1257 Westwood Street, Redwood City, CA

Mechanical Systems

Radiant Heat

The home has radiant heat. Each room contains an attractive, slim, very contemporary looking radiator, generally installed underneath the largest window in the room. The bathrooms, rather then having normal radiators, have radiators shaped like towel bar warmers. There is a single programmable thermostat in the downstairs hall for the basics, then each radiator has an adjustable valve, hence each room becomes it's own zone.

This system works much the same as radiant heat with coils in the floor, except since the heat does not need to first warm up a large concrete slab, it reacts more quickly then when it is inside the floor. Additionally, it lends more flexibility to the flooring material. With in floor heat, it is possible to have a normal wood floor, but this reduces the performance of the heat, since the wood is not nearly as good a radiator as steel, concrete, or stone.

The system is very green to operate. It starts with a 95.1 % efficient Veissmann Vitodens 100 condensing boiler, which has then been very carefully plumbed to maximize efficiency. This boiler is used to generate hot water that circulates inside the radiators throughout the house. Additionally, there is a second circuit of hot water that circulates through a large, passive domestic hot water tank. Three small pumps are used to make sure the water is circulating proper. One to push the hot water through the furnace, one to circulate through all the radiators, and one to circulate through the domestic hot water tank. Finally, a fourth pump is used to recirculate hot water. This is another important green festure, because you can set this pump to run at the times your individual needs call for hot water, and then never have to wate while the water gets on after turning the tap on.

Mike Sokolsky

(650) 465-2573 (cell)

(650) 579-2710 (fax)

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