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Piwoslaw,
The book you mention sounds very interesting. I sure would like to know more about that!
Regarding using an Air Conditioner turned backwards, I have heard of people doing just that. I am currently using a Sanyo Mini-Split heat pump and I have examined it and compared it to an AC of similar capacity. The thing that really stands out is how much larger the area of the evaporator core is on the heat pump, compared to the AC unit. It's over twice the size.
I believe that the amount of heat that can be transfered by a given volume of water compared to a given volume of air is about 3500 to 1.
I think that the energy consumed by a fan to move a unit heat in air is greater than the energy consumed by a pump to move the same amount of heat in water. I don't have a figure for that.
Radiant floor installers figure that there is a 30% efficiency advantage over central air systems. They also have the advantage of no noise, no draft, extraordinary reliability, and greater comfort.
But, all that aside, turning an AC backwards is much simpler, and should be more efficient than using resistance heating.
Cheers,
-AC_Hacker
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