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To heat a kitchen I plan on running some fin tube between the floor joist under the kitchen hardwood flooring. The plank flooring is 3/4″ thick, random withs of 6,4,& 2 inch boards. I believe their is tar paper under the boards and this will be piped it the main boiler that heat the house, running at approx. 160-180 degrees.
b QUESTION: Will I have any problem with this set-up???
ie; boards warping, smell of tar paper, etc…..
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There is a lot of info on the net. Five companies are listed w/ adds in FHB. I've been doing the same research but w/ elec. radiant. I'm putting down pergo and they say temp of radiant cannot exceed 84 degress F. Don't know what is recommended for real hardwood, but I'd be sure their may be a possibility of using a mixing valve to reduce water temp to a safe level for your floor. Happy hunting. Orbitmfg. / Appliedradiant / stadlerviega all are .com
*My first guess is that you'd develop inconsistent winter-time gaps between the boards be/c the boards would shrink different amounts. The size of the gaps would depend partly on the indoor humidity. It could present a cleaning nuisance, with dropped foodstuffs getting in the cracks and not coming out. Don't know if it'd be an objectionable amount.
*Tom:I believe the "temp of radiant" being 84 may be misleading. They probably mean the surface temp of their floor. That means the water temp will be more like 90+ depending on the R-value above the radiant. The 85 degree mark doesn't have as much to do with the wood as it does with your skin temperature and human comfort.Nervous nellies always trying to avoid lawsuits... and now doing it with only part of the information.Floors frequently go above 85 degrees near the south-facing patio door, don't they?Barry
*What do you mean by "fin tube?"FWIW, I see some houses where they ran base board type pipe and fins between the joists and several inches below floor level (typically under kitchens and baths.)I haven't seen any obvious problems with the floors above, but I don't recall how many (if any) were hardwood.
*Two potential problems: * The effect of the very high temp on the hardwood, especially the wider boards. Gapping, brittleness, etc, as others have mentioned.* Depends on the age of the tar paper, but yes, you could generate a bit of odor by heating the tar paper. No way to really quantify it or give a definite 'yes' or 'no,' but it can happen.160-180 degree water is a very high temp to circulate under wide hardwood boards.