Doing radiant floor heat in floor joists
I've decided that I don't want to build my shop on a slab, but i do want to continue planning on using hydronic radiant floor heat. It seems like the options are to buy prefab panels, like the warmboard or infloor ones, or to just run the tubing paralled to the floor joists, under the subfloor. I was leaning toward the panels until seeing that they average $4-6/sf, now I'm looking at the floor joist option. Anyone who is currently using this method have anything to say about it? I've read that it's much less efficient, but it wouldn't be a big deal if I'm just using a wood fired boiler (wood is cheap in my area).
Thanks,
Andy
Radiant Floor with Wood Burning Fuel Source?
I am no expert but I believe you need to check on the adviseability of doing radiant floor heat with a wood burning boiler.
You will have one heck of a lag between the time you fire up the boiler and start heating up your shop.
You also will have the risk of ice forming in your heating tubes when you don't have the heat on. I know a lot of systems run anti-freeze compounds for radiant heat but don't know the spec's or cost on doing so.