[Strawbale] Sub Floor Radiant Heating

[Speireag Alden]

On 2007, Nov 27, at 16:57, Derek Roff wrote:

> Among its problems is a lack of any way to regulate the heat flowing
> into the house through the floor, from the heat-storing earth below  
> the
> house.

     One possible design for getting around that limitation would be  
to lay PEX before you put in compacted fill before you lay the slab  
insulation (at least R-20, I would think) before you pour a slab with  
PEX in it.  Then, when you have a surplus of solar heat you could  
shunt it into the ground under the house, and when you had a deficit  
you could pull it out.  The best of both worlds.

     The same caveat about renewable, non-polluting energy would  
still apply, obviously, at least for what gets pumped into the ground.

     For what it's worth, before embarking on my current expansion, I  
corresponded with a one-time list member in Virginia who has an  
underground house surmounted by an umbrella of drainage and  
insulation.  Doesn't do AGS or PAHS, apparently; just lets it sit and  
do its passive solar thing, and it is comfortable year-round.

     That's a different climate from mine, but I'm also planning on  
injecting solar heat into mine.

-Speireag.