forced air or radiant heat?

[2becontinued]

which do you like the best?

[sprintmj19]

The only people that like forced air are those that have never lived in a properly done radiant heated home.

[Ed Janowiak]

^ I agree.

Plus with the radiant you can put the tubing on the floor, the walls or the ceiling and it works, I still can't figure out whether the returns go up high or down low on a forced air system to make it work .

You're going to pay for that additional comfort though, I found that using child labor made it more affordable when I installed mine.

[amd]

Forced air is superior; two stage and modulating furnaces can heat as evenly as radiant systems at a lower cost. (Radiant also rules out the use of heatpumps and programmable t-stats)

Why take the VAC out of HVAC?

[md-01-11376]

Geothermal heatpumps generate enough hot water for raidiant systems and are an option with most makes

[DPeoples]

Forced air is superior; two stage and modulating furnaces can heat as evenly as radiant systems at a lower cost. (Radiant also rules out the use of heatpumps and programmable t-stats)

Why take the VAC out of HVAC?

^^Agree....

[beenthere]

Just because a home has radiant heat.
Doen't mean it doesn't have a vent system.

[amd]

Just because a home has radiant heat.
Doen't mean it doesn't have a vent system.

I doubt that many people would be willing to pay for two distrubution systems. (One dedicated to cooling/ventilation)

[beenthere]

Lot of houses with radiant heat have central cooling systems.

You don't really think that radiant heat only goes into homes that don't need cooling do you.

Also, an ERV/HRV is common in homes with radiant heat.

[suzook]

There are mostly baseboard hotwater/seperate ac systems up here in the north. While i agree it would be cheaper for a HA/AC system, alot of people dont like HA. I have HA, and think its fine though.

[snupytcb]

Forced air is superior; two stage and modulating furnaces can heat as evenly as radiant systems at a lower cost. (Radiant also rules out the use of heatpumps and programmable t-stats)

Why take the VAC out of HVAC?

i have installed a few radiant systems that use a hot water coil for second stage. imo the only way to get a close comparison would be to use high velosity. and with this as your second stage you can use a programable t stat. a friend of mine just read an article that said radiant is in-efficiant. i am not sure how but i am looking for it now.