small buildings and heat only, less so.

Suspended tube has applications. Weak output floor systems including low load situations and floor warming apps.