Replacing Radiant Baseboard for Forced Air
Hi guys,
I’ve got a 90 year old house, in New Jersey, that at some stage had radiant baseboard fitted. Its been very reliable works well but I notice in winter that my house is continually dusty and part of the house have high humidity so ……………… I’m thinking about replacing it for a forced air solution.
My logic is simple – I want to get fresh air exchange, a dehumidifier solution, and a multizone HVAC solution (right now AC is single zone). Its also time for me to replace my gas boiler (which is a 7k cost). I already have AC in the house but I need some duct work done to free up my attic so I can have a home office – which means about 5-10k of work as well.
However, I’ve spoken to multiple HVAC pros and they are suggesting two things:
– Don’t remove the radiant heat as its the best! I don’t get this – a friend just built a high end house from scratch and they went with forced air .. so my view is that the 2020 solution to the problem is different that the 1970’s solution. We now have ducted minisplit systems that seem like I could have one of the control units for each floor but no one is interested in that.
– Add some additional mini splits to cover the basement, which has no AC, and the buy some dehumidifiers to handle the bad spots in winter.
Am I just wasting my time thinking I should have a better option where I can get one solution to do it all?
Replies
Having too much moisture in winter where you live is an indication there is a problem someplace you probably want to find. something is leaking water where it does not belong. or you have no ventilation where you need it.
usually in the winter, any kind of heating will turn outside air into a desert inside the house. this is applied physics.
with an older house, if you are not planning to do the work yourself, you have to go with what the trades are capable and willing to do, and for what price.
Hang in there, and if the boiler is not totally broke, you probably have some time to work the options.
Thanks. That makes sense.
is your baseboard the older cast iron style or the newer copper w/aluminum fins? what is the mechanism causing the dust condition - having grown up in a steam radiator heating system, lived in a forced hot water baseboard house and now in a forced hot air house, I tend to think the forced hot air is "dusty" compared to either of the other systems.
Cast iron baseboard has tremendous thermal mass and tends to dissipate heat more evenly and slowly. The never baseboard does seem to heat areas sooner but doesn't always hold the heat as well as cast iron.
you might want to check w/your local utility company to see if they have any energy efficient upgrade programs
It’s the copper type. I can’t tell if the dust is really a lack of air exchange. Ideally I’d filter new outside air into the house with a heat exchanger which would circulate and filter the air.