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I am building myself a house in the Boston area and wondering what you guys think about mechanicals in your own homes. If you had to do it all over again would you change anything? Here’s where I start: gas, will run ductwork for central AC, preferably radiant tubes on first floor & maybe fhw baseboard 2nd floor due to carpeting or add a hydro air coil to the AC ducts. House is about 3500sq.’
What brand names should I look for? How about boilers & water heaters? Do I go indirect HW?How about commercial style hot water heaters? Is hydro air dry ? Any pros & cons to staple up radiant vs. products like Stadler climate panel?-Already framed or I would consider warm board.
I am looking forward to hearing back from everyone, from what I’ve seen in previous posts there are a lot of knowledgeable people out there.
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can always check with these guys. seem reasonable. http://www.aircondex.com/designlayout.html
brian
*if you're still in the planning phase, you may want to check out this program and material. all free...http://www.aud.ucla.edu/heed/since you don't live in SoCal, see readme.usa in the download file to make this program applicable to your area.brian
*and here's a free demo to assist with design...http://www.wwwebworks.com/hvac/newfeatures.htmyour welcome,brian
*Superinsulate... then bodyheat home. One warm body needed per 1000/sqft in a 4000degree heating area.near the warm stream,ajWarmboard looks great, costs a bit. Doing work yourself would make it affordable to me. Go high efficiency boiler or Polaris water heater. Go with fancy baseboards upstairs....radiant in all bathrooms, run bathrooms extra warm, possibly seperate zones... include towel warmer, mirror no fog heat with radiant loop. This heat system will have the least drying effect on your indoor air and will be better than scorched air heat.near the stream,aj
*Aj what type of fancy baseboard are you talking about? Like a Runtal flat type?What type of high efficiency boilers have you had good luck with? My plumber is suggesting a Weil Mclein or Burnham. I have installed a lot of the Stadler climate Panel this year & it seems to be working pretty well , so instead of the warm board I may go that route, although I need to check out Wirsbro's product that is similar to the 1/2" climate panels, not sure if they make a fold out panel system though.How are the polaris water heaters anyway?Thanks for the info so far, keep it coming!
*Burnham makes to 86% efficient models now that I like. One is direct vent avoiding the need for a chimney and chase. You would need a side of your home that is not used to vent to.Standard unit $1150Pressure unit $1550Plus all the rest of the parts needed. $3000 or so total.Near the stream,aj
*> You would need a side of your home that is not used to vent to. An entire side? I hope not... I was planning on the smaller Burnham direct vent gas unit (RV3 or RV4). I already have the vent in through the 18" granite block foundation wall with my (ex)plumbers blessing, so I'm hoping I don't need to move it.The vent is coming out a couple feet above snow-line, and 15+ feet from any openable windows which seemed to follow the specs. Is there something I'm missing?I be delurked.
*Jim, your not missing anything. Most codes, that I know of require only a 10' separation between vents and intakes/windows. Some places have requirements for separation from walkways and the like."This heat system will have the least drying effect on your indoor air and will be better than scorched air heat." Nothing wrong with the heat system you described, AJ, but heat is heat and the statement above is not accurate.