Radiant Floor Heating - Q's on an existing system...

We are looking at purchasing a new home, it consists on a 2800sqft shop with 1000sqft attached residential. The entire slab is heated with radiant floor heating. I have zero knowledge with it and was wondering if anyone with more experience could take a look at some photos and tell me if it appears to be done properly. We do plan to have a home inspection done, but from past experience they generally just check to make sure everything is in working order.

 

Not sure on the heating system, but that’s a fantastic looking garage/home combo. Very neat.

 

@OZ-T

 

@Kolunatic

 

Very nice but we don’t have it much down here. Barely gets below freezing.

 

Looks like a pretty straight forward system , is it a gas fired boiler ?

 

Looks like gas condensing boiler. Don’t know if the condensation line is shared with something above or if it’s the t&p. Multiple zones,pop off and expansion tank. Looks like someone knew what they were doing. It’s not found down here often.

 

Common system for heating up here , locally we usually use an electric boiler / electric hot water tank or an air to water heat pump as the heat source

 

We have a similar set-up at work and it is a temperamental bitch. We finally found a guy who knows/learned the system and can keep it running for a month or so at a time. If he keeps with it, I believe he will get it to run for a full winter. We'll see.

Something to consider with this system is, if you ever want to mount fixtures to the floor (vice pedestal, above ground automotive hoist, etc.) that require drilling into the slab, you risk rupturing the system.

I really dig the house/shop combo! That is sweet!

 

what is the issue with your system that requires that much interaction ? Its a pretty simple set up , thermostat calls for heat , zone valve opens , pump pumps heated fluid through the pipes till thermostat is satisfied , at that point pump shuts off , zone valve closes

 

Had some time to do some reading last night and I beginning to feel pretty confident in the setup. Now that I understand what goes into a system it does look like they knew what they were doing. My concern was it might be some hackjob diy.

I'm not sure why the condensation line is tee'd, not familiar with the abbreviation "t&p" though.

Thanks for the comments guys.

 

Temperature/pressure relief

 

Is the heating system turned on yet?

I would like to see the boiler close up.

 

Why is the water heater plumbed to the heating system? Is there a back flow preventer? The domestic hot water must be separated from the heating system completely for most code enforced areas.

Where does the condensate dump to? The condensate on a condensing boiler needs to go to a neutralizer system. Is there one present?

 

So the condensation line is possibly shared with the the vent for the relief valve? It does run the same path as the intake and exhaust.

 

House is 10 years old, so I'm assuming the system has been operating for about 10 years. Here's the boiler with the cover off.

It doesn't appear that the hot water tank is actually tied into the system, it looks to me like the city water line ties into the heating system. If I'm not mistaken, circled is the backflow preventer before the pressure reducing valve.

Condensation line looks to tie into the drain which runs to the bathroom on the adjoining wall.

Again, I appreciate the comments. I'm learning lots!

 

I don't know enough to speak to it, but I can say our guy has had issues with the boiler controls. He claims that the controls are convoluted and much more complex than they need to be.

 

Those are good boilers, they allow a much cooler return water temp than most other boilers.

You are aware that radiant floor heat is all or nothing? They need to stay on all the time or off. It is painful to heat a shop that you are not using constantly.

My system is left at 50*F and I supplement the shop temp with a wood burning fireplace.

 

OP , do you know if the underslab and slab edges were fully insulated ? That makes a huge difference for retaining the heat within the thermal mass of the concrete slab

 

Many municipal facilities here in Maine have heated floors. The concrete holds a great deal of heat, before the slab is poured they insulate the ground and foundation. The thing you have circled is a backflow preventer it looks to be tied into the water supply they don't want antifreeze in the public water system.