Building a New Cabin, Need Some Advice

[MNBoatman]

I am planning the build of a lake cabin in far Northern Minnesota in 2014. I am currently researching and evaluating my options to heat the place. I am intrigued by in-floor heat and like to burn wood. I am looking for some advice from people here who have been through this and know a lot more than me.
Assumptions:
· 1,500 sqft 3BR cabin, 1.5 stories with a cathedral ceiling great room.
· The foundation will be a Frost protected slab.
· Wood is abundant and low cost in the area.
· Current propane cost: $2.79/gallon
· Current electricity costs: Base $.08/kWh, Dual fuel $.057/kWh and Off-Peak $.046/kWh.
· During the off season, the cabin will have limited use and will be shut down (water turned off and left unheated).
I am currently thinking about a wood burning fireplace with ducts to the bedrooms to supplement in-floor heat. I am concerned that a slab system would have long lag time warming up the cabin if I come up for a weekend. What advice do you have?

 

[mark cline]

Radiant floor heat in the slab, heated from a small propane or oil fired boiler . Be sure to insulate the heck out of the underside of the slab. I'm using 2" polyisocyanurate rigid board under my basement floor radiant system , then 4"of concrete , stamped, for a finished look. Over insulate the edge of the slab , that's where the majority of your heat loss will be.If you can find a wood stove that has a water heating coil in it , to heat your slab and the wood stove will heat the. cabin. You will need to use an antifreeze solution in the radiant system for freeze protection.
We started to build a small cabin , as we moved a long , it grew from about 1000sq ft to 2100sq ft. Radiant heat throughout , walk out basement family room and shop. We will have 2 woodstoves and an antique wood fired cookstove for our main heat, with the propane fired radiant floor as a back up. The basement woodstove has a stainless coil to heat water for the basement radiant floor to take the chill out of the concrete.

 

[xman23]

It sounds a bit like my place. Our loft bedroom and bath overlooking the living room kitchen and dining room. The loft bedroom has a half wall. Two back bedrooms and bath on the main floor. The top of the house is open from one end to the other. We never use any heat up there. I designed it with the wood stove being the focal point in the living room. It's a great looking fire and heats the whole house no matter what the temp is. The back bedrooms are about 5 degrees lower than the main room and the loft is 5 degrees above. We have electric baseboard for when we are not there. Run only the main room at 45. Full basement kept at 45. The electric is easy, cheep to install and allows the back bedrooms to have heat when the doors are closed. When we are there we use only the wood stove. The open floor plan is great for the wood stove, which is very concentrated heat source. It's all about insulation in the walls and ceiling. Use good windows.

About the slab, I don't have one so......here's what I think......They can be cold, damp, but today with insulation below I guess living on a slab can be made to work. I recall one years ago that would burn your feet on, couldn't use rugs and the dogs wouldn't walk on it. With only radiant it will take days to bring up a cold house. A friend has it on all levels and it's not enough heat on cold days. It's 120 degree water. All issues with the design. Radiant to warm the slab would be nice, but not the only heat source. Again only my guess.

 

[begreen]

Given the parameters and usage I would skip the slab heat and put the money into insulation. These systems work best when the home is kept at a fairly uniform temp. They are slow to recover major temp changes. Your electric is reasonable so I would combine generous baseboard electric with an oversized woodstove. It's going to take a lot of btus quickly coming on to heat up a stone cold cabin when it's -10 outside.

 

[Just coog]

Given the parameters and usage I would skip the slab heat and put the money into insulation. These systems work best when the home is kept at a fairly uniform temp. They are slow to recover major temp changes. Your electric is reasonable so I would combine generous baseboard electric with an oversized woodstove. It's going to take a lot of btus quickly coming on to heat up a stone cold cabin when it's -10 outside.

-10 below in Northern MN might be a heat wave! I have radiant floors in both of my homes, but I agree it's not ideal for a cabin for all of the reasons you listed.