Greetings All,
In a nutshell, need to repair/replace heating system in a large volume (high-ceilinged), relatively small (<3000 sq. ft.) weekend house in "upstate" (not-too-far) New York. Currently system is all original (19 years old) oil-fired boiler with 3(!!!) Lennox airhandlers in the attics and a baseboard (Slantfin) system for a downstairs living space. There are four total zones currently. Everything is old, and I was hoping to move to radiant underfloor heat, as most of the main level (about 2,000 sq. ft.) is easily accessible from downstairs to do a stapleup retrofit. The living space downstairs needs to have to ceilings pulled down (about 800 sq. ft.) in order to do all of the mainfloor, but I don't mind and the sheetrocking was not that good and it will provide a chance to redo some bad wiring that was done by the original builder/owner. The baseboard heating works fine for that area, so we'll leave it alone.
The plan was to abandon the AHUs in the attics and do without AC, as the previous owners had never hooked up a condenser system to the AHUs - they were used solely to blow air through the unused cooling coils and then through an external heating coil that was fabricated onto the end of each unit. Well, after spending one very hot, sticky summer in the house, we want AC!!! This means I need to retain the ductwork and blowers in order to have chilled dry air, but it is so frighteningly inefficient for heating ($500 a month oil bills this winter), that I cannot continue this way, even if I did get a new high-efficiency boiler. BTW, gas is not available in this area, only propane. This is what has lead me to the underfloor heating. Other than the expense/hassle/effort of putting it in, I have never heard a bad thing about it, and mostly only superlatives. Also, it seems pretty easy to divide the heating areas into many zones, allowing us to not heat several rooms we do not use unless there are guests up for the weekend. This has implications for thermostats and controllers, but I'll post another question in the HA area...
I am getting quotes right now to have the tubing put in and possibly a new boiler (although the old one is still chugging along at 19...), with an option to add condensers to the 3 AHUs in the attic later, so as to provide cooling for next year. I am prepared to bite the bullet on this, but then I ran across some articles on Geothermal heat exchangers, essentially heat pumps that use consistent ground temperatures to provide both heat and cooling in one unit.
The main benefit to this (besides not having to have a boiler and an oil tank in my basement) is that these systems would keep the airhandlers in the attics and save me the expense/hassle/effort of having plastic tubing put in (and drilling many, many holes in my floor joists). While I am sold on the idea of gentle, non-drying, clean radiant heat, the idea of reusing the existing equipment, at a much greater efficiency, without having to put in three separate condenser units in the yard, is very appealing...
Has anyone put in (or know anyone who has) a geothermal unit? Would anyone please comment on keeping the forced air system for heating (just fix what is broken) versus putting the radiant tubing in?
Thank you all for your consideration...
In a nutshell, need to repair/replace heating system in a large volume (high-ceilinged), relatively small (<3000 sq. ft.) weekend house in "upstate" (not-too-far) New York. Currently system is all original (19 years old) oil-fired boiler with 3(!!!) Lennox airhandlers in the attics and a baseboard (Slantfin) system for a downstairs living space. There are four total zones currently. Everything is old, and I was hoping to move to radiant underfloor heat, as most of the main level (about 2,000 sq. ft.) is easily accessible from downstairs to do a stapleup retrofit. The living space downstairs needs to have to ceilings pulled down (about 800 sq. ft.) in order to do all of the mainfloor, but I don't mind and the sheetrocking was not that good and it will provide a chance to redo some bad wiring that was done by the original builder/owner. The baseboard heating works fine for that area, so we'll leave it alone.
The plan was to abandon the AHUs in the attics and do without AC, as the previous owners had never hooked up a condenser system to the AHUs - they were used solely to blow air through the unused cooling coils and then through an external heating coil that was fabricated onto the end of each unit. Well, after spending one very hot, sticky summer in the house, we want AC!!! This means I need to retain the ductwork and blowers in order to have chilled dry air, but it is so frighteningly inefficient for heating ($500 a month oil bills this winter), that I cannot continue this way, even if I did get a new high-efficiency boiler. BTW, gas is not available in this area, only propane. This is what has lead me to the underfloor heating. Other than the expense/hassle/effort of putting it in, I have never heard a bad thing about it, and mostly only superlatives. Also, it seems pretty easy to divide the heating areas into many zones, allowing us to not heat several rooms we do not use unless there are guests up for the weekend. This has implications for thermostats and controllers, but I'll post another question in the HA area...
I am getting quotes right now to have the tubing put in and possibly a new boiler (although the old one is still chugging along at 19...), with an option to add condensers to the 3 AHUs in the attic later, so as to provide cooling for next year. I am prepared to bite the bullet on this, but then I ran across some articles on Geothermal heat exchangers, essentially heat pumps that use consistent ground temperatures to provide both heat and cooling in one unit.
The main benefit to this (besides not having to have a boiler and an oil tank in my basement) is that these systems would keep the airhandlers in the attics and save me the expense/hassle/effort of having plastic tubing put in (and drilling many, many holes in my floor joists). While I am sold on the idea of gentle, non-drying, clean radiant heat, the idea of reusing the existing equipment, at a much greater efficiency, without having to put in three separate condenser units in the yard, is very appealing...
Has anyone put in (or know anyone who has) a geothermal unit? Would anyone please comment on keeping the forced air system for heating (just fix what is broken) versus putting the radiant tubing in?
Thank you all for your consideration...