IR vs In-Floor heating ?

7 years ago

last modified: 7 years ago

Follow-up to: https://www.gardenweb.com/discussions/5588306/hvac-for-garage-shop-studio

This is for a detached building with a garage+entry+bath on the main level and a woodshop/photostudio + office/storage on the 2nd level. The 2nd level will be all white oak floors.

I think we've settled on mini-splits for the AC with a single compressor and 3 cassettes (one in office/storage and 2 in the peaks of the main shop/studio space). There seems agreement from many that this should also adequately cool the main level entry & bath. I'm also considering just running the linesets though and seeing how well it'd work with just open windows in the summer.

For heat I think it'd then be either IR or In-Floor.

From what I understand (please correct me if I'm wrong):

IR Benefits:

- Less cost to install

- Heats up faster

- Similar cost to run as in-floor?

- No gypecrete so floor will be more forgiving for aging knees.

IR Drawbacks:

- Uneven. Can be hot closer to unit and colder away from it.

- This would require electric baseboard for heat in UL Office/Storage, ML Entry & NL Bath which could be expensive to run.

In-Floor Benefits:

- Even heat throughout space

- Less costly to operate?

In-Floor Drawbacks:

- Takes longer to heat the space so will need to remember to turn it up early (I'm guessing I'll keep it around 40-50°f and then warm up to 64-72°f (higher temps required for photo shoots).

- Gypcrete will create a less forgiving or harder shop floor which might be harder on aging knees?

- Higher up-front cost of install.

Thanks,

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Comments (4)

Bruce in Northern Virginia
7 years ago
You need to provide some additional info.

Are you talking about in-floor hydronic, or an electric heat grid in the floor? Hydronic is a great system, but much more expensive than a few infrared heaters. A new shop with in-floor hydronic and a high efficiency boiler or tankless water heater is not a simple system. There must also be significant insulation under the slab to keep the heat radiating up instead of down.

Even high quality in-floor hydronic heats quite slowly, and most folks keep it within a few degrees of normal working temperature. Heating up from 50 degrees to 72 degrees is a slow process for a large slab of concrete.

Bruce
opaone
Original Author
7 years ago
last modified: 7 years ago
System would be hydronic.

By significant insulation what are you thinking? There is a garage below about 70% of the shop/studio that will likely be kept around 36°f or possibly colder.

How long would you guesstimate for the space to go from 50°f to 70°f?

Thanks,
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Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
7 years ago
IR is expensive to run, better for small spaces (baths). 220V systems are the better way to go with these. Think about heating the whole space with toaster elements.

Large spaces more effective with hydronic but this should be in process at groundbreaking.

Both add lots of money.

Mini splits are OK for a single space or multiples if there is no other viable solution, but central HVAC systems still rule... most cost effective.
opaone thanked Jeffrey R. Grenz, General Contractor
opaone
Original Author
7 years ago
How best to handle wood dust w/ a central HVAC system? My understanding is that mini-split cassettes do not need filters and will function well in dusty environments but that central HVAC systems do need a filter (and extremely frequent changing) as otherwise they will clog from wood dust. This is somewhat surprising as I'd think both would use a similar cooling coil/fin.

Thanks,