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 PATHChat
| SUBJECT: |
RE: Warmboard radiant heat floor
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| FROM: |
DEAN YOUNGKEIT
guruofhousing@netscape.net
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| DATE: |
3/13/1999 8:32:00 PM |
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The comfort of radiant heat is not worth the
disadvantages: 1. Stale, unfiltered air
2. Electricity is required to pump the
heating media.
3. Repair ability if it develops leaks.
The best alternative to fan forced air is gravity
forced air. Both have adequate circulation for air
filtering if you have a two story house. Gravity forced
cooling (swamp cooler without fan or heat pump) can use
the same vertical trunk line.
Putting a warm air outlet under a window is bad
technology because the fan forced system then fights
the natural circulation, a waste of energy. Cold air
near the window will be replaced by warm air if the
outlet is in the bottom part of a central wall.
Historical installers are not in your best interest
because they want to increase their duct work sales.
If you want heat reliability during power failure
without a backup wood stove or fireplace, use two
gravity fed fanless wall furnaces facing each other at
the bottom of a 2 ft square X 18 ft tall closet with
cold air returns and filter at the or in the basement
floor.
Dean Youngkeit
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Partnership for Advancing
Technology in Housing (PATH)
451 7th Street, SW, Rm. 8134
Washington, DC 20410-0001
Telephone: 202 708-4370 Fax: 202 708-5873
E-mail: pathnet@pathnet.org |
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