STEVE MAXWELL: Infloor heating retrofit and septic tank root cellars – SaltWire Network

Infloor heating retrofit

Question: Will a combination of infloor heating and hot water radiators work well together? I really dont like the noise and dust kicked up by our forced air furnace, and I want to have warmer feet. My plan is to install infloor heating under the first floor (installed in the basement between floor joists), but with radiators in the second floor because I cant get to the underside of that floor to install hot water pipes. Will this combination work?

Answer: Yes, I know for sure it will because I installed a system like this in my own home. Theres infloor heating in the ceiling of the unfinished basement to heat the first floor, and antique cast iron radiators also on the first floor, plus the second and third floors. As I was installing all this, I got the infloor heating working first, before any radiators were in place. I discovered that infloor heating alone was not sufficient to heat even the first floor properly when outdoor temperatures got down below freezing. The heat had to travel up through a 5/8-inch thick plywood subfloor with 3/4-inch thick pine on top. All I can figure is that this much wood didnt allow enough heat transfer to keep things warm when it true Canadian cold hit. Thats a lot of wood for heat to move through, hence the marginal heating performance. These days our house is nice and warm no matter what the weather, with 23C in every nook and cranny. The thing that made the difference was installing radiators everywhere in the house, including the first floor. In practice the infloor heating keeps the floor warm to the feet, but the radiators do the bulk of the space heating. I installed a thermostat system that directs heat to the floor pipes, while also directing hot water to radiators. I have it set to deliver about 75 per cent of overall heating energy via the radiators, with the rest going to the floor. The control system I chose is made by a Canadian company called Tekmar and its fabulous. We have an outdoor wood boiler, and the control system keeps room temperatures to within 0.5C of the set point all the time.

Q: Whats the easiest way to build a walk-in root cellar? Ive always wanted one. When I was a child on our farm in the 1960s my father would bury potatoes in the garden to keep over winter. We also buried cabbage. I remember how sweet the potatoes were when we dug them out in the spring. I want these experiences again, but with a root cellar.

A: Root cellars are all about preserving fruits and vegetables naturally for months, all without refrigeration. One of the easiest ways to create a large-walk-in root cellar is by starting with a concrete septic tank (unused, of course). You take out the dividing wall (if the tank has one), cut a doorway in one end, then bury the tank in a bank of earth. Waterproof the top of the tank, install a couple of vents, then set up shelves and store produce next fall. Find a concrete septic tank manufacturer, then see if they have any that didnt come out of the molds properly. A tank thats defective for actual septic use will probably be fine for a root cellar.

Besides being much faster to build than a piece-by-piece approach using concrete blocks or stone, the advantage of a septic tank is that the structure is much stronger and completely waterproof. You never have to worry about ground water making its way into your cellar. Download a free guide on how to build a septic tank root cellar at BaileyLineRoad.com/root-cellar-plans.

Steve Maxwell is always looking to balance efficiency with authenticity on his Manitoulin Island, Ontario homestead. Visit Steve online at BaileyLineRoad.com for how-to articles and videos.

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STEVE MAXWELL: Infloor heating retrofit and septic tank root cellars - SaltWire Network