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Need Advice On Heating System

T

Tynan

Jan 1, 1970
0
I am adding approx 1000 sq ft to my 1800 sq ft house. It is 90 yrs old, 2
floors, with an oil furnace and hot water radiators all on one zone. No
central air. We want to add central air and that is the problem. Our
contractor says we have two choices. (A) Keep the existing system (new
radiators in the addition) and install high velocity a/c. He says this is
necessary because the existing pipes for the radiators leave little room for
normal size air ducts. (B) Completely replace the heating system we have
with a hydro-air system, which would clear the way for traditional ducts.
Option A would give us 3 zones (existing and 2 for the addition), while
Option B would give is 2 zones (1 up and 1 down). I am nervous about
switching heating systems as the current one works great. What is the
typical installation cost between Options A and B? Are there efficiency
differences? Are there other options?






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S

SQLit

Jan 1, 1970
0
Tynan said:
I am adding approx 1000 sq ft to my 1800 sq ft house. It is 90 yrs old, 2
floors, with an oil furnace and hot water radiators all on one zone. No
central air. We want to add central air and that is the problem. Our
contractor says we have two choices. (A) Keep the existing system (new
radiators in the addition) and install high velocity a/c. He says this is
necessary because the existing pipes for the radiators leave little room for
normal size air ducts. (B) Completely replace the heating system we have
with a hydro-air system, which would clear the way for traditional ducts.
Option A would give us 3 zones (existing and 2 for the addition), while
Option B would give is 2 zones (1 up and 1 down). I am nervous about
switching heating systems as the current one works great. What is the
typical installation cost between Options A and B? Are there efficiency
differences? Are there other options?

I lived in a two story well insulated 1890's farm house in Iowa. We moved in
and did not even have running water, a hand pump in the kitchen. Mom got bit
in the butt by a bee one night in the outhouse and the next week the plumber
started ripping the ceiling out of proposed den. Toilet and washer dryer
when upstairs with the ceiling furred down a foot to accommodate the piping.
We had electric strip heat in the ceilings. After one hot and humid summer
dad installed 2 large 220v a/c's in the walls. One upstairs and one down.
Only problem was that we had keep the stair hall door shut when sleeping.
Damn physics, cold air fell down the stair well. All in all worked pretty
good.
Parents were not willing to soffit the home to hide the ducts for the
upstairs. Crawl space underneath was to small and no where to put a air
handler down stairs.

So you have some choices, design in the space need for the A/C in the new
part and a place to put the equipment. If the new part is 2 story then you
could duct into the old, only 800sq feet. Keep the old heating system if
big enough to run the extra space use it there as well. You would have 2
systems, only one would run at a time. Good idea me thinks. My a/c is
electric, and the heat gas, so my compressor only runs in the summer.

You could put an remote coil in the old part for a/c. Then all you have to
run is freon lines to the compressor on the ground. Last thought is a
standard roof top unit. Lots of them here in AZ.

Personally I would stay away from a high pressure system. They tend to be
noisy when running.

Lots of choices, depends on the bank book. The impossible only costs a
little more.... humor intended
 
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