Radiator heat vs. forced air for house renovation

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Not every HVAC guy knows about radiators – in fact, I'd say the minority of them do. Find someone good and ask about the clanking! You shouldn't have to live with that, and you also shouldn't rip out an awesome radiator system because of it.

Look for someplace that has been in business for a long time, and understands old houses… Most old HVAC guys will admit to you that there is no heat as good as radiant hydronic heat, no matter what it is they are mostly selling.

[Anonymous]

I love radiators.

Op, you can do both. Are you putting in central air? The ductwork for that and heat is the same, so just get a cac unit that allows cold AND hot air. Then you can decide which you like best, plus you are catering to people who like forced air heat and radiator heat when you sell.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote: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.

Really? Can you check out your unit and tell us what maker and model it is? Would love to know as I hate cac noise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I love radiators.

Op, you can do both. Are you putting in central air? The ductwork for that and heat is the same, so just get a cac unit that allows cold AND hot air. Then you can decide which you like best, plus you are catering to people who like forced air heat and radiator heat when you sell.

It's not worth putting in ductwork just for central air/cooling. The ductwork takes up a lot of space and it's not optimize for cooling or heat. If OP is going to go with radiant heat, the better choice is high or low velocity cooling systems that take minimal space.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

Not every HVAC guy knows about radiators – in fact, I'd say the minority of them do. Find someone good and ask about the clanking! You shouldn't have to live with that, and you also shouldn't rip out an awesome radiator system because of it.

Look for someplace that has been in business for a long time, and understands old houses… Most old HVAC guys will admit to you that there is no heat as good as radiant hydronic heat, no matter what it is they are mostly selling.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

Not every HVAC guy knows about radiators – in fact, I'd say the minority of them do. Find someone good and ask about the clanking! You shouldn't have to live with that, and you also shouldn't rip out an awesome radiator system because of it.

Look for someplace that has been in business for a long time, and understands old houses… Most old HVAC guys will admit to you that there is no heat as good as radiant hydronic heat, no matter what it is they are mostly selling.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

Not every HVAC guy knows about radiators – in fact, I'd say the minority of them do. Find someone good and ask about the clanking! You shouldn't have to live with that, and you also shouldn't rip out an awesome radiator system because of it.

Look for someplace that has been in business for a long time, and understands old houses… Most old HVAC guys will admit to you that there is no heat as good as radiant hydronic heat, no matter what it is they are mostly selling.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

Our HVAC company has never had a problem servicing our system. They've fixed a few little problems over the years, no problem.

[Anonymous]

Has anyone installed whole house radiant heating?
Is it cost prohibitive? Also, what is the difference
between hot water and steam radiator systems.

[Anonymous]

We have radiator heat AND forced air in our 1938 cape cod. We LOVE the radiator heat. It's cheaper, warmer (fewer pockets of hit and cold), and a much more comfortable heat as well. We use the forced air occasionally when we need to warm the house more quickly after being away, and we use the forced air AC. but we always choose radiator over air on a day to day basis. It's just much more comfortable.

But don't believe anyone on resale value. We chose this house over all others because we loved the details like old fashioned radiator heat plus new AC.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote: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.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

Not every HVAC guy knows about radiators – in fact, I'd say the minority of them do. Find someone good and ask about the clanking! You shouldn't have to live with that, and you also shouldn't rip out an awesome radiator system because of it.

Look for someplace that has been in business for a long time, and understands old houses… Most old HVAC guys will admit to you that there is no heat as good as radiant hydronic heat, no matter what it is they are mostly selling.

Radiator market is dead, it is very costly to maintain or add on especially as technology moves forward with forced air systems. The demand isn't there and you will need to call old timers and expensive specialists. It's like the cobol or mainframe of computers.

Utter bullshit. You just need someone who actually knows HVAC, not some chucklehead who can only cope with new construction.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I love radiators.

Op, you can do both. Are you putting in central air? The ductwork for that and heat is the same, so just get a cac unit that allows cold AND hot air. Then you can decide which you like best, plus you are catering to people who like forced air heat and radiator heat when you sell.

It's not worth putting in ductwork just for central air/cooling. The ductwork takes up a lot of space and it's not optimize for cooling or heat. If OP is going to go with radiant heat, the better choice is high or low velocity cooling systems that take minimal space.

We put in ductwork for central cooling because the low velocity system would have cost $15k more. No regrets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I've heard one major criticism of radiant heat flooring: It's great initially, but if it breaks down they have to rip up the floor/ceiling to get at it for repairs.

We have radiator heat, which I love, so I'm happy to live with window units for AC.

If we ever decided to install central air, I'd have a tough decision as far as switching to forced air heat versus sticking with radiators.

Radiant floor heating is expensive. Additions are a new build and it is most cost effective to do ductwork. Leave the radiators - 2 systems are great and if 1 breaks you at least have heat.

[Anonymous]

Clanking radiator guy here. Can anyone actually recommend someone? Drives me bonko as fuck. Please.

[Anonymous]

We love our radiators (1938 house, few upgrades/updates). We have baseboard heat in two addition rooms but rarely use it because it's expensive to run, and the radiators generally do a good job of warming the entire (small) house.

We have a yearly contract with an HVAC company who inspects all systems twice a year. There's never been a single issue with the radiators in 15-plus years. I remember we "bled" them when we first moved in because the house had been vacant for a while, but that's it.

[Anonymous]

Just moved into a house with radiant heat, first time ever experiencing them. I am now in LOVE with radiators. They house is evenly warm everywhere, they are quiet and our electricity bill is way down compared to our old apartment with forced air. Plus, I donh't have to clean all the dust from the vents any more. Definitely a new convert.