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ICF, Geothermal, and Radiant Heating...

Last Post 18 Oct 2008 07:39 PM by PanelCrafters. 5 Replies.

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renangle

Basic Member

Posts:304

17 Oct 2008 03:08 PM
I have a client who is looking to break ground on his house near the first of the year. The house is very interesting in that it is incorporating many green factors. The owner is going for ICF, Geothermal, and Radiant Flooring in the basement floor. I spoke to one person who thought that doing radiant heat in an ICF basement floor could get tough to monitor due to the high thermal mass and how tight the house will be. Also, the Geothermal would be used for the radiant floor, heat/cool the house, and heat the pool. The house will be about 7500-8000 sqft. Has anyone incorporated all of these things before? I am simply looking out for the owners best interest and want to make sure that their system is ideally suited for what he is looking to do. Lil help? renangle

renangle

Basic Member

Posts:304

17 Oct 2008 05:10 PM
Just to clarify...is the current thought process is this the best way to go or perhaps over kill. Would it be wiser to do radiant heat in the floor with a tankless propane heater and a very efficient HVAC for the rest of the house and save money by not doing geothermal. Use very energy efficient windows, etc. and streamline the best technology for the best money? Technology is constantly changing, I hoping that someone can give me their informed opinion. Thanks

PanelCrafters User is Offline

Advanced Member

Posts:680

17 Oct 2008 07:08 PM
Ren, Look up Benito Loyola(benitoloyola.com). He has done exactly what your customer is proposing(ICF, Geo & Radiant). I'm sure that he could answer your questions. Please note that his pad is in Florida, so you may have to temper his opinions if your project is in a much colder area.

....jc<br>If you're not building with OSB SIPS(or ICF's), why are you building?

DesignGreen User is Offline

New Member

Posts:9

17 Oct 2008 09:59 PM
If the house was smaller (3,500 sf or less) then the geothermal heatpump would be ideal for radiant heat. But since the house is the size it is (is it multi-stories?) then a gas fired boiler is probably a better choice. Let me know if this helps...I have other options that may be of help.

wes

Advanced Member

Posts:810

18 Oct 2008 07:37 AM
I have advocated geothermal for several years now. However, from a practical point of view, I am beginning to doubt the wisdom of that advocacy. With the advances in air to air heat pumps, with SEER ratings in the high teens, and the maintenance problems with the geothermal units, and the additional installation costs for the geothermal units, I am at this time not pushing the geothermal units, instead, suggesting the highest SEER rated air-to-air units. Until the local geothermal suppliers work out the bugs of maintenance and installation, and become more price competative, I would recommend the extra budget dollars be put into other energy efficient products for ICF/SIPS contructed homes.

Wes Shelby<br>Design Systems Group<br>Murray KY<br>[email protected]

PanelCrafters User is Offline

Advanced Member

Posts:680

18 Oct 2008 07:39 PM
Posted By wes on 10/18/2008 7:37 AM I have advocated geothermal for several years now. However, from a practical point of view, I am beginning to doubt the wisdom of that advocacy....Until the local geothermal suppliers work out the bugs of maintenance and installation, and become more price competative, I would recommend the extra budget dollars be put into other energy efficient products for ICF/SIPS contructed homes. Wes, I agree 100%. With a quality ICF or SIP structure, your Heat Loss/Gain will already be low. And, the ROI of Geo becomes harder to justify. Another consideration is the cost of electricity at the site, they don't run for free.

....jc<br>If you're not building with OSB SIPS(or ICF's), why are you building?