Hydronic floor heating

[Brian Diehl]

I don't get the "constant maintenance" part either.  My unit has worked marvelously!  Love that Webasto!

[Dreamscape]

I saw Craig's and Brian's systems. If I had it to do over, that's the way to go. What a great way to stay warm.


I'm going to do something similar using our Proheat X45, only using that to feed some heat exchangers. So I guess it would be similar. 

Paul

[JackConrad]

Maybe I have not used my ProHeat enough since installing it last fall. Only maintenence so far has been fillling the fuel tank and setting the thermostat.  Jack

[rcbishop]

...and if one has carpet over hydronic...well, the floor gets warm, but it takes a long time for "upstairs" to  warm up.  We have it in our home, embedded in concrete  with pad and carpet on top .....doubt seriously we would go thru the expense again IF carpeted. Under the tiled areas, it is fine but takes a few days (2-3)  to get up to speed, as Nick indicated. Very high propane bills when it is used, and we keep both  thermostats at 64 degrees............left it "off" this past winter.  Have had it for 10 years.

BTDT, FWIW 
RCB

[sweeney153]

...and if one has carpet over hydronic...well, the floor gets warm, but it takes a long time for "upstairs" to  warm up.  We have it in our home, embedded in concrete  with pad and carpet on top .....doubt seriously we would go thru the expense again IF carpeted. Under the tiled areas, it is fine but takes a few days (2-3)  to get up to speed, as Nick indicated. Very high propane bills when it is used, and we keep both  thermostats at 64 degrees............left it "off" this past winter.  Have had it for 10 years.

BTDT, FWIW 
RCB

I put it in my house when i built it 17 years ago and it's by far the best I have ever experienced. It's comfortable, even heat and very economical. I have tile, wood and carpet. If the floor gets hot the water is too hot. I am not that familiar with the bus systems thou I am planning to install it. The only problem I see is there my not be enough insulation for it to work correctly.

[Stan]

The only problem I see is there my not be enough insulation for it to work correctly.

That hits the nail squarely on the head. For any heating system to work well in a bus, you have to reduce heat loss. You need less glass and more insulation.

[hiwaycallin]

Gumpy ... nice work and thanks for posting all the details. It seems pretty obvious that this type of system is best installed early in the conversion process. What about retrofitting an existing conversion? Obviously the floor needs to be redone, but do the cabinets, etc. need to come out too?

[luvrbus]

I don't what the problem with floor heat would be BlueBird had with the Primus hydronic system a mat that laid uder the floor about as thick as the NewHeat system and it worked great the ones I was around

[Lee Bradley]

Gumpy,
Thanks for sharing the details on putting in hydronic floor heating. I would never have thought of putting it in the walls and the aluminum sheeting and hard board saved me a bunch of do over. Just one question; I don't see any air bleeds. Is that a problem?

[gumpy]

Gumpy,
Thanks for sharing the details on putting in hydronic floor heating. I would never have thought of putting it in the walls and the aluminum sheeting and hard board saved me a bunch of do over. Just one question; I don't see any air bleeds. Is that a problem?

Lee,

No air bleeds necessary. The pumps are on the supply side, not the return side, so the lines are pressurized. The suction and return are below the level of the coolant in the heater. The pumps push all the air out and it returns to the reservoir, where it is expelled through the pressure cap. Once all the air is out, it can't get back in the lines unless the level of the coolant drops below the suction or return lines. The lines also won't drain back to the reservoir, and there's no head pressure on the pumps. I did put some stub outs on the manifolds when I built them, to catch any air that might pass by them. I was going to add needle valves to them to bleed off the air, but haven't found a need for them.

I did put some bleeds in the engine compartment on the engine preheat lines, but only need them when filling the lines for the first time or when I've drained the engine for some reason.

craig