Steve2278
New Member
Hey guys,
I have a question I'm hoping someone could answer. I'm building a new home and I'm breaking ground in 3 weeks. The house is going to be a 4" slab on grade on top of 3" of foam board with radiant heat; the walls are going to be insulated concrete forms and I'm going to have 4" of spray foam insulation in the attic.
Its going to be a very tightly insulated structure, but I'm wondering if its going to be too tight?...and I'm not sure if I need to make additional provisions for additional ventilation? My building plans were just approved by the town last Thursday and nobody mentioned anything about additional ventilation so I assume that the bathroom exhaust fans, plumbing vents, inevitable window leaks, dryer vent, range vent and vent for propane heater will provide adequate ventilation...or do I need to consider something else?
The second part of my question is that I really like the idea of the under slab radiant heat, but I don't have anything yet in terms of air conditioning. Again, I'd prefer to stay away duct work if I can, which leaves me with ductless mini systems for my air conditioning. However my understanding is I would need to buy several of these units, not to mention they really can be zoned to cool each and every room. Though I may be wrong?
The house is a 2,100 sq. ft. ranch and according to the engineer (who ran my original load calculations back when I was considering a heat pump) said I would need a 3-ton unit for heating and a 1.5 ton unit for cooling.
That being said my cooling needs shouldn't be that great. Therefore I'm wondering if I could just run a baseboard system for my air conditioning powered by a chiller and a pump? That way I could have a baseboard register in everyroom. And if I have adequate ventilation due to inevitable air leakage I wouldn't need to install ductwork, therefore this system should be relatively easy to install and would be my best option.
I'm really on a time crunch here so any advice you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Steve
I have a question I'm hoping someone could answer. I'm building a new home and I'm breaking ground in 3 weeks. The house is going to be a 4" slab on grade on top of 3" of foam board with radiant heat; the walls are going to be insulated concrete forms and I'm going to have 4" of spray foam insulation in the attic.
Its going to be a very tightly insulated structure, but I'm wondering if its going to be too tight?...and I'm not sure if I need to make additional provisions for additional ventilation? My building plans were just approved by the town last Thursday and nobody mentioned anything about additional ventilation so I assume that the bathroom exhaust fans, plumbing vents, inevitable window leaks, dryer vent, range vent and vent for propane heater will provide adequate ventilation...or do I need to consider something else?
The second part of my question is that I really like the idea of the under slab radiant heat, but I don't have anything yet in terms of air conditioning. Again, I'd prefer to stay away duct work if I can, which leaves me with ductless mini systems for my air conditioning. However my understanding is I would need to buy several of these units, not to mention they really can be zoned to cool each and every room. Though I may be wrong?
The house is a 2,100 sq. ft. ranch and according to the engineer (who ran my original load calculations back when I was considering a heat pump) said I would need a 3-ton unit for heating and a 1.5 ton unit for cooling.
That being said my cooling needs shouldn't be that great. Therefore I'm wondering if I could just run a baseboard system for my air conditioning powered by a chiller and a pump? That way I could have a baseboard register in everyroom. And if I have adequate ventilation due to inevitable air leakage I wouldn't need to install ductwork, therefore this system should be relatively easy to install and would be my best option.
I'm really on a time crunch here so any advice you guys could offer would be greatly appreciated!!!
Thanks,
Steve