Heating System: What to Choose?

One of the things we really talked about was how we wanted to heat our house. Electric wasn't really an option. We had used a wood stove before, but determined it wasn't a reliable, steady source of heat needing someone to tend it all the time. And I hated the constant cleanup from wood chips, bark, dirt, and ashes that came with wood heating.

Jim didn't want to run duct work (though it'd be essential for central air conditioning), and I wanted to avoid the dust allergy exacerbation that comes with forced hot air. Neither of us liked baseboard hot water (pain in the butt when it comes to furniture).

He strongly favored radiant floor heating, but I wasn't sure. I was concerned about the amount of time it would take for a radiant heating system to warm a house should the power go out, but Jim didn't think it would be a problem, particularly if we decided in the long run to go with an outdoor wood furnace verses a regular furnace. I liked the idea of warm feet, particularly with the concrete floor on the bottom level.

With encouragement from our plumber friend/neighbor, we installed radiant floor heating.









Look at the clean land on the back side where the tractor is.
I wish it were still like this. It's all overgrown now.

Up next--we pour the concrete floor.