I'm inclined to allow for radiant panel hydronic heating in a renovation I'm doing, although I probably can't afford to install it just yet. I could easily install the pipework though (rough-in) since the floors are up. This sort of implies that I need to get the design basics right, even if the details are left til later. Hydronics companies indicate that there is real black magic involved, but it seems pretty straight-forward to me. Am I right in thinking that I require a ring-main system, either run from room to room or via a manifold, as a starting point, and using a pex-al-pex type of pipe? Or is it really as complicated as they are telling me?


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