Hydronic Hot Air System, Help???

GMAN_2006

I will be building a new 3600 sq ft two story home in NE Pennsylvania. The main section is basically a traditional center hall colonial. Off to one side is a 20x20 family room w/ sitting area & walk-in closets above off the upstairs master BR. On the opposite end of the main house section is a 10x20 mud-room/storgae area leading to a two car attached garage. The room above the garage will serve as a fourth bedroom.
I would love to do all radiant floor heating w/ traditional air, but the budget won't allow it. One HVAC contractor that I spoke to suggested and quoted what he reffered to as a Hydronic air system. He offered (2) 3.5 ton Goodman heat pumps and a Columbia 145,000 BTU oil fired boiler + ductwork & installation for a little under $20K. He said the hot water will be supplied to a coil in the duct work thus providing the heat for the circulated air.

I have never heard of such a system and would appreciate any expert advice anyone can provide, including pros & cons compared to a conventional heat pump system with gas fired furnace back-up. Thanks.

jmic

GMAN,
I'm now in the process of doing a hydro system in my house (approx. 2900 sq ft) Also we use this type of system pretty exclusively in the homes that we do down county ( 3000- 10,000 sq ft).
One good advantage I see is that you can isolate different areas of a house easily with out going nuts trying to get chases all over for the duct work (basement unit and attic unit. You can get double duty out of the duct work by also getting the central a.c. You can add humidifier to the system so the air in the house is not so dry. Also split up the units with zone dampers to get different zones on each floor. Well if you're lucky some HVAC guys will come along and be more helpful, but from my standpiont it's a good sytem.

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Joe