In floor heat vs forced air

So I fully understand the advantages of in-floor heat vs forced air. My question lays in the new building I’m installing.

I’m installing a 60×40 garage/apartment on the property. 30×40 will be a 2 bedroom apartment WITH in-floor heat. My question is the other side, the 30×40 garage. Should I install in-floor heat on the garage side and maintain it at 40 degrees all winter or would I be better off installing a forced air furnace and only heating the garage when needed. I guess my question is in regards fuel cost during the year.

I would think if you are going to already have the in floor heat on the other side that you could simply upsize and zone the system. Will work great for keeping it at 40, but might want a auxiliary source of heat if you want to kick it up quickly.

Dusty Gesinger wrote:

I would think if you are going to already have the in floor heat on the other side that you could simply upsize and zone the system. Will work great for keeping it at 40, but might want a auxiliary source of heat if you want to kick it up quickly.

That was my plan. Multiple zones. Easy enough to do. I like having my ice fishing gear and snowmobiles and whatnot dry and snow/ice free every trip out.

We have in floor heat in our garage, basement floor, and a coil in our gas forced air furnace. The thing with just in floor heat is you won’t be able to cool the apt with a central air conditioner. Not sure if that is a concern or not just putting it out there.

leinieman wrote:

We have in floor heat in our garage, basement floor, and a coil in our gas forced air furnace. The thing with just in floor heat is you won’t be able to cool the apt with a central air conditioner. Not sure if that is a concern or not just putting it out there.

You’ll just have to add a forced air unit (aka: air handler unit) in the home for A/C. We have that in the house. Only for A/C. It moves no heat.

I would do infloor on both sides.

I currently have infloor and a heater in the corner of the garage, wouldn’t go without it again.

For AC, I would get a mini split and install it in the main living room area.

I would like to see the floor plan or pics of the place. Building one myself here that I want my office in and a place to put the toys.

Don’t forget the floor drains in the garage side. I love the floor heat in my garage and basement. Garage floor dries out really quick.

In floor heating is a great form of heat the only draw back is that if you want to work in the garage side and raise the temperature in a hurry it’s not the answer. It does take a while to raise the temperature because of the way it works. A hanging heater would heat the space faster. That said if you open a over head door the infloor reheats the space faster due to the fact your entire floor is acting as a radiator. It’s a matter of deciding what your trying to do with the space. I would recommend even if you don’t plan on using infloor heat in the garage to install the tubing so its atleast an option down the road.

Once you have floor heat in your shop you will never do it any other way. If insulated properly, the energy costs are minimal for the benefit you get. I have it in my personal 36×40 and half of a 50×100 we just built for our business. In our new shop, we use a Navien tank that is zoned for shop heat and office heat. It has worked flawlessly. And ditto on what Craig stated above.

carver wrote:

I would do infloor on both sides.

I currently have infloor and a heater in the corner of the garage, wouldn’t go without it again.

For AC, I would get a mini split and install it in the main living room area.

I would like to see the floor plan or pics of the place. Building one myself here that I want my office in and a place to put the toys.

carver wrote:

I would do infloor on both sides.

I currently have infloor and a heater in the corner of the garage, wouldn’t go without it again.

For AC, I would get a mini split and install it in the main living room area.

I would like to see the floor plan or pics of the place. Building one myself here that I want my office in and a place to put the toys.

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MnPat1 wrote:

Don’t forget the floor drains in the garage side. I love the floor heat in my garage and basement. Garage floor dries out really quick.

Floor drains and a wash down station are a must and already in the plans.

Use a Wi-Fi thermostat on the infloor heat so you can turn it on from home. You’ll want Wi-Fi up there for a security system too.

I would at least install it as two separate zones and figure out what you can afford from there. Maybe install a 220v ceiling mounted electric heater to do the quick warm up when needed.

You’ll also want a thermal barrier for the concrete between the two zones in case you haven’t thought about that yet.

Dave maze wrote:

Use a Wi-Fi thermostat on the infloor heat so you can turn it on from home. You’ll want Wi-Fi up there for a security system too.

This for sure!

You would be surprised and how much heat will come from the main house area into the garage. We have rooms above our garage and house beside and it maintains 60 degrees in the garage all winter having the thermostat set at 45. This is all in floor.
I would certainly run the tubing in the concrete and just set up a separate Zone. One thing to consider would be running an exterior Loop from the house return just using the residual Heat for the garage perimeter footings will make a huge difference