Radiant Heat advice please

[WsW-Wyatt-Earp]

Hi all,
New to the site, came up in a search and looks like what I need.

Built a garage last year, 30'x22'x10' and we ran 2 runs of tubing about 280' each. Insulated and drywalled along with insulated doors. Has 2 small windows as well. I'm in northern Illinois and looking to keep it in low 50's.

I am at the point to get the boiler system and get it going. Not sure where to start. I am not looking to do a zone system, it's all 1 big area. I would like to go LP to eliminate the run of a gas line from the house. Not sure what limitations that would cause.

I tried to look things up but get confused pretty quick with all the options.

Thanks in advance for any guidance!
Ben

 

[finn]

If you have access to NG, belly up and trench a line. I have to live with propane on two different properties. Negotiating a pre buy every year is a pita, and I don’t want to pay the money for a “owned” and then have to figure out how to keep it filled when I am 2500 miles away all winter..

The third property has access to NG and keeping the tank filled doesn’t even cross my mind, plus it’s a lot cheaper.

 

[jack stand]

It might be worth checking for some typical radiant "set ups" online. It seems like you need help with the part that really counts...
The best choice for your project to make hot water and it's installation and venting.
Temp controls
Circ pumps, expansion tanks, flow rates and the actual piping of these components in the right order/sequence.
I don't know myself, but what I did was found a radiant design company that also sold the supplies also. Their design fees were deducted from any materials bought from them. Several times during our installation I'd check their pricing and they were competitive.
They provided me with complete drawings detailed and simple enough for this carpenter to do the total installation and it worked perfectly and as expected since day 1.
I guess what I'm saying is that get someone competent in this involved now so that you get it right the first time and
buy the right "stuff". It's not hard if you can sweat a pipe and follow a schematic or plan, AND have someone to call with a question is a good thing, you'll have many, I sure did.

 

[WsW-Wyatt-Earp]

If you have access to NG, belly up and trench a line. I have to live with propane on two different properties. Negotiating a pre buy every year is a pita, and I don’t want to pay the money for a “owned” and then have to figure out how to keep it filled when I am 2500 miles away all winter..

The third property has access to NG and keeping the tank filled doesn’t even cross my mind, plus it’s a lot cheaper.

That's how I was leaning to begin with, I know when we dug the trench for the electric, it was a pain. I'm just thinking over my options and looking to figure a system and what kind of LP usage I'm looking at.

Appreciate the reply, I haven't eliminated the NG totally.

 

[WsW-Wyatt-Earp]

It might be worth checking for some typical radiant "set ups" online. It seems like you need help with the part that really counts...
The best choice for your project to make hot water and it's installation and venting.
Temp controls
Circ pumps, expansion tanks, flow rates and the actual piping of these components in the right order/sequence.
I don't know myself, but what I did was found a radiant design company that also sold the supplies also. Their design fees were deducted from any materials bought from them. Several times during our installation I'd check their pricing and they were competitive.
They provided me with complete drawings detailed and simple enough for this carpenter to do the total installation and it worked perfectly and as expected since day 1.
I guess what I'm saying is that get someone competent in this involved now so that you get it right the first time and
buy the right "stuff". It's not hard if you can sweat a pipe and follow a schematic or plan, AND have someone to call with a question is a good thing, you'll have many, I sure did.

Thanks for the reply!

I seen a couple that do what you mention, do you mind posting what site you went through?
As you said, do it right with good materials.

 

[PoorUB]

Over time NG will be much less money to heat with, but you need to figure the cost to trench it in. If
you do most of the work yourself the cost isn't too bad.

Also keep in mind you only need about 17,000 BTU to do your floor so any gas boiler you buy will be larger than you need. A 5K electric will do fine too.

 

[WsW-Wyatt-Earp]

Over time NG will be much less money to heat with, but you need to figure the cost to trench it in. If
you do most of the work yourself the cost isn't too bad.

Also keep in mind you only need about 17,000 BTU to do your floor so any gas boiler you buy will be larger than you need. A 5K electric will do fine too.

Thank you!

I thought about electric but we didn't wire for it being electric. I'll stick with the gas (NG or LP). So, from what you're saying a smaller high efficiency unit will do what I need?

I figure the LP will be more costly in the long run, just not sure what size tank I would need to hopefully get through a winter. Just trying to figure out things.

The info you gave is appreciated! Nice to know I don't need a big boiler.

 

[jack stand]

Thanks for the reply!

I seen a couple that do what you mention, do you mind posting what site you went through?
As you said, do it right with good materials.

I used a local company for this work. I'd think somewhere on line you could find "tables" or something similar that ties your system together with your heating load.
Just keep doing your homework, this is not high tech stuff and in my opinion (unqualified) the important stuff is sizing the equipment and the controls. The rest is basically installation, not that it's not important.

 

[Jackfre]

Dig the trench. Lp is expected to get up to about $6/gallon this year and is climbing steadily now. 600 sq ft will require a very small appliance. Select a boiler that will modulate from the 10k range up to about 50 k max.