[pianotech] Protection from underfloor heating

Jim Ialeggio jim at grandpianosolutions.com
Tue Dec 11 07:44:45 MST 2012


Jon Page said:

<To start with, we always say not to place a piano too close to a 
radiator, so don't locate a piano on top of one. The radiant heat will 
dry the wood too much, the interior will be a 'hot box' in and of itself.

Not a fair comparison.  A traditional radiator is hot, often too hot for 
sustained touch, which means, 120-140 deg surface temp. Water temp in 
the radiator is much hotter, around 180 deg I think. Notice how 
baseboard hot water is protected from surroundings by a shroud.

An infloor system should be running at surface temperatures that are 
only faintly warm to the touch, or even just under skin temp. What is 
skin temp?...Its not 98.6deg...its got to be lower. My system water temp 
is supplied at 110deg. This means, by the time the 110 deg water heats 
the floor, surface temp of the floor is not even necessarily warm to the 
touch. Put another way the floors are not radiating cold as floors, 
walls and windowes usually do, but not necessarily radiating hot either. 
Surface temp is often just the slightest bit cool to the touch. UNless 
of course the house is drafty. Then the system like any other system 
gets cranked, but still it never functions like or at the temperatures a 
conductive radiator functions at...apples to oranges...


Jim Ialeggio

-- 
Jim Ialeggio	
jim at grandpianosolutions.com
978 425-9026
Shirley Center, MA



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