[Strawbale] PEX, Concrete Slab, Fear of Death (by contractor)

[Dion Hollenbeck]

At 10:02 PM 12/26/2007, Shody Ryon wrote:
>When we had this conversation before, someone said
>they cracked the windows open in the bed rooms because
>it was warmer than they liked at night. Because I like
>cold bedrooms, high R value insulation and energy
>efficiency, I would leave the bed rooms unheated.

Yes, that certainly was part of the conversation, and I was 
involved.  That was a suggestion from someone, and something I may do 
when my house as been built.  However, I will be putting radiant in 
the bedroom, albeit with a separate thermostat, so I can close the 
door and lower the temperature from the rest of the house for sleeping.

>This still does not address the R value of the
>concrete floor vs wood and the roof insulation which
>is a good topic.

All I can tell you about that is that I used 11" of blown in 
cellulose in the attic, which is R44.  And under the slab, we used 2" 
of Dow foam board, which I think is about R-20.  When it snows, as it 
did last night, I do not see the roof snow melt any faster than the 
snow on the ground outside, so I think I have sufficient insulation 
in the attic.  The only place on the roof which has any significant 
snow melt is the exhaust stack for the propane boiler, and a couple 
of inches right around it.

>I really like warm floors and high air quality so I am
>thinking of either warm water or air warming the floor
>from underneath. Wood floors would have a much faster
>response than concrete, I assume,

Faster response, yes, but would not store as much heat, either, 
compared to concrete.  The concrete continues to radiate heat for a 
longer period of time after the hydronic pump shuts off.

>not that the
>temperature would change much, unless the house were
>empty for a large part of the day, correct?

My workshop stays within a couple of degrees and most of most days, 
there is no one in it.  It pretty much stays very close to the 
thermostat set point.

regards
dion

--
Dion Hollenbeck
Email: hollen at woodsprite.com    Home Page: http://www.woodsprite.com
Brewing Page: http://hbd.org/hollen   Toys: 98 4Runner, 86 4x4 PU