GeoThermal with Radiators ? ? ?
- Thread starter rgood
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The answer is most likely no. The design temp for a geo HW system is 130 deg F. At that relatively low temperature, you do not have enough surface area to radiate enough heat. Even baseboard is a problem. Radiant is the best choice and can be designed for 130 deg water. I have installed one radiant geo system and the radiant loop was designed for the low temp (a lot more tubing area). Performance was fine.
paul
paul
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You don't give much detail, but generally speaking, no. Geo and a heat pump work best at the lowest possible temperature on the delivery side. The system would operate, but the efficiency would be very low at best and you might not be able to heat sufficiently. The more delivery surface area the better, and often, radiator systems are set up to have the minimum surface area and a very high running temp.
Why not just install a high efficiency boiler to run the radiators? Much cheaper than geo, no ductwork, quiet heat, excellent efficiency and you already have most of the hardware. You can even tie in the hot water to run at boiler efficiency or install solar on the hot water. Seems like a better solution than a scorched air system with all of it's noise and stirring of the air.
Best of all is a radiant system in the floor, but that is sometimes too difficult or impractical as a retrofit.
Why not just install a high efficiency boiler to run the radiators? Much cheaper than geo, no ductwork, quiet heat, excellent efficiency and you already have most of the hardware. You can even tie in the hot water to run at boiler efficiency or install solar on the hot water. Seems like a better solution than a scorched air system with all of it's noise and stirring of the air.
Best of all is a radiant system in the floor, but that is sometimes too difficult or impractical as a retrofit.