New AF - a few winter questions.

KKELLER14K wrote:
I got it right away...a heated basement, "an airspace" and heated tanks are across the street from each other. Two different sidewalks altogether. I have had the bottom out of both of my AFs and well, if your doing extreme prolonged cold ventures with the older ones...don't even go there without modifications. It is amazing what you will find.. sometimes shocking. Apart from that.. I'm sure that the shift in a better "true" all season TC is that the demand for it calls for it. People are using year round now more than ever. Both of my AFs were never winterized, not once in 8 years between the two. Because of my mods and keeping on the go I never had to. Now that I have a new from the frame up build, I'm in more control than ever to use all this acquired knowledge to really push the building limits. I will tell you I never stop learning...I'm sure we will see more cold weather innovations and thanks to the OP for having asked what he could do to improve what he has and those who give back. Not to hijack the thread either but trying to add to it... does Anyone want to chime in on or have any experience with hydronic heated floors and walls?...one step further...I have an older water heater and flojet pump I'm just so wanting to experiment with...Like a 50/50 closed glycol set up...has anyone tried?

For radiant heating the output is driven by how many square feet of radiator area and surface temp, we have a max surface temp of about 87 degrees before things start to be uncomfortable. I think you would need a really well insulated TC in order for the limited floor area to keep up with the heat loss. You could use it with another heat source and use a two stage thermostat with radiant being the first stage. The other issue is you need a min of three times the R-value under the floor than you have on top.