the end of in-floor hydronic heating

Hey Fish! It is old news! We re-did the mechanicals in a commercial building that was originally done like that. It was built in 1961! Greg

Gad.. can you imagine the cold, clammy floors in the summer time.. and the mold problems you'd probably have...

No thanks..

Sure does present a question or 3 ....

Of course it's been done for decades and decades in computer rooms, but in residential ???? Computer rooms have high velocity and low humidity ( or problems ! ) !

To do that in residential - and control humidity - you need a sufficiently cold coil, of course. Thus, cold SA. Which is going to run through steel and concrete ? Which are then going to try to approach SA temp ? Under the rug, which is exposed to high humidity room air ?????

And in this part :

"How does it compare in cost? The cost of AIRFLOOR is the same as a quality overhead duct system. In some buildings the first cost may be even less if the savings from eliminating drop ceilings or soffits are included. Compared to a hot water floor radiant system, AIRFLOOR will cost less because a hot water radiant system must include an overhead duct system to provide ventilation"

Hmmm... no cost savings they say in the first sentence,and then in the next they state something that simply isn't true. Not a good sales pitch, IMO.

And this :

"6) Inaudible ventilation - since conditioning air is distributed under the floor, mechanical noises, vibrations and air flow sounds are reduced to a level below awareness"

Ummm..... bullshit. Assuming proper throw, register noise is unaffected either way. Noise from the mechanical closet is unaffected either way.

"3) Reduced energy costs - AIRFLOOR will save 20 to 25% on energy costs due to the efficiency of its heat-transfer and heat-storage characteristics."

Not buying that one AT ALL !

Put that thing over a wood subfloor above a damp crawlspace and you would have mold and rot out the Ying-Yang (Ying-Yang, thats a technical term). It would rain in the crawlspace! It would probably rain in a basement also! It might work OK on a slab, but I wouldn't try it. Looks like they will fold when the lawsuits start.

Stretch