In-Floor Heat in Fish House

[brooks]

Hello all!

I am thinking about using hydronic in-floor heat in my fish house I plan to build this fall.  I have heard people swear by this and that they will never do any other fish house heating source after doing this.  I am planning to build an 8'x18' V-front with a tandem axle frame.  I am somewhat skeptical about whether or not it would keep the shack warm on the sub-zero weekends up north.  I do realize this initial warm-up time would be lengthy but that I can live with.  This fish house/camper will also be used heavily in the summer as I travel a lot for work and lots of times the best living options are campers.  I am no where near a plumbing expert, but I have attached a rough plumbing diagram.  What are anybody's thoughts?  Would what I have drawn seem to work?  What would I need to add?  Would a heat ex-changer do the job or would I be better off to just have a separate hot water heater for the flooring system?  Any comments (good or bad) are appreciated!

Thanks,

Brooks

 

 

[slurpie]

There was a thread on this before. Looks like it would work. Could also try the electric under floor version and not worry about water lines freezing or breaking.  

[Tom7227]

You need to calculate the number of BTU's it would take to heat the structure the same as you would if it were a home.  Spend some time learning how a system like this works in a home and how it is sized and operated.  They don't use straight water but a mixture of water and antifreeze.  The system is separate from the water system.  Then you have to find out whether you can operate this type of system on a 12vDC powered setup or whether you have to have 120vAC.  A dual powered system may end up costing a lot of money so you need to figure out which is going to work.

[leech~~]

One thing you may want is to have a very heavy insulation barrier in the bottom of the house between the heat system and the ice. After a long weekend you may find yourself in a pond or frozen in pretty well the next time you try to move the house when the puddle refreezes.

Edited September 9, 2015 by leech~~

[Hawg]

Why?

I overthink things also this time of year so I love your thought! Wouldn't it be horribly slow to warm up?

Edited September 10, 2015 by Hawg

[Pikepatrol]

I think you will need a separate water heater because you will have no way of keeping your regular water from freezing in the winter. Also you would want your return line (blue) from the heat exchanger closer to the water heater other wise you will have hot water at your cold faucets.