Flow Frames: Revolutionary beekeeping puts honey on tap.

Did you see this page about when should you replace windows? And what is bugging you most, is it the humidity between the panes? If so, what about only replacing those ones?

The thing about replacing windows is that unless they are single pane, rotted or just leaking air like crazy, rarely will you see a financial return making it worth the cost of replacement. To cover something you mentioned – by UV rays I’m thinking you probably mean the Low E coatings on modern windows. Those are great but not essential to have. Gas-gas filled windows are also worth the investment initially, even though the gas will pretty much have dissipated after 7 or 8 years, the savings in those years is worth it.

Please fill us in on why you think you need to replace your windows if its only a few that have humidity between the panes. And to hopefully help alleviate your anxiety about this, I would suggest you wipe the idea of full house window replacement from your mind.  Humidity between panes sucks, so maybe replace the thermals in those ones if you want, or, you could contact a company that does ‘repairs’ on those and see what that entails and if it's worth it. As mentioned in the article, we aren’t fans of putting valves in window panes as it sort of defeats the purpose, but maybe after the humidity is out you could seal the holes.

I would suggest you caulk around any leaky panes or frames maybe, but you will never get your money out of full replacement so there is no point keeping yourself awake stressing about it. Let us know a few more details if you want as to their condition and we can maybe come up with more cheap solutions. 

Radiant heating is very comfortable, and there are really only minimal differences between the comfort that different systems will deliver. I would base my choice of systems mostly on cost and ease of installation, along with design considerations of the house.

Warmboard sounds like a system worth considering if you desire radiant floor heat in upper floors, as are other products, but to answer your slab question, I wouldn’t be using it in basements. You simply need to embed tubing directly in the concrete, no need for additional products.  We have lots of pages on Radiant Floor Heating, have a look here and you will probably find all you need - 

Choosing a Radiant Floor heating System

I took a look at the  Warmboard website, and a few things jump out at me right away that I wasn’t overly impressed with. Any company would be foolish not to highlight their advantages while at the same time making little mention of their disadvantages, that’s business. But coming out of the gate with misleading claims makes me wonder what other questionable things may be going on.  

1 – “Our patented design is the industry-leading low-mass radiant heating panel”.

While it is obviously true that it is low-mass, I wouldn’t necessarily consider it an advantage. A lack of thermal mass means the system will heat up more quickly than a system that has some mass to it, the flip side is that it will cool down quickly as well. In some situations that may be an advantage, but the opposite is true as well. Read more about thermal mass in homes here.

“Warmboard provides the fastest response”  Yes, a lack of thermal mass would mean it provides a quicker response. Is that a good thing? As mentioned above, if it warms up in minutes it will cool down in minutes as well. So, in the event of short-term power outage (think a day or two) you have no reservoir of heat to keep your home comfortable, which is one of the things I personally like about radiant heat. 

''Warmboard is a giant leap forward in the evolution of radiant heating. Every aspect of the design and manufacturing of Warmboard has been implemented to maximize performance.''

I don’t see any leap at all here, I just see another fish in the pond.  When you run heated liquid through tubes in a floor, the floor warms up. There can be some minor variances in the comfort they deliver based on a few design considerations, but there is nothing ground breaking here. 

“Our high conductivity brings the lowest water temperatures, decreasing energy use (and energy bills)”

Nope. And this is the part where I become suspicious, when they make claims that just don't line up with the laws of physics. They may have lower water temperatures, but if there are less BTUs being generated, there are less being delivered into the house.  Injecting heat into a mass of concrete (typical radiant floor systems) means the heat is in the building envelope and will be delivered eventually.

To put that claim in context - you will use less gas by the minute when driving at 60KM per hour rather than 80KM per hour, but it will take you longer to get where you’re going. Since you are using ‘less gas’ for a longer period of time are you actually using less gas? Nope. The claims on Warmboard's website make as much sense to me as a car salesperson telling me I'll get there just as fast at 60Km per hour in their car as I would at 80KM per hour in their competitors car. 

I would price it out compared to other systems, and mostly watch an installation video and see if its a system you think you'd like to work with. but don’t be dazzled by their energy efficiency claims.  It’s a fine product in the right application, but there is nothing all that new about it as near as we can see.