Hydronic radiant cooling can be done, but we would strongly advise against doing it in a humid climate. So we're not the ones to check in on about pricing since we aren't advocates of it as a technique to cool a home. Introducing a cooled-surface into a house, like a concrete floor, invites moisture problems as it can cause warm humid air to condense and put you at risk of mold and mildew forming. Here is a our page all about radiant floors as a starting place -
Even in the appropriate climate it is a fairly complicated system and needs to be carefully designed, and it would need to be coupled with a very good ERV to keep the Relative Humidity low. Alternatively, we would propose you simply use the floor for radiant heat, and cool the air in your house instead as is typically done.
Keep in mind, that a slab-on-grade floor offers a lot of thermal mass inside the home, so if you invest in a very efficient wall assembly and airtight building envelope, you can often wait out a heat wave (at least on the main floor) without the need for artificial cooling, as the concrete absorbs the ambient heat from the home. That and even a small localized heat pump may be all you need.
Installing a hydronic radiant floor system in a slab-on-grade floor.
Here is our DIY video of how to lay down tubing for our radiant floor in the Edelweiss House. We have a 10…
Hydronic heating systems involve heated liquid being pumped through radiators, baseboard heaters, floors or even walls. Similar to electric baseboards, hydronic heating systems…
A case study by Alex Wilson of the Resilient Design Institute on Ecohome's Kenogami House in Northern Quebec. A resilient home for Sustainability
Northern Quebec isn’t a place…
A comeback for foam radiant floor ICF forms heated with air tubes. Radiant heating systems are very common in concrete floors now because they provide a very balanced and…
Radiant heated floors add comfort to a home and can help you heat more efficiently.
There is some debate in performance building circles, particularly in the Passive House…
Ecohome's Demonstration House will be used as a vehicle to launch a free online building guide series detailing best practices for high performance, cold climate home…
Building our Frost Protected Shallow Foundation slab on grade with Solar radiant floor heating powered by air tubes heated with air solar panels for our demo house - Ingenious…
Hydronic radiant cooling can be done, but we would strongly advise against doing it in a humid climate. So we're not the ones to check in on about pricing since we aren't advocates of it as a technique to cool a home. Introducing a cooled-surface into a house, like a concrete floor, invites moisture problems as it can cause warm humid air to condense and put you at risk of mold and mildew forming. Here is a our page all about radiant floors as a starting place -
Radiant floor heat - Air heated, electric of hydronic, which is best?
Even in the appropriate climate it is a fairly complicated system and needs to be carefully designed, and it would need to be coupled with a very good ERV to keep the Relative Humidity low. Alternatively, we would propose you simply use the floor for radiant heat, and cool the air in your house instead as is typically done.
Keep in mind, that a slab-on-grade floor offers a lot of thermal mass inside the home, so if you invest in a very efficient wall assembly and airtight building envelope, you can often wait out a heat wave (at least on the main floor) without the need for artificial cooling, as the concrete absorbs the ambient heat from the home. That and even a small localized heat pump may be all you need.