Radiator heat vs. forced air for house renovation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Radiator heat is undersirable and the radiators or baseboards are a major negative on resale issue. If you want hot moist air I would install a natural gas furnace and a steam humidifier http://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/whole-house-products/humidifiers/model-800

Completely wrong. If it was actually affordable the best heat is steam followed by radiant; the reason everyone has forced hot air is because of A/C and the need for ducts. Depending upon the size of the house, once you get over about 4000 sq. ft. you go to a hydro air system because it is not efficient to heat air over long runs. Then when folks say - my nose and throat are aill dried out, they throw a humidifier on the system, usually without an ability to control the fan of the air handler with a humidstat so that the only time the humidifier works is when you are calling for heat. It's not a very good way to heat a house.

Find a good HVAC guy not looking to sell you - either that or hopefully your architect or builder is on the ball. I would keep the radiator based heat in the existing spaces. For new if you want forced hot air ok, but don't rip out the radiator heat. And having a boil is a good thing - have no use for furnaces.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Radiator heat is undersirable and the radiators or baseboards are a major negative on resale issue. If you want hot moist air I would install a natural gas furnace and a steam humidifier http://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/whole-house-products/humidifiers/model-800

Completely wrong. If it was actually affordable the best heat is steam followed by radiant; the reason everyone has forced hot air is because of A/C and the need for ducts. Depending upon the size of the house, once you get over about 4000 sq. ft. you go to a hydro air system because it is not efficient to heat air over long runs. Then when folks say - my nose and throat are aill dried out, they throw a humidifier on the system, usually without an ability to control the fan of the air handler with a humidstat so that the only time the humidifier works is when you are calling for heat. It's not a very good way to heat a house.

Find a good HVAC guy not looking to sell you - either that or hopefully your architect or builder is on the ball. I would keep the radiator based heat in the existing spaces. For new if you want forced hot air ok, but don't rip out the radiator heat. And having a boil is a good thing - have no use for furnaces.

Our humidifier can run independent of the furnace

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Radiator heat is undersirable and the radiators or baseboards are a major negative on resale issue. If you want hot moist air I would install a natural gas furnace and a steam humidifier http://www.aprilaire.com/whole-house-products/whole-house-products/humidifiers/model-800

Such BS. Or ignorance. Many people - myself included - love radiators and see it s a major POSITIVE when looking for houses. It is a much better heat than forced air. You can also get beautiful (traditional or modern) radiators, or even have under floor heating using radiant heat.

+1 I miss our house with radiators!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We skipped over homes that had radiators as did most people we know.in fact removing them is a top todo after buying an older home.

Thanks for leaving the homes with good heating for the rest of us.

[Anonymous]

I have both and I vote for radiator heat.

We are building an addition an had to choose heating for the addition...It was too late to put in radiating floors (we didn't calculate the load right and you need strong floors for that)...and my husband chose radiators...At first, I didn't want these BUT now I think they are so much better. yes, you have to have the radiators on the walls but they take up so much less space than the big vents and ducting for forced air heat. There is less dust. the house seems warmer over there.

I can't wait to renovate our main house and get rid of the unhealthy dusty yucky vents and forced air heat.

[Anonymous]

Also, with forced air...the parts of the house closer to the furnace are too warm while the far parts of the house are too cold...It drives me crazy...The heat is more evenly spread out throughout the house with the radiators.

[Anonymous]

PPS - with forced air, yes, the heat comes on quickly but it is noisy and blasts air...and it gets almost too hot...then it shuts off and house gets cold...off and on; off and on; I hate it.

with radiators, the heat takes longer to warm up the house (if you turned it off say on a vacation) but once it is warm, it stays warm and the temperature is more even..Not hot and cold; just warm..

Also it is much less dry over in the new addition..We live in a dry area and the forced air heat dries out our skin in the winter big time.

[Anonymous]

I call bull shit on all the radiator lovers here

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:PPS - with forced air, yes, the heat comes on quickly but it is noisy and blasts air...and it gets almost too hot...then it shuts off and house gets cold...off and on; off and on; I hate it.

with radiators, the heat takes longer to warm up the house (if you turned it off say on a vacation) but once it is warm, it stays warm and the temperature is more even..Not hot and cold; just warm..

Also it is much less dry over in the new addition..We live in a dry area and the forced air heat dries out our skin in the winter big time.

We have our thermostat calibrated to one degree set point so the temperature is consistent.never experienced these issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I call bull shit on all the radiator lovers here

Yes, you found us out. We go around trolling threads to get a rise out of you.

[Anonymous]

Another radiator lover just trying too get a rise out of 17:41!

Seriously, I grew up in a house with radiators, have owned condos and houses with radiators and forced air and radiators are simply better.

The forced air systems I have had have all had humidifiers attached but still - the forced air heat contributes to dry skin and hair and it's just inconsistent and more expensive.

I love radiators. They don't take up much space - you can get radiant baseboards - and you can also get decorative covers for the radiators that are quite charming depending on your style.

Currently living with forced air and missing radiant heat!

[Anonymous]

Radiators here. I like them. Better than forced air, but I have two massive gripes:

My pipes clank when the heat goes on and off - it's the expansion of the pipe rubbing somewhere against a joist. We don't know where but it's a huge pain in the ass when it wakes you up at 3am.

Floor space. In an old house it really limits the way you can configure a room.

We are doing an addition and currently debating whether to keep or toss. It seems cost ineffective to keep them, I hate to lose them, but it may make more sense - and I won't miss the clanking.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Radiator heaters ROCK. No toxins being blown about, they are sturdy, reliable etc. etc. I would never replace them if they were in my house. And the PP who mentioned the cozy factor is so right. I even used mine to soften butter when baking. People just want to make more money by replacing good working things.

+1. I've had both forced air and radiators. After experiencing radiators, I would never go back to forced air. Whoever says they are a negative is crazy. They are efficient, clean, quiet, and cozy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I call bull shit on all the radiator lovers here

You are crazy. Once you've had radiant heat you'll never go back.

[Anonymous]

Thanks everyone. I really appreciate all the helpful replies especially the informative posts.
I'm going to look into keeping the radiators in the old part of the house.
I'm not sure that it will be cost effective but I will try to keep them.
I wish we could install new ones in the addition or go with radiant heat but I have a feeling it will be forced air to keep costs down.
Oh well, at least it will end up being an informed decision rather than just blindly going with what the builder suggests.

By the way, we have forced air now and it is completely silent. Some people mentioned that it is noisy when it kicks on but we never hear a sound.