HVAC Decision help

[bulletsmith]

I hadn't considered this last option. I'm not really in love with the box on the wall look of the thing to be honest. Though I'd have to admit, it's probably less offensive than window ac units.

 

[tmschuller]

Agree on the mini splits.. Maintain several at my job and they are all DC powered=expensive. Called factory support on the heat pump units we have.. Not easy to work on. I'm sure the cost will go down as more units are bought but they are not the best choice for a entire house. A well designed system will serve you for many years. You pay upfront or you can pay down the road with headaches and repairs.

 

[Ericpwp]

Same issue. Love the rads. We have a portable AC unit in the bedroom and lots of ceiling fans. We looked at a spacepack install , and I'm looking at minisplits now. I plan in conditioning the upstairs only if I can.

 

[churchmouse]

Same issue. Love the rads. We have a portable AC unit in the bedroom and lots of ceiling fans. We looked at a spacepack install , and I'm looking at minisplits now. I plan in conditioning the upstairs only if I can.

Put a unit in the attic or a closet space and duct through the attic.

 

[churchmouse]

Agree on the mini splits.. Maintain several at my job and they are all DC powered=expensive. Called factory support on the heat pump units we have.. Not easy to work on. I'm sure the cost will go down as more units are bought but they are not the best choice for a entire house. A well designed system will serve you for many years. You pay upfront or you can pay down the road with headaches and repairs.

Exactly. The Mini-Split is good for a single isolated room/office etc but just not something I would do in the whole house.

 

[Ericpwp]

Put a unit in the attic or a closet space and duct through the attic.

I think I may have just the space. Only seeing furnace/ac combos before... they have central ac units without the furnace?

 

[churchmouse]

I think I may have just the space. Only seeing furnace/ac combos before... they have central ac units without the furnace?

Yes.
Simple Air Handling unit with the evaporator built into it. Smaller than most furnaces.
I am installing one right now. I measures 14" wide and 22" deep. Not sure of the exact height.
You just need to get a good return air to it and duct it up through the attic if it is accessible.

 

[Ericpwp]

Thanks, I looked and think attic access for the duct work is the issue. It is a sloped roof above the closet space I was thinking of just out of reach of the attic space.

Sorry bulletsmith.

 

[87iroc]

Space paks never worked well for anybody.

According to place I talked to...there was ONE company in town that LOVED them and pushed them on an unsuspecting group of customers. I suspect easy install, high profit margin...drowned the market in them.

Guy I talked to at a local Heating place said he could just fix what we have....but I told him I didn't like it...then he went in the story above. I know it'll be expensive but it will be hard to sell the place w/o central air.

 

[87iroc]

Yes.
Simple Air Handling unit with the evaporator built into it. Smaller than most furnaces.
I am installing one right now. I measures 14" wide and 22" deep. Not sure of the exact height.
You just need to get a good return air to it and duct it up through the attic if it is accessible.

Yah, last time I talked to the HVAC places they quoted electric furnaces(all of them I thought) Guy that is coming out this week said 'you don't need a furnace. just the air handler'...so I might not be getting a backup furnace. Fine with me. He said it would save me a grand probably over putting a furnace in too. As we plan on moving someday I suspect...I'm going cost effective...not Cadillac on ours.

 

[femurphy77]

I have the same issue. When we bought our house...it had a 'space pac' central air system in the attic. It was central air system that worked on the philosophy of high velocity air. It was designed to retrofit old homes and the ductwork could be fed through walls. It was great...I guess...for what it was designed for. It never worked well for us.

So when it went out, I had 3 quotes come in for retrofitting a more normal system in. 6-11k was the price range(single story ranch with nice crawl space). We opted for window units for a few years. We're now getting ready to pay someone to retrofit the forced air CA system in the house.(I'm in Columbus area). IN the process we'll get a central air unit...and a new furnace. We'll leave the boiler system in as I like it as well. We'll have a backup heat source(they're wanting to make it electric...as I believe its simpler to install. As we already have gas...I don't really care). It will be an interesting adventure...especially to see how they punch holes through some of our tile floors. Not worried about most of them...except for the 2 bathrooms(one with heating wires in the floor) tile that they'll have to punch in to. As we are ready to spend the cash...I am going to ask many more implementation questions than I did 4-5 yrs ago when initial quotes came in.

Bad thing is...I don't think it adds much value to the house. Its expected to have CA today. Although we just had our house appraised and it was super low...I think its because eot he lack of CA in the house.

I have to disagree that the lack of CA affects your appraisal but may be wrong. We sold a house about 8 years ago which had radiant ceiling heat and 2 window units. 1700 sq ft brick ranch so probably similar to yours. We ultimately put CA in it just to sell it! We had so many people that wanted the house but were unfamiliar with the heating system that they were afraid of it and to be honest I bypassed this same house myself several times early in our search before I bought it due to the heat/air situation. The house appraised and sold for more than I paid for it a few years prior. So I'm of the opinion that it will affect saleability not price but then I'm not a realtor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night either.

 

[87iroc]

I have to disagree that the lack of CA affects your appraisal but may be wrong. We sold a house about 8 years ago which had radiant ceiling heat and 2 window units. 1700 sq ft brick ranch so probably similar to yours. We ultimately put CA in it just to sell it! We had so many people that wanted the house but were unfamiliar with the heating system that they were afraid of it and to be honest I bypassed this same house myself several times early in our search before I bought it due to the heat/air situation. The house appraised and sold for more than I paid for it a few years prior. So I'm of the opinion that it will affect saleability not price but then I'm not a realtor and I didn't stay in a Holiday Inn Express last night either.

You could be right. The appraisal we just got done was disappointingly low(about same as what we paid for it 9 yrs ago...but with 2 remodeled bathrooms in the mean time and siding redone). Regardless...I think how I used to think of it is 'its expected a house these days has central air and thermal pain windows'. Not having those 2 hurts the saleability...but adding them doesn't add any value to the house. The appraisal never said anything about the lack of CA as a factor.

Hence the reason...I'm going economical. I can always upgrade the air handler in the future if we decide to do away with the boiler.

 

[87iroc]

OP...I'll post back what my simple ranch home quote is with some more details so you can get a feel for it. It sounds like your house is more complicated than mine though

 

[churchmouse]

Having been involved in a few deals to upgrade homes to CA it depends on the area and the market.
If a buyer sees a fairly new Hi-Eff system in place it is a serious plus.

 

[churchmouse]

You could be right. The appraisal we just got done was disappointingly low(about same as what we paid for it 9 yrs ago...but with 2 remodeled bathrooms in the mean time and siding redone). Regardless...I think how I used to think of it is 'its expected a house these days has central air and thermal pain windows'. Not having those 2 hurts the saleability...but adding them doesn't add any value to the house. The appraisal never said anything about the lack of CA as a factor.

Hence the reason...I'm going economical. I can always upgrade the air handler in the future if we decide to do away with the boiler.

Just a note as to the boiler....if you have been loving with HW heating system it will take a good while to get used to forced air. Been here as well.

 

[lovemachine]

I have a 2 bedroom ranch style home. Baseboard heating all around, with an A/C in the attic. My little town was able to get natural gas recently. I would LOVE to be able to install a furnace. My problem is that I don't think it would be smart to use my existing duct work that's in the attic. It would be smarter to install the duct in the crawl space.

I bet it'll be expensive....

 

[bulletsmith]

Thanks, I looked and think attic access for the duct work is the issue. It is a sloped roof above the closet space I was thinking of just out of reach of the attic space.

Sorry bulletsmith.

NOPE - This is exactly the conversation I was hoping for. Just looking for experience and opinions. It's not anything that anybody in my daily travels has dealt with, so this input is very helpful.

 

[churchmouse]

I have a 2 bedroom ranch style home. Baseboard heating all around, with an A/C in the attic. My little town was able to get natural gas recently. I would LOVE to be able to install a furnace. My problem is that I don't think it would be smart to use my existing duct work that's in the attic. It would be smarter to install the duct in the crawl space.

I bet it'll be expensive....

Use what you have in place. If it works with the A/C it will work with a furnace.