A few days ago we received our second quote on a radiant heating system from Don Vance at Radiantec. The quote was for an Open Direct System whereas the first quote was for a closed system that would require a bit more hardware. Radiantec came in at just over $1,200 for everything but the heat source which we would supply ourselves. This is quite a bit lower than the roughly $1900 quote we received from Radiant Direct that would also require additional fees for converting to an open system.
I also got a call on Christmas Eve from a friend who is a contractor in NY and had seen the first post on radiant heat. He mentioned that he had installed similar systems in NY with a plumber for less than $2K including labor. He mentioned that it really helps to have a plumber who is familiar with radiant installs and also has discounts on all of the raw materials needed for the job. I added that it also helps to have a plumber willing to pass on those savings in time and materials onto the customer.
Further investigation is needed on radiant by our builder, but for now we are happy with the estimates we have received and are confident we can now afford what is considered a premium heating system in our very affordable home.
4 comments ↓
Do you plan on using concrete over the radiant heat? Can you use decorative/colored concrete?
I just started designing houses for a local builder. They currently have a few home designs that are being built for $59 a square foot. The houses are aprroximately 3,000 square feet. My job is to design smaller houses and keep the square footage cost down. Wish I could share some secrets but I am bound by a confidentiallity agreement.
Yes, we plan on using a concrete, slab on grade foundation to reduce costs of both the foundation and radiant heating system. We will leave the concrete floor uncovered and most likely use some type of colored stain on it. I personally like a rustic, orange stain I have seen in a couple of local, concrete floor applications.
I understand your confidentiality issues. As you can tell we do not take this approach and actually are hoping that others will copy our lessons learned…
It’s a bit hard to compare construction costs in different locations but I’m sure the same cost cutting concepts can be applied. Building in Philly is most likely more expensive than Tennessee, Texas or most southern locations. Helping your builder keep costs down for smaller home designs sounds like an interesting and fun project. Good luck and thanks for the comments.
Do you have an idea of what the cost of pouring the concrete will be? Just wondering what an estimated total cost of the radiant heating system plus the actual floor will be.
I have estimated $10.54 psf for the concrete slab foundation which would put us at roughly $7,400 for the slab installation. I forget where I found this figure but it included the footings and seemed to be a conservative (on the high end) estimate for our requirements.
I’ll be getting much better numbers from Level 5 in a few weeks on the slab and everything else.
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