Best heating/air system for an addition? - Contractor Talk - Professional Construction and Remodeling Forum

cinder11 · 02-22-2008, 03:43 PM

Hey HVAC guys need to pick your brains. I'm putting a two story 1,000 sft addition on the back of my house. The crawl space will 36" high and the attic too small to put anything in it. I'm going to need air and heat. What's the best system for me? What brand is the leader in your industry? What about wood pellet stove in place of a furnace? Is that possible. Any answers are appreciated. Thanks a bunch!!

rbsremodeling · 02-22-2008, 03:48 PM

What did the Architect or contractor Suggest??

cinder11 · 02-22-2008, 06:02 PM

My contractor suggested putting a heat pump in attic. Another contractor said to build a deeper crawl space and put the unit there and another guy said to put both units outside in a combined system. So far I like the combibed system idea best, but I just was wondering what you guys thought about the pellet stoves. Thanks.

AngusII · 02-22-2008, 06:41 PM

Cinder11,

Well if you have natural gas already I suggest putting in a forced air furnace with ac rather than a heat pump. Attic or crawl space doesn't matter so much. I do think vents in the ceiling work better for AC than vents in the floor do for heat. If you know what I mean. I like pellet stoves for supplemental heat in cold basement or garage but don't like them for main heat in a large living spaces. (I grew up in Buffalo though and we had wood stove for our only heat and so I hate anything that reminds me of that.)

Also I hate working on stuff outside in the winter so I guess that tells you what I think of the outside idea.

Side note: Why not dig an extra 4 or 5 feet and have a full basement?

Gary.

10fingers · 02-27-2008, 01:08 AM

I think you need to spend time in the wood pellet research centre then wander around the books and isle section dealing with forced air. When you’re done all that develop a list of all the pros and cons for each system. I think if you remain inquisitive without the research and only go on third party info then you get into a "he said, she said situation". At that point you’re just running around in circles posting questions on web sites. The info is not as meaningful unless you have already decided on a method of heating. Having completed the research your questions will be focused, e.g., "my new furnace needs a combustion box but the ones I have seen are always letting in so much cold air into the furnace room. This seems to contradict the whole energy conservation theme. What's up with that?”