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Radiant Floor Heating/Questions
| Subject | Date Asked | Expert |
| Help with upgrading heating system | 2/6/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: We currently live in a side by side split level home. We live in New York about 50 miles north of ... A: Here in Minneapolis we design and install many hybrid forced air and hydronic heating systems. If ... | ||
| Electric Water Heater with Open Direct System | 2/5/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: My question involves switching from a gas water heater to an electric water heater to run an open ... A: Please forward the California Plumbing Code section addressing approval of "open" or combined space ... | ||
| Glycol vs Ethanol for Antifreeze in Solar Collectors | 2/2/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: Considering closed loop solar collectors. This will not be a drain down system so must consider ... A: First some chemistry. Though "glycol" and "ethanol" are both of the "alcohol" family, they are not ... | ||
| Electric Water Heater with Open Direct System | 1/30/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: My question involves switching from a gas water heater to an electric water heater to run an open ... A: In my personal design work in a good part of N.America and Canada combi-water heaters (both tank and ... | ||
| Leaking radiant slab bubble foil to blame? | 1/25/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a 5 year old 40 x 60 building I heat to about 10 C in Ottawa Ontario. Today the floor ... A: The radiant over-pour is a good idea. Every radiant slab should set on bed of extruded or molded ... | ||
| Polaris water heater banging radiant floor | 1/23/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a Polaris in floor radiant water heater that gives off a big bang every time the burner ... A: The most disparaging name a serious heating technician can suffer is to be called a "parts ... | ||
| Leaking radiant slab bubble foil to blame? | 1/22/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a 5 year old 40 x 60 building I heat to about 10 C in Ottawa Ontario. Today the floor ... A: Bubble foil is the one of the most successful building material hoaxes of the century. Shiny, cheap ... | ||
| Winterizing radiant floor heating in workshop | 1/20/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: My recently deceased son in law had a workshop (separate from house) with radiant floor heating. My ... A: I am sorry for your loss. Propylene Glycol is the only anti-freeze suitable for residential ... | ||
| Radiant floor cold off-peak electric boilers | 1/19/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I built a new home in northern Minnesota in fall of 2010, moved into it in March of 2011. Never ... A: I really want to talk to your radiant floor designer or see his CAD tube layout. These questions ... | ||
| Muchkin furnace boiler problems | 1/18/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: WE have two munchkin furnace units (140MLP) and radiant heat in floors. Units installed six years ... A: Most of the Munchkin M140 problems we address here in Minneapolis are related to poor installation ... | ||
| Combi water heater for radiant floor heating | 1/18/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: Mr. Audetat, Read your 2007 thoughts on this subject and wanted to hear what you think today given ... A: Retrofitting heating radiant floor heating and hot water heating systems is general is of course the ... | ||
| air in hydronic in floor heating system | 1/15/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have two separate hydronic in floor heat systems in my house, one for the basement, the other for ... A: Since water is 3500 times more efficient at transferring heat than air, you are well focused. ... | ||
| Polaris water heater radiant floor problem | 1/14/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a Polaris water heater that cycles aprox every five minutes when my radiant floor system is ... A: Here in Minneapolis I use Polaris condensing water heaters in my radiant floor designs regularly. ... | ||
| radiant floor heating humming noise | 1/10/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: We have just had radiant heat intsalled under main floor nd in basement concrete slab. there is an ... A: First, this is a question best answered by your radiant floor designer/installer. Many radiant floor ... | ||
| boiler pump replacement DIY Internet | 1/1/2012 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a radiant floor heating system on two levels (in concrete in lower level and gypcrete in ... A: You can buy anything on the Internet these days but many failed components are symptomatic of ... | ||
| controlling the temperature of a concreate slab | 12/30/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: Greetings, I have a new heating installation in a 300 sqft sunroom that I need to set the floor ... A: Controlling the temperature of the concrete slab is not really the point. It is the thing your ... | ||
| radiant floor in garage freeze protection | 12/24/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I bought a house with radiant heat in the garage slap..the furnace room is attached to the ... A: There is some debate about heating garages and whether anti-freeze should be used in radiant panels ... | ||
| engineered wood flooring max water temps | 12/13/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a two year old hydronic system on the first and second floor. The system is pex embedded in 1 ... A: I believe you are confused. What most people want from their radiant floor heating systems is ... | ||
| Geo radiant floor Isolated water heater | 12/11/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a model SG V821OT S State Industries, Inc. Geothermal Storage Tank for my radiant floor heat ... A: Nearly everyone involved with radiant floor heating (be they professional or novice) needs ... | ||
| modulating boiler not making set temp | 12/8/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a 800sf garage,slab ,closed loop,3 runs 300ft 1/2 pex,slab stat w/1 degree diff..i'm using a ... A: I beg your pardon, In terms of "system" efficiency. The higher lower the temperature differential ... | ||
| modulating boiler not making set temp | 12/7/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a 800sf garage,slab ,closed loop,3 runs 300ft 1/2 pex,slab stat w/1 degree diff..i'm using a ... A: What's your hurry? The features and benefits of radiant slabs are often misunderstood. The main ... | ||
| Modulating/Condensing Boiler mis-piped? | 12/4/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: Sir, I have a single family 1700 sq 'home I have been in for a year. I was the general on the ... A: "Do I need to chuck my boiler and get an old cast iron one?" NEVER! I love horses, but would never ... | ||
| Radiant Heat | 11/30/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I saw your answer about anti-freeze in a radiant system you never use it. This is a 1053 sq ft ... A: First, unless your garage is entirely without insulation, the boiler is too big for the space. Since ... | ||
| Radiant Floor Pressure and Pump Noise | 11/27/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have staple up radiant flooring in the house. The boiler is in the basement and it is a two story ... A: Radiant floor system pressure has nothing to do with heat transfer. Radiant floor heating pump ... | ||
| Radiant Heat Flooring for New Home | 11/12/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: We are building a new home and are installing a boiler for heated flooring on the main level. We are ... A: Sorry, I need more information. I design complete HVAC systems for new residential construction. ... | ||
| Back loss between radiant floors | 11/10/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I recently completed the installation of a radiant floor heating system in my two level home. To ... A: It is a little tricky. Radiant heat travels in all directions and theoretically if one put up a ... | ||
| Discolored fluid | 11/8/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: We have a radiant heat floor system with Munchkin boiler - approximately 4-5 years old - two of the ... A: Discolored water is a hydronic system is common and is not a conclusive diagnostic indicator of ... | ||
| Back loss between floors | 11/8/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I recently completed the installation of a radiant floor heating system in my two level home. To ... A: Radiant floor heating design starts with a room-by-room heat load analysis. Experts in radiant floor ... | ||
| evaporation ? | 10/31/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I really like all your answers. We bought a house about 2 years ago (17 years old) that has radiant ... A: Even a modern diaphragm expansion tank can fail-the diaphragm leaks allowing the air chamber to fill ... | ||
| Extend life of Entran II | 10/30/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: My question is whether there is a additive product available that maight help extend the life of ... A: I am sorry, to my knowledge, there is no such product available. Flushing the system (as seldom as ... | ||
| evaporation ? | 10/30/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I really like all your answers. We bought a house about 2 years ago (17 years old) that has radiant ... A: It is nice to be appreciated. Boilers are uncommon in most parts of N.America so your experience ... | ||
| Radiator not heating properly | 10/23/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: In all three bedrooms in the first floor all three radiators are not working efficiently: The bottom ... A: Properly piped, a radiator will be warm at the top and cooler toward the bottom. This is especially ... | ||
| old cast iron radiators with high efficiency boiler | 10/19/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I just purchased an approximately 2200 sq ft 1900's colonial house in upstate New York. It was ... A: First, there is no fixing frozen cast iron radiators to be sure and it isn't easy to replace them ... | ||
| how much to spend on a condensing boiler | 10/18/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I am building a home in the syracuse ny area. Super insulated ICF both floors. 4000sqft. I would ... A: There are many good condensing boilers on the market, unfortunately in my personal web searches for ... | ||
| Radiant heat for detached garage | 10/15/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I am building a detached garage 24x32 in Morgantown West Virginia that has 2 300 ft loops of 1/2" ... A: The first thing is to determine the heat load and the second thing is to determine the best source ... | ||
| air eliminators, separators, purgers and scoops | 10/13/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a closed radiant floor heating system and about every 2 weeks the boiler kicks out due to low ... A: I have been advocating-in fact insisting on-the use of micro-bubble air eliminators for all of my ... | ||
| vacation water closure in hydronic radiant heated home | 10/11/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I have a home with hot water heating. Some of my friends have had major home leaks and I would like ... A: All radiant floor heating systems should be "closed" i.e. the system is filled with water to design ... | ||
| Discolored water in radiant floor manifold | 10/7/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: I am considering purchasing a house with a radiant heating system. The home inspector saw that the ... A: Discoloration or dirty water in the clear-when-new balancing valve of a radiant floor manifold, in ... | ||
| slab heating size the PEX etc | 10/2/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: i would like to pour a heated slab. The slab is 24x36 feet what size of pex pipe should i use? How ... A: Every properly designed radiant floor heating system starts with a room-by-room heat load analysis. ... | ||
| new boiler now, radiant floors later? | 9/30/2011 | Morgan M. Audetat |
| Q: Several months ago I spoke with you briefly over the phone concerning changing my existing 50 yr old ... A: Generally speaking, a space heating boiler will be sized for the "block" or whole house heating ... | ||
Radiant Floor Heating
Answers by Expert:
Morgan M. Audetat
Top Expert on this page
Expertise
Radiant panel heating design, including floors and ceilings, European wall panels and snow melting for residential and light commercial buildings..............................................................-Master of Steam and Hot Water,City of Minneapolis....................................................--- Master Plumber, State of Minnesota...........
Experience
30 years..... Charter Board Member - Radiant Panel Association, former manufacturer of condensing boilers, former national distributor of radiant floor products, son and apprentice of mechanical & plumbing contractor.
Current owner---www.BadgerRadiantDesigns.com---Minneapolis mechanical/plumbing contractor specializing in hydronic based, integrated HVAC systems. Radiant floor heating/cooling. Snow Melting. Condensing Boilers. Indirect water heaters. System design, consulting and technical training world-wide.
Licensed contractor, designer, installer and consultant.
Education/Credentials
B.S. University WI 1981
CONTINUING EDUCATION:
Viessmann Condensing boiler and Solar water heating certification 2010, N.D.S.U. Lead Worker RRP certification 2010, Knight condensing boiler certification 2009, Wrightsoft Manual ’J’ CAD certification 2009, RPA Designer & Installer Certification 2008, Nate Hydronic/Forced Air Certification 2008, Uponor/Wirsbo advanced design school certification 2007, Buderus Wall-hung certification 2007, Power Limited License (low voltage controls) 40 CE credits 2005, Basic Hydronic Certification IPEX & Northern Alberta Institute of Technology 1998, Charter Board Member - Radiant Panel Association 1994, Residential Off-Electric to Hydronic Conversion Heating School – Canadian Hydronics Council 1994, B&G Little Red School House 1993, Rood Utilities (now Auburn Technical Institute) Oil Burner School 1993 ,Tekmar Controls residential and commercial 1993, Division Manager and Advanced Hydronic Seminar Instructor for the first Exclusively Hydronic Radiant Floor Distributor in the USA 1990, Hydronic Radiant Heating Association Workshop participant with Richard c. Bourne, PE spring 1988, Master Plumbing, Hydronic, Solar Course Red Rocks Community College 1987.
Awards and Honors
2009 System Showcase Award - Radiant Panel Association
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