Radiant heat is popular in Fairbanks, Alaska because it makes for a very comfortable heat. However, when my husband and I were planning our heating system for our new home we opted not to put in a radiant system because of the huge amount of fuel we saw other people going through each year. We decided to go with a wood stove and a small heater on the bottom floor. Last year we did not go through 300 gallons of fuel, but we know of people with radiant systems that went through 5 to 10 times that much fuel last winter. Radiant is great if you want consistent heat in every single room of your house. We decided we didn't mind if the bedrooms were a bit cooler if it meant we could save oil. With dwindling oil supplies there is some logic to wearing a sweater and accepting that some rooms will be warmer and some colder, like it always was years ago.

Radiant heat is popular in Fairbanks, Alaska because it makes for a very comfortable heat. However, when my husband and I were planning our heating system for our new home we opted not to put in a radiant system because of the huge amount of fuel we saw other people going through each year. We decided to go with a wood stove and a small heater on the bottom floor. Last year we did not go through 300 gallons of fuel, but we know of people with radiant systems that went through 5 to 10 times that much fuel last winter. Radiant is great if you want consistent heat in every single room of your house. We decided we didn't mind if the bedrooms were a bit cooler if it meant we could save oil. With dwindling oil supplies there is some logic to wearing a sweater and accepting that some rooms will be warmer and some colder, like it always was years ago.

Radiant heat is popular in Fairbanks, Alaska because it makes for a very comfortable heat. However, when my husband and I were planning our heating system for our new home we opted not to put in a radiant system because of the huge amount of fuel we saw other people going through each year. We decided to go with a wood stove and a small heater on the bottom floor. Last year we did not go through 300 gallons of fuel, but we know of people with radiant systems that went through 5 to 10 times that much fuel last winter. Radiant is great if you want consistent heat in every single room of your house. We decided we didn't mind if the bedrooms were a bit cooler if it meant we could save oil. With dwindling oil supplies there is some logic to wearing a sweater and accepting that some rooms will be warmer and some colder, like it always was years ago.

We are building a small log home in western Washington State, near the mountains and planning on passive solar south wall. The cost quoted us for geothermal radiant heat is $24,000. WOW! The house is 30 x 36 with daylight (walk out) basement. We are an elderly couple on pension...no big bucks and past the age of heavy work...My husband is considering a wood or gas stove. Will that and the passive solar be enough?

Darien, I have to agree with you. My wife and I built a passive solar off-grid home in VT and it had a radiant slab as well. We had a VT Castings fireplace insert and a masonry cook oven and we were always plenty warm even at-20 plus. Always cool in the summer as well. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

I agree with Darien. I have a passive solar, Energy Star house in Maine, primarily heated by a masonry wood stove. Because I needed to put in a slab floor to make best use of the solar gain, I added radiant heat to it. This winter, sun heated the house (day and night) at temperatures around freezing or above. The wood stove provided heat at temperatures below freezing, but I'd use the radiant heat when I was unable to use the wood stove or when the temperatures fell to minus 10 or below at night. My experience is that the slab never really feels "warm to the touch" but it doesn't feel cool either. People in the house feel comfy and cozy when the radiant heat is on. Visitors can't believe the slab floor is concrete!

I wonder if this writer has lived in a very northern climate. I live in northern Vermont, have a super-insulated house with passive solar, and the radiant slab does an incredible job of evenly distributing heat. Our main source is wood but when it's 30 below - it's cold!