[VAC] Re: Balsa core flooring

[Dr. Gerald N. Johnson, electrical engineer]

A lot of the classic baseboard is more of a water to air heat exchanger
with radiant heating a side effect. So it needs to be hotter to get the
air into motion.

Both Masonite and aluminum should stand being the surface, and while the
aluminum will act well as a heat spreader/evener, it will conduct heat
under the cabinets where its not needed and would be truly cold to the
bare foot when not heated. And aluminum would need something on top for
a finish while the Masonite could be the finished surface and so less
impede radiation. Though the Masonite would not conduct heat to the
surface for radiation as effectively as bare aluminum.

True that routing would allow more versatility in tubing placement, but
one would have to watch how "versatile" tubing placement was if the
finish layer required screw fasteners that would penetrate the foam...
Then its handy to have the tubing in predictable places.

Dissipation or spreader plates are good for the heating function, and
rotten for the structural function. They need to be adhered to the foam
and to the top skin because this assembly converts bending moment to
shear between them.

I have no experience using the fiberglass sold by Menards.

Radiant heating is most effective when it can radiate to the occupants.
That's how its efficient. It can't radiate from under the cabinets, and
you sure don't need to be adding heat under the refrigerator...

I don't know about a heat source. Needs a pump too. I suppose a sureflow
water pump will handle the temperature. There are versions that handle
farm chemicals decently. Looking at the prices for electric tankless
water heaters, I'm inclined to use a 2 or 6 gallon water heater tank for
that application. I plan that for my house construction when the kitchen
sink is some distance from the water heater. With a good insulation
jacket it won't waste as much energy as running water out of 30' of pipe
will waste, I believe. And that could be a propane fired water heater
too. The gas fired on demand heaters in McMaster-Carr are large enough
to heat a palace (or at least the contemporary 2500 square foot house).
Flow rate and heat input has to be balanced to produce the desired water
temperature. Some electric tankless heaters depend on a minimum pressure
drop and restrict the flow with an orifice, some restrict the
temperature rise with a thermostat.


5100 btu (1500 watts) is nearly enough for my Caravel, but something
larger would need more to be comfortable. The 1500 watt element standard
in a 2 or 6 gallon electric water heater could be replaced by something
larger. There needs to be an expansion chamber on the heating loop to
allow for the changes of water volume when hot. Its not like it can push
back into the municipal water line when it expands in the home
situation.

Gerald J.



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