Originally Posted by jplinville

does the heat feel more like the forced air systems with cold spots in the rooms or more like radiant heat, where it's a more comfortable feeling?

I grew up with wood burning stove for heat in the main part of the house, and gas forced air systems for the rooms that didn't benefit from the wood burning stove.

Currently, our house has a 35 year old gas forced air system without A/C, which is a bit unbearable during the summer. I was quoted between $5 and $10k for a new system, near the $10k mark with central air. When I get the kitchen and bathroom done, I'm thinking of radiant floor heat.

My dream is to get rid of the old 55 gallon water heater and go with a tankless system, but the payback for one of those systems isn't in the time range I'm hoping.

Due to living in coal country, I'd think there would be problems with drilling for a geothermal system here...

When the time comes for us to move to our property in Utah, we've decided to build most of the house underground, with a modest dwelling above ground. This decision was made on the premise that heating and cooling prices would be much cheaper.