Heating & Cooling

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Heating and cooling systems are an integral part of your home. Whether you're maintaining a heating or cooling system, or replacing one, you can talk about it on Hometalk. There are HVAC professionals in the Hometalk community who will jump into conversations about anything related to heating and cooling, just to be helpful. There are also homeowners and renters who have dealt with all kinds of heating and cooling issues. From ventilation or boiler issues to thermostats & air conditioners, start talking about heating and cooling on Hometalk.

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Popular

Heating & Cooling: Ductless Mini-Split HVAC

I'm wondering if anyone on Hometalk has had experience with a Ductless Mini-Split HVAC system. We are considering one for our bonus room and based on the research I've read, it seems ...»

Woodbridge Environmental ... 15 hours ago

Mini split systems are a good fit for your basement. You need to provide however a few things ...»
in order for them to work. A place in which to drain any condensate that will develop when running on the cooling mode. You can purchase mini-pumps to send the condensate up and out but they are expensive. So be sure to mount the indoor part above the outside soil level and on an outside wall.
Do your homework on manufactures. While their are many brands, warranty service is another issue all together. I will not name companies or brands, but there are only two systems I will sell my clients because of difficulty in getting repair parts for the others. Remember you get exactly what you pay for.
There are systems made now that have picture frames covering the indoor part of the system. Unique idea, but steer clear of them. I have removed a few of these systems in the past because of part issues not available in my area. They also have poor air flow. They do not push the air out across the room and only blow it out sideways. If the room is larger you want the air to move around to get the best effect from them.
On cost, these systems cost more then a new system for central AC does. equipment alone. Your not really saving much with mini-split other then to not having to install ducts in the rooms which is often difficult with head room in a basement.
Good luck.

Home Maintenance & Repairs: How best to insulate attic?

I am about to put on a new roof, and I am putting in a subfloor in the attic to use it for storage ( for now). I would like to insulate the attic, but am unsure of the "best" way to do ...»

Woodbridge Environmental ... on May 13, 2013

Joe, if the insulation in the home using foam is done correctly and you upgrade your current ...»
HVAC equipment to high efficiency, you should expect to see somewhere in the upper 25-30% range in savings overall. Not to mention greater comfort year round.
Depending upon your states energy star program your monthly savings should be more then it would cost you to finance the project combined with the new energy bills. In other words done correctly with the rebate programs, your combined finance loan with the new utility bills should be less then what your currently paying now for your energy use without doing any of the work. Paybacks can be as little as 7 years. This is what folks in my area have been experiencing with the work I do.

Home Maintenance & Repairs: Air Conditioner Maintenance?

I live in a pretty old apartment with an air conditioner that's probably been here since the 70's. I'm not sure what kind of maintenance it has received, if any. Is it necessary to do regular maintenance like changing coolant or something?

Lulu D on May 09, 2013

Thanks Woodbridge Environmental Tiptophouse.com! I'll try that.

Can I have central air conditioning without a heating system 1400 SqFt

I would like central air conditioning for approx. 1400 Sq.Ft house. 2nd floor is a loft open at both ends. Structure is insulated but no furnace exists. Is there such a thing as a Heat Pump that only cools?

A1tec service on May 04, 2013

they now make mini split look like picture or fit behind tv most of all make sure you live in ...»
part of the country that heatpump will work some place in the us heatpump want work .you may have go with a/c only and electric heat strip

Home Maintenance & Repairs: What is an "energy crusher" and is it worth the money? $329 installed, per Dave on WSB radio, ATL?

Ed Muser on Apr 02, 2013

I am an Engineer and an Electrical Contractor and have sold and profited on power factor ...»
control for over 10 years. As a commercial technology it works as advertised. As a residential technology it does not because by law, all residential meters measure real power only. There is no basis in the physics for this to work on a residential system nor does it stand up to any measurements I have performed. I do not dispute that there are those who claim savings based on the electric bill, but I also note that historical compairisons of electric bills show variations as high as +/- 25% year over year. And not to paint anyone with a brush, but I have seen a great deal of shilling in boards like this (sorry).

Would a framed thermostat interfere with its reading the temperature correctly?

There are a few great ideas where people have been covering up garage door openers etc, but one where they just put a frame around the thermostat. It is still open, not enclosed, but it ...»

Woodbridge Environmental ... on Mar 29, 2013

Digital has nothing to do with it sensing temps MIles. If the air is not flowing correctly ...»
over and around the thermostat it will not function as it is intended to do. Only thing digital has to offer is that the thermostat does not need to be level to work and it tends to be a bit more precise in reading the temps as compared to the bi-metal and mercury types.

Is it worthwhile to get HVAC ducts cleaned?

There seem to be conflicting opinions on this but some recommend that if it is done to get a company that is a member of the National Air Duct Cleaners Association (NADCA). I called my ...»

KMS Woodworks on Mar 24, 2013

To effectively "clean" the air via a filtration system, you need to move a lot of air. By a ...»
lot I'm talking about air handlers the size of a refrigerator for each room. The small "tower" units with a foot print the size of a coffee maker help but are really only cleaning a very small percentage of the air.
When I worked in the pharmaceutical industry we had a number of different levels of "clean" The area I worked in the most was the lower level of these clean areas and comprised about 10000 sq feet. The air handlers for that area were in the neighborhood of "school bus" size. The flow rates were in the ball park of about 50 air changes per hour. With the air changes in the "real" clean room about 500 per hour.
For the lower level that means about one complete air exchange per minute. If you can visualize all of the air in the entire room passing through a filter every minute then you have an idea of how big the fans / blowers need to be. These systems use a fair amount of power and run 24/7, the noise can also be an issue. For use the "motors" were located outside the suite but there was always the "hiss" of that much air moving about.