We are building a house with a general contractor. Their architect has designed our house from the ground up, and we are very pleased with the result. But now we've encountered a problem. On the upper floor, we will have a large glass section, with windows/glass doors basically from ceiling to floor. The wall is about 6 meters wide, of which the middle 3.6 meters will be made of glass. Now we've been informed by the company that this will cause too much cold draft. We either need to have radiators "below" the windows, i.e., recessed into the floor, or install underfloor heating on the upper floor (they suggest it's most economical to do the entire upper floor if you're going to install heating there anyway, as it eliminates the cost of radiators elsewhere). For me, this sounds strange, but I really have no idea... 
Shouldn't it be possible to have radiators on the side of the window section? Large glass sections are very trendy now - do all others really have recessed radiators/underfloor heating? Or is it perhaps because we're building new that the requirements are higher?
I would appreciate some input from someone who knows more...
Shouldn't it be possible to have radiators on the side of the window section? Large glass sections are very trendy now - do all others really have recessed radiators/underfloor heating? Or is it perhaps because we're building new that the requirements are higher?
I would appreciate some input from someone who knows more...
No, it is not necessary, as long as you have good insulation value in the glass sections and they are made to replace the outer wall, you don't need anything for the cold draught. However, heating is needed, but it can be placed anywhere in principle. Long, elongated designs beside the sections maybe? Thermopanel/purmo has variants.
Underfloor heating is the best solution, requiring a lower supply temperature, i.e. less energy to heat up.
Underfloor heating means free walls and more freedom in furnishing. If radiators are dimensioned correctly, you can have a lower supply temperature than for underfloor heating. If you have underfloor heating on one floor, it's natural to dimension the radiators so that the same supply temperature is needed for both floors.
You need to have really large radiators if they are supposed to manage with lower supply temperatures than underfloor heating. It doesn't take less energy to heat with underfloor heating, the energy amount is the same, but if you have a heat pump it can achieve a better COP, so it will use fewer kWh. There shouldn't be much of a price difference between underfloor heating and radiators, so there isn't much to consider really, just go with the underfloor heating.
Thank you for the responses. I don't have a strong opinion on underfloor heating vs radiators, but since underfloor heating adds an extra cost of 50,000 SEK, I thought it was unnecessary money (mainly because it doesn't matter to me—I don't think radiators are ugly or in the way). Yes, it's small amounts in the grand scheme, but it is one of many small amounts, and we are actively trying to eliminate those unnecessary small amounts.
To clarify: We have received a preliminary price for the whole house, but now this comes as an extra cost when they've calculated on heating/energy/insulation. That is, an extra cost of 50,000 SEK because radiators beside the windows aren't sufficient. So the question is whether it's something to accept, or if it could still be resolved with regular radiators?
I guess it will take quite a long time to recoup 50,000 SEK in heating costs anyway.
To clarify: We have received a preliminary price for the whole house, but now this comes as an extra cost when they've calculated on heating/energy/insulation. That is, an extra cost of 50,000 SEK because radiators beside the windows aren't sufficient. So the question is whether it's something to accept, or if it could still be resolved with regular radiators?
I guess it will take quite a long time to recoup 50,000 SEK in heating costs anyway.
Contact for example Elitfönster and hear what they recommend. The cold draft might be only disturbing when it is the coldest. How many weeks is that, and will you notice it, do you sit there?
What you should check is for which forward temperature the heating system is dimensioned. Here you can save money on heating.
What you should check is for which forward temperature the heating system is dimensioned. Here you can save money on heating.