Radiant heating radiators in century homes

Radiant heating radiators in century homes

Sometimes the way they used to do things is still the best way to do it. That goes for how they use to heat homes 100 years ago.

I’m not talking about fireplaces; I’m talking about hot water radiators that were placed throughout the home. The modern equivalent of this is still radiators placed throughout the older home, the efficiency, style and the effectiveness of them has increased dramatically.

The way a hot water radiator works is that there is a hot water flash boiler placed in the home, the water is fed to the radiate through water lines. Then the radiator heats up and radiates heat out into the room. It is extremely efficient way to heat a home and it doesn’t involve a lot of destruction to an old home. The radiators can be made to look like the original ones that were used to heat the home or they can be made to look more modern and stylish. The choice is yours.

If you aren’t worried about air movement and air conditioning then hot water heating through radiators could be just what you want for your older home.

The modern equivalent of this in new homes is in-floor radiant heating which instead of using radiators to produce the heat they heat the entire floor below you. The science is basically the same the only difference is that the radiant in-floor gives even heat throughout the entire space.

So when looking to renovate your century home think about heating it with the radiators that used to heat it when it was originally built. The finished product might be just what you wanted.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.

Can I install radiant heating in my older home?

Q:

I’m renovating an older home, can I install radiant heating on the first and second floors of the home?

A:

Yes you can install radiant in-floor heating on the first and second floors of your home when you are renovating it. There are many things that you will have to do before you can do this though, to do this you should be doing a very large renovation to the home. Radiant heating is basically water lines that are placed on top of your sub-floor and then are covered in a “gypcrete” which is a type of concrete.

Usually the gypcrete is about 1.5 inches thick. There is a brief list of the things that you will have to do to the home so that you can install radiant in-floor heating in to it;

• You will have to completely remove the existing flooring regardless if it’s wood, tile or carpet from anywhere the radiant heat is going to be placed.

• You are going to have to make sure that the floor joist are strong enough to take the extra weight that comes with installing a inch and a half of gypcrete over the heat lines.

• You will have to remove all the trim that is near the floor. Baseboards and door trim will have to be removed to get a smooth finish.

• You will have to remove all interior doors that will be in the way. When they are reinstalled they will either have to be cut down by 1.5 inches or the whole framing of the door will have to be moved up.

• You will have to remove drywall in certain areas of the home to install manifolds in the walls and also to install the thermostats that run the system.

• There will have to be holes made in walls and wall plates so that the piping can come from the basement (usually where the boiler is placed) to feed the upper floors with heat.

• Any hole in the sub-floor from anything like old wiring or old plumbing that was moved must be plugged or the gypcrete will leak through.

• You will have to install wood barriers at certain area’s like at the top of the stairs to create an edge where the gypcrete will stop.

The installation of the piping and the gypcrete should be installed by qualified professionals that are experienced in this field of work, if this isn’t done right it can cost you a lot of money and wasted time.

After the in-floor piping has been installed and the gypcrete as well on top of it then you will be able to install your flooring and all your trim. You will probably have to repaint the walls as well because gypcreting can be a messy business and your walls will be a little dirty from workers touching it or leaning on it while they are doing the installation.

Rob Abbott
Village Builders Inc.