Building new house. Need advice

[hornadylnl]

I will be building a new house in the very near future. It will be a 2500 sq ft 2 story house with a 1700 sq ft basement. The great room is a full open 2 story room. I'm going to build it using ICF walls and possibly doing the floor for the first floor using ICF as well. I've been planning on putting in a geo thermal forced air/ central air system but the more I read about radiant floor heating, the more I'm sold on it. I will be using either tile or hardwood for the entire house.

If I put radiant floor heating in it, the first floor will be simple do being concrete. They can run the lines before it is poored. I still want central air so I will need ductwork. I understand the principle of heating from the floor up as heat rises. Would the opposite be true for running air conditioning? Could I install the air handler/blower unit upstairs and run the ductwork for the first floor rooms in the ceiling? I'm thinking that might save a lot of work putting in ductwork in the concrete floor.

Is a geo thermal heat pump the most efficient/cheapest way to heat with radiant floors? I'm thinking geo would be the best for running my central air.
Also, this house will be in 18 acres of heavy woods so I should have an endless supply of wood. I'm thinking of the possibility of installing an outdoor wood burner but I don't want that to be the primary or only source of heat. I'm 32 years old now and know I won't want to sling wood around the rest of my life.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

[Cold Feet]

Radiant heating in a slab floor will give you trouble. Slab floors have so much thermal mass that they'll take hours--or days--to heat up and hours--or days--to cool down. Forget about night setbacks and be prepared to use open windows and/or air conditioning for thermal control in shoulder seasons.

Can you design in a crawl space under the first floor?



Ceiling ducts for AC will be OK. If possible, put a drop ceiling 12" below the structural ceiling. This will make ducting runs much easier and should also simplify installation and routing of all other mechanical systems.

[hornadylnl]

The house will have a full basement. I'm just considering using ICF form to pour a slab floor instead of using traditional floor joists.
http://www.litedeck.com/

For the duct work, I was thinking I could run it between the floor joists upstairs, depending on their orientation.

[paul42]

Radiant heat in the floors sounds nice, but in a very well insulated house, it does not work the way you might expect.

With a very well insulated house, less heat is needed. To maintain a comfortable air temperature, the radiant floor temperature is going to be barely above room temperature. For example, to maintain 76 degrees in the house, the radiant floor might only need to be 78 degrees - and that is still going to feel quite cold to your feet.

Another issue is that radiant heating does not provide a solution for bringing in fresh air - which is also needed on a well insulated and well sealed house.

[teddy bear]

Where is this home???? What are you concerns for IAQ? Regards TB

[paul42]

Is a geo thermal heat pump the most efficient/cheapest way to heat with radiant floors? I'm thinking geo would be the best for running my central air.
Also, this house will be in 18 acres of heavy woods so I should have an endless supply of wood. I'm thinking of the possibility of installing an outdoor wood burner but I don't want that to be the primary or only source of heat. I'm 32 years old now and know I won't want to sling wood around the rest of my life.

Any suggestions? Thanks in advance.

Examine the geo thermal choice carefully. If your house is very well built and insulated, you might end up spending thousands of dollars on a geo thermal system to save $10 to $20 a month on your heating and air conditioning bills.

I really like the idea of geo thermal, but it was just not cost effective in my case. For my house, the savings over a 13 SEER conventional air to air heat pump would only be around $10 a month.

[hornadylnl]

This house will be in central Indiana. I have a butt load of sinus prolbems but I don't think iaq will make much difference.

[teddy bear]

This house will be in central Indiana. I have a butt load of sinus prolbems but I don't think iaq will make much difference.

Not sure how to respond to "IAQ will not make much difference".
No fresh air, air filters quality, and not concerned about humidity control in the home, right. I will save my time. Regards TB