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Installing a Preassembled Whole House Radiant Heating System

Bob meets with Erling Andersen of AIM (Andersen International Marketing) in the basement of the modern Colonial to discuss the heating system. The Boiler Room in a Box has just arrived in its crate, fully assembled and ready to hang on the wall. Although the gas-fired system has a very small footprint, it has a 175,000 btu boiler and can heat a 4,000 sq. ft. New England home. The water heated by the boiler is distributed throughout the house in two ways: through radiant baseboard and in-floor radiant tubing. The slimline baseboard is made of aluminum and copper with the water distributed through PEX tubing. In rooms with no space for baseboard, such as the kitchen, the heated water runs through special PEX tubing with an aluminum core that is suspended between the floor joists using plastic nail clips. Bob points out that the home's structural system comes with pre-drilled holes to facilitate the tubing installation. Once the radiant tubing has been run between all the joists, reflexive insulation is nailed up into each void effectively creating heat ducts between the joists.
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Installing a Preassembled Whole House Radiant Heating System

  computer-generated transcript - may not be 100% accurate

" Although this is an eighteenth century kind of -- production house it's a 21 century house when it comes to the type of heating system we're putting in right there running correct Anderson what you call Bob boiler in a box yeah boiler room and about so the whole boiler room has come from. Just arrived in this crate. And it's already. Put together one already assembled ready to be hung up on the wall now erling this is about 3500 square foot house yes that's large. And is cold climate death. Are you kidding me. This is a 175000. BTU boiler this right here this right here. This who brought to a 4000 square foot home in around this area -- we take the panel off and stuff."

" It's today they small footprint that is that fantastic boiler."

" What it is it has a built in power venter into the unit so what it does it creates an immense amount that he. And then my regulates between 175000. And 19000. BTUs the -- heat is gas yes so there's gotta be chamber in here where we're yes this is stainless steel chamber in here. Where they gas is generated wave -- fires. This whole area right here. And this is all copper coils in this area up above."

" So you can have the flame in there at high heat and still have the wires and everything all around it yes. And then this is where we're actually beginning the process of circulating the superheated water."

" Yes. This is. Where the -- but it is absorbing the heat and it's turning around and it's coming out through these pipes it's going -- what about the products of combustion. The combustion it's going out through event that he -- and it as a pollen -- everything just put it. B venting. Stainless steel venting so you just go directly on the piping coming out of here all right. So what is happening here is that hot water comes out through here it. Goes in here it is a bubble up so that it pixie hair out of the water yet comes in through here it goes into this manifold. And this is the hot water side of the -- well. It comes in through here and going into the circulator. And this topside. And as you can see there's no no connections between the return and the supply. So this is a 185 degree water running into this section. This is meant for the baseboards. OK we have the radiant baseboard in this house and this is where you're connecting all the day to all of our connected yet correct and then. How do we distribute this this limited water. He had two ways he would fittings need in this house -- is that slim line baseboard OK and it's made out of what aluminum and copper. The only two things there's in this -- I love the fact that it's so slim."

" How you get the hot water from down here to debate the baseboard in April collective. With this kind of tubing which is -- pex tubing. -- what is that cross linked polyethylene cross linked polyethylene tubing yes. And this is flexible enough that you can take it around all over the place now what about radiant heating situations what be enjoying your -- is rooms here we have. No room for baseboards like the kitchen above yes this place is. There's no wall space to think and put the baseball right so there we have the tubing. And this tubing has an aluminum for an. They're aluminum -- what that does is basically. Takes -- temperature of the water and distributes it into the void between the floor joist. There aluminum helps disperse the heat I see so there's not all aluminum isn't enough. It is -- pex tubing as well there's pex with a layer of aluminum around it that is welded the whole length. And then there's an -- and a pretty flexible so you just go into the bays between. Our born in between the -- yes yes. The beauty of this structural system is that the whole authority here pre drilled and you just knock them out and start feeding. The tubing right through there have helped remove the movement and we don't get started all the way up against the -- you'll have a kitchen cabinets there and you don't need to put. Radiant underneath the kitchen cabinets. And now -- the loops are simply. Stapled or nailed erling we nail them using these are plastic nail clips yes they used class and and they don't have to be right up against the subfloor they've they just float in there hot. And yesterday we. We keep them down about two to three inches in this case the contractor he liked them down lower what's to keep that heat from radiant debt rating down."

" Well what his life we have this aluminum foil and that aluminum this called. It's an reflective. Reflective insulation yes and let -- does this 97%. Radiant reflective."

" And it is size could -- just gets stapled right up into the -- so that effectively you're creating. A space. That is like a heat duct in between each one of these each varieties will be heated area and adapting to EG OK."

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