Cohousing-L Mailing List: Re: Heating upstairs

[Michael Whitman (Michael.Whitman]

--- Alfred wrote:
So far we have been told that not installing heat upstairs will not work, that
it will work, and that at worst we would have to plug in electric heaters
--- end of quote ---

We've lived in a 3-story "heatless-upstairs" house in central NH for 25 years.
The first 20 years featured a single woodstove on the bottom floor, then we went
to radiant heat retrofitted under the middle floor. The house has 6" fiberglass
wall insulation and 12" in the ceiling. With both heating designs, we hardly
EVER feel the need for supplemental heat upstairs, plus we don't like hot
bedrooms. Maybe if someone's feeling frail and it's 20-below, but otherwise
sufficient heat rises.

To cover the possibility that a future occupant might want some of the HW heat
upstairs, you might run supply and return lines while the walls are open during
construction, stub them off, and leave them accessible.

   Michael Whitman