Radiant Floor + Oil Boiler?
Smart to run radiant floor heat off an oil boiler? Do I need a buffer tank to avoid overrunning or short cycling?
Finishing the basement, relocating all plumbing to new utility closet, moving existing boiler, re-plumbing. New England, 2,400sqft house. Doing it myself.
Looking to experiment with radiant heat + aluminum spreaders under the exposed joists if the main floor above basement. If we like it I’ll expand to the rest of the main floor, then perhaps basement floor heating on top of the slab. Boiler is a working 30 year old Weil McClain / Beckett, everything appears replaced except the cast iron. I have a lot of degrees of freedom on if and how I do this. Bonus: I have an extra unused 60 gallon indirect water storage tank I could use as a buffer tank (using heat exchanger or not).
Stage 1 - Try RFH: Can I just run an extra leg off boiler manifold, to a mixing valve, with a dedicated pump, add a new thermostat? One PEX loop @ 280 ft.
Stage 2 - All In: Replace Stage #1 with a multi-loop radiant manifold. Three loops at 280ft, 300ft, 300ft.
Advice? Videos on similar projects?
Posted Dec 29, 2025, 8:01 PM UTC