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Hydronic Heat Brings Comfort, Efficiency to N.Y. Condos
Wanting only the best for their new development, the builders of a new 12-unit complex in the Borough Park neighborhood of Brooklyn, N.Y. specified hydronic heating.
“They wanted a quality heating installation, but they also wanted to keep the cost as low as possible,” said Kal Rotenberg of Iceman Mechanical, who was brought in to help with the installation.
“In each condo unit, we installed a wall-mounted modulating condensing combi-boiler in a closet,” Rotenberg said. “This boiler provides plentiful domestic hot water as well as hot water for the cast-iron radiators we put in throughout each condo. This is a very economical and a highly efficient and high-comfort heating system.”
Home owners and heating installers are increasingly choosing hydronic heating, which simply means using water as the heat transfer medium and has been used for more than a century in American homes.
Hot water is circulated from a centrally located boiler through baseboards, radiators or extremely durable plastic tubing embedded in floors, walls or ceilings, according to the Hydronics Industry Alliance.
Hydronic heating systems can be built into newly constructed homes or added to an existing home through retrofitting.
Hydronics is considered a comfortable form of heating because it is slow, gentle and steady, with the temperature remaining the same throughout the room. It is also an efficient form of heating because it allows rooms to be zoned and the system is sealed to minimize the loss of heat as it is distributed throughout the home.
The heating system installed in the Brooklyn condo units is barely noticeable. Each condo has a boiler in one of its closets, with PEX tubing run within the walls to radiators situated under windows, in hallways and in bathrooms.
“These condos have a two-zone system,” said Rotenberg, “but we could have placed a thermostat on each radiator if they had wanted it. They have excellent heating comfort and are saving a lot of money.”
“We install a lot of radiant floor heating,” he added, “but we also put in finned tube baseboard or radiator heating when low installation is paramount. However, in any installation, I strongly recommend three things: a modulating condensing boiler, hydronic heating (radiators, baseboards or radiant floor heating) and blown-in insulation in the walls. This is our formula for a guaranteed-happy customer.”
For more information on hydronic heating, click here (myhomeheating.com).
The Hydronics Institute is a product division of GAMA/Vent Free Gas Products Association, which is a member of the National Council of the Housing Industry — The Leading Suppliers of NAHB.
This feature is solely for educational and informational purposes. Nothing on this page should be construed as policy, an endorsement, warranty or guaranty by the National Association of Home Builders of the featured product or the product manufacturer. The National Association of Home Builders expressly disclaims any responsibility for any damages arising from the use, application or reliance on any information contained on this page.
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