Eichler Radiant Heating Repair & Upgrades in Palo Alto
Palo Alto has some of the best-known Eichler neighborhoods in the country, and most were built with radiant heat in the slab. We keep those systems running, find leaks, and help you plan what comes next.
Call 650-460-3483438 Cambridge Ave, 94306
Eichler radiant heating circulates warm water through pipes embedded in the concrete slab. In Palo Alto’s Greenmeadow, Fairmeadow and other Eichler tracts, original steel or copper pipes are now 65 to 70 years old. ComfortFlow repairs boilers and pumps, tests for slab leaks, and designs upgrades: a new boiler or air-to-water heat pump, or ductless heat pumps to add cooling.
How Eichler radiant heat works
Joseph Eichler’s homes put the heat in the floor. A boiler or water heater warms water, a circulator pump pushes it through a loop of pipe buried in the concrete slab, and the whole floor becomes a gentle radiator. It’s quiet, dust-free and beautifully even, which is why many owners fight to keep it.
The weak point is age. Original systems used steel or copper pipe, and decades of corrosion, slab movement and water chemistry lead to leaks. Greenmeadow alone has roughly 300 Eichlers built between 1954 and 1957, and Fairmeadow’s “Circles” date to the same era.
Signs your radiant system needs service
- Floors that feel cool in some rooms and warm in others
- The boiler pressure gauge keeps dropping, or you add water often
- Warm spots on the floor that stay warm when the heat is off
- A higher water bill with no explanation
- Gurgling or banging in the pipes
- The boiler short cycles or won’t light
Our radiant services
Boiler and pump repair
We service the heat source and circulators, replace failed pumps, zone valves, expansion tanks and controls, and check combustion safety on gas boilers.
Leak diagnosis
Pressure testing isolates which loop is losing water, and thermal imaging helps locate the leak in the slab. Then we talk about whether a spot repair makes sense.
Re-piping options
When the slab loops are failing, the choices are abandoning the slab loops in favor of overhead or wall-mounted radiant panels, low-profile overlays, or switching the house to forced air or ductless. Each has trade-offs in cost, disruption and comfort, and we’ll walk through them honestly.
Heat pump conversion
An air-to-water heat pump can replace a gas boiler and feed a healthy radiant system. Alternatively, ductless heat pumps can take over heating and add cooling, letting you retire a failing slab system entirely. See ductless mini-splits and heat pumps.
Adding cooling to an Eichler
Eichlers have big glass walls and little attic space, so they heat up fast on summer afternoons. Ductless mini-splits are the most common answer. We plan head placement around the post-and-beam ceilings and route line sets to respect the exterior design. Our guide Eichler radiant heat: repair or replace goes deeper.
Eichler Radiant Heating, step by step
- Listen and testPressure test, boiler check and a walk across every floor.
- LocateIsolate the failing loop and use thermal imaging.
- OptionsRepair, re-pipe, or convert, with honest trade-offs.
- Comfort planHeating and, if you want it, cooling that fits the architecture.
Often paired with eichler radiant heating
Eichler Radiant Heating across Palo Alto and nearby
We’re based at 438 Cambridge Ave and work in every Palo Alto neighborhood. Local notes for each area:
New to us? Start with our overview of HVAC in Palo Alto.
Eichler Radiant Heating questions,
answered.
Straight answers before you book.
Can Eichler radiant heat be repaired?
Often, yes. Boilers, pumps and controls are routine repairs. Slab pipe leaks can sometimes be spot repaired, but widespread corrosion usually means a different approach for some or all of the house.
How do I know if my slab pipes are leaking?
A pressure gauge that keeps falling, frequent need to add water, warm spots that stay warm when the heat is off, and unexplained water use are the classic signs. A pressure test confirms it.
Can I add air conditioning to my Eichler?
Yes. Ductless mini-splits are the most common choice because Eichlers have little or no attic space for ducts.
Can a heat pump power radiant floors?
Yes, an air-to-water heat pump can heat the water for a radiant system, as long as the loops are in good shape and the system is designed for lower water temperatures.
Do you work in Greenmeadow and Fairmeadow?
Yes. See our Greenmeadow and Fairmeadow pages for neighborhood-specific notes.
Let’s make home
feel better.
Tell us what’s happening with your heating or cooling, and we’ll start with the right questions.