Folks
I am in the NYC area and have a pretty poorly installed low-efficiency HVAC system that's quite leaky and blows some dust on the 1st floor. Our home is 100 years old and insulation only exists in the attic and it has a new roof (no insulation in external stucco walls which are made of lots of stucco, wood, mesh). I tried to put band aids and got an Aprilaire system installed but it hasn't helped much due to leaky duct work. Let's just say the Aprilaire installer didn't give me the right advice in the first place. Also, the indoor heating/cooling furnace is about 15 years old and in average to bad shape - it's motor wasn't held correctly and became dislodged and had to be fixed recently. The ductwork is poorly done and has leaks in numerous places and that's just what we can see and it could be much worse inside the walls. After we purchased the house, we've realized the shoddy contractors that the last owner hired including one that used a large plastic bag to protect against a leaky roof slate tile (there are 10 other examples I can provide just like this one)
My primary priority by far for the future is air quality as I am an extreme pollen allergy sufferer for 2 months of the year. Instead of putting band aids in, I've decided to take the right steps to better air quality and if possible, better efficiency during both cold and warm months given we plan to live here at least 10+ years. We have traditionally set the heating at 67 and even with that, our monthly gas bill in Feb or March is $500. We only set the AC about 10 days and in a prior test, using the AC for 30 days straight (both basement and 2nd floor units) was an increase of $400 for the month. If that can be reduced to $200 with a newer system, we'll certainly be in a position to use the AC more often during the summer
Questions
- One of the benefits that supporters of ductless mini-split state you can turn on heating or cooling in individual rooms and thus save energy. But is this really true given warm air moves into cold spaces. In my open-layout home, if I turn on heating in the office, won't the warm air simply move into the cold areas such as living room & kitchen causing the unit to stay on constantly. Hence, wouldn't energy consumption turning on a single unit be approximately the same as turning on all 3 units on the 1st floor. Secondly, even with all 3 units on, won't heat simply keep moving up and warm up the entire 2nd floor. I'm not sure if I understand why this factor is being touted as higher efficiency compared to central air and if I'm reasoning correctly
- For ductless, one HVAC company said if we go ductless, we'll need 2 external units and 6 indoor units (3 on each floor). If we place a unit in a 21x12x8 MBR which also has a door into the 8x8x8 bathroom which also has a small window, would it heat the bathroom or would we need an air handler in the bathroom too?
- Am I crazy considering a mini ductless given I already have an entire ducted system in place and should really consider migrating to a high-efficiency central air system. Of course, I'll have to replace all the duct work given it's been an extremely shoddy job 20 years ago and I've been told a high-efficiency system needs new duct work anyways
- If somebody knows a neutral party who can come to our home in NYC and do an assessment and all calculations, a referral would be appreciated
Thank you!
I am in the NYC area and have a pretty poorly installed low-efficiency HVAC system that's quite leaky and blows some dust on the 1st floor. Our home is 100 years old and insulation only exists in the attic and it has a new roof (no insulation in external stucco walls which are made of lots of stucco, wood, mesh). I tried to put band aids and got an Aprilaire system installed but it hasn't helped much due to leaky duct work. Let's just say the Aprilaire installer didn't give me the right advice in the first place. Also, the indoor heating/cooling furnace is about 15 years old and in average to bad shape - it's motor wasn't held correctly and became dislodged and had to be fixed recently. The ductwork is poorly done and has leaks in numerous places and that's just what we can see and it could be much worse inside the walls. After we purchased the house, we've realized the shoddy contractors that the last owner hired including one that used a large plastic bag to protect against a leaky roof slate tile (there are 10 other examples I can provide just like this one)
My primary priority by far for the future is air quality as I am an extreme pollen allergy sufferer for 2 months of the year. Instead of putting band aids in, I've decided to take the right steps to better air quality and if possible, better efficiency during both cold and warm months given we plan to live here at least 10+ years. We have traditionally set the heating at 67 and even with that, our monthly gas bill in Feb or March is $500. We only set the AC about 10 days and in a prior test, using the AC for 30 days straight (both basement and 2nd floor units) was an increase of $400 for the month. If that can be reduced to $200 with a newer system, we'll certainly be in a position to use the AC more often during the summer
Questions
- One of the benefits that supporters of ductless mini-split state you can turn on heating or cooling in individual rooms and thus save energy. But is this really true given warm air moves into cold spaces. In my open-layout home, if I turn on heating in the office, won't the warm air simply move into the cold areas such as living room & kitchen causing the unit to stay on constantly. Hence, wouldn't energy consumption turning on a single unit be approximately the same as turning on all 3 units on the 1st floor. Secondly, even with all 3 units on, won't heat simply keep moving up and warm up the entire 2nd floor. I'm not sure if I understand why this factor is being touted as higher efficiency compared to central air and if I'm reasoning correctly
- For ductless, one HVAC company said if we go ductless, we'll need 2 external units and 6 indoor units (3 on each floor). If we place a unit in a 21x12x8 MBR which also has a door into the 8x8x8 bathroom which also has a small window, would it heat the bathroom or would we need an air handler in the bathroom too?
- Am I crazy considering a mini ductless given I already have an entire ducted system in place and should really consider migrating to a high-efficiency central air system. Of course, I'll have to replace all the duct work given it's been an extremely shoddy job 20 years ago and I've been told a high-efficiency system needs new duct work anyways
- If somebody knows a neutral party who can come to our home in NYC and do an assessment and all calculations, a referral would be appreciated
Thank you!