HVAC help and Footers for addition

drmatsci

drmatsci

New Member
I know there are a lot of HVAC posts already, but one can't have too much of a great thing, right?

I have an old house in town creek - single story, about 1360 sqr feet.

I have been in it a bit more than 5 years and I have had problems with fatigue, constant stuffed up nose and headaches ever since. My doc thinks its allergies - might be - can't seem to shake them. My headaches got better over x-mas with three weeks in Arizona but stuffy nose did not. I do have one greyhound so it could be that (greyhound went with me and the wife to AZ)

Anyway, I thought replacing the old 'spider' duct system in the crawl space might help with allergies AND save some energy. Its leaky, no insolation and brings that yummy crawlspace smell up with it. I have a bid from Winters and TN Bowes coming soon. Reccomendations for a 3rd or 4th quote? Winters guy did a great job measuring and crawling under and then broke the quote out for: ducts, air qual (humidifier, air cleaner), and various AC and heat pump combo's (amana or goodman). I currently have a lennox oil furnace and an old, old AC. I trust winters (have done good work in the past) but the bid, especially the duct, was higher than expected. I had thought I could do it all for 10k... Also, is a duel fuel system (heat pump using my lennox oil furnace as back up) worth it? The AC is 3/4 of the cost, adding the heat pump version isn't that much more - 1-2k. Advice? (Furnace is only 3-4 years old, light usage, also have and love a pellet stove) Besides sel-ability, does hvac increase house value?

Also, I currently have a lovely town creek car port. I want to use that space since it already has a roof to add on to the house. But the current concrete pad is way too thin, I am sure I need footers. Any suggestions for a good company? They would have to cut out sections (leaving the roof supports) poor those footers, add roof support, then finish by cutting out the old supports and pooring those footers. Well, that's what I thought of...

Thanks!
 
drmatsci

drmatsci

New Member
They don't even show up in the yellow pages? FYI, town creek is in Lexington Park / California. So no waldorf or Calvert co. stuff, and also, I am not interested in anyone who does it on their own, even if they are half the price. Thanks.
 
D

Debbie92454

New Member
Contact James Browne, owner of Ice Man and Son at (301) 737-4636 or his cell (240) 237-0598. He sells Rheem units. He does have access to other units as well. He also buys his duct work from Simmons.
 
drmatsci

drmatsci

New Member
I found SMECO has a approved list of HVAC contractors on their website to meet certain standards - or at least, they have taken a SMECO class to do so. Interesting list - the big names like Winters, TN Bowes, Hancock.... are all on their list.

TN came by today at lunch, going to get back to me.
Anyone think a 2 stage is worth it for a small house?
More expenisve a unit - but it would be nice to have a "low" speed or setting for heat and AC. One problem I have with my system now is it comes on for too short a time.

Any suggestions on footer work?
 
dn0121

dn0121

New Member
drmatsci said:
I found SMECO has a approved list of HVAC contractors on their website to meet certain standards - or at least, they have taken a SMECO class to do so. Interesting list - the big names like Winters, TN Bowes, Hancock.... are all on their list.

TN came by today at lunch, going to get back to me.
Anyone think a 2 stage is worth it for a small house?
More expenisve a unit - but it would be nice to have a "low" speed or setting for heat and AC. One problem I have with my system now is it comes on for too short a time.

Any suggestions on footer work?
Click to expand...

2 stages are great but you need an air handler that will be 2 stage also. If you have a furnace instead of air handler then that will need to be 2 stage. So make sure they quote you both in 2 stage. Its a lot more money, but if your going to be there a long time then it is worth it.

2 great forums

Heat Pumps and Electric Heating - DoItYourself.com Community Forums

Residential HVAC - HVAC-Talk: Heating, Air & Refrigeration Discussion

and to compare fuel/efficiency costs
WarmAir.net - Fuel Cost Comparisons
 
tommyjones

tommyjones

New Member
drmatsci said:
I know there are a lot of HVAC posts already, but one can't have too much of a great thing, right?

I have an old house in town creek - single story, about 1360 sqr feet.

I have been in it a bit more than 5 years and I have had problems with fatigue, constant stuffed up nose and headaches ever since. My doc thinks its allergies - might be - can't seem to shake them. My headaches got better over x-mas with three weeks in Arizona but stuffy nose did not. I do have one greyhound so it could be that (greyhound went with me and the wife to AZ)

Anyway, I thought replacing the old 'spider' duct system in the crawl space might help with allergies AND save some energy. Its leaky, no insolation and brings that yummy crawlspace smell up with it. I have a bid from Winters and TN Bowes coming soon. Reccomendations for a 3rd or 4th quote? Winters guy did a great job measuring and crawling under and then broke the quote out for: ducts, air qual (humidifier, air cleaner), and various AC and heat pump combo's (amana or goodman). I currently have a lennox oil furnace and an old, old AC. I trust winters (have done good work in the past) but the bid, especially the duct, was higher than expected. I had thought I could do it all for 10k... Also, is a duel fuel system (heat pump using my lennox oil furnace as back up) worth it? The AC is 3/4 of the cost, adding the heat pump version isn't that much more - 1-2k. Advice? (Furnace is only 3-4 years old, light usage, also have and love a pellet stove) Besides sel-ability, does hvac increase house value?

Also, I currently have a lovely town creek car port. I want to use that space since it already has a roof to add on to the house. But the current concrete pad is way too thin, I am sure I need footers. Any suggestions for a good company? They would have to cut out sections (leaving the roof supports) poor those footers, add roof support, then finish by cutting out the old supports and pooring those footers. Well, that's what I thought of...

Thanks!
Click to expand...


ABM 410-326-4277
does a good job and are very quick. I used them recently, they will talk out the options with you, and maybe come up with something better for your purpose.
 
drmatsci

drmatsci

New Member
No - I have a 3-4 year old multi speed lennox oil furnace.

The way I understand is that multispeed are set and don't change speed during operation. That's why I was wondering how a 2 stage heatpump or AC would work with my furnace. No plan to replace the furnace.
 
C

czygvtwkr

Guest
I just went from an oil oil furnace to a new oil furnace and a Heat Pump. My electric bill only went up $12 for the month of January. I had TN Bowes put it in.

A few people told me to call Great Mills Heating and Air conditioning which I did but their guy never returned my call so I never got a quote from them.
 
drmatsci

drmatsci

New Member
Exactly - oil is so expensive, but since I have the furnace, and backup or emergency heat from a normal heatpump is also really expensive - I like the idea of a heatpump with my furnace as the backup.

Anyone on concrete work / footers / addtion contractors?
 
dn0121

dn0121

New Member
Just make sure to get a load calc done as part of the quote. Without this you may get oversized or undersized and then your HP won't run efficient costing you a lot more in electricity.
 
tommyjones

tommyjones

New Member
drmatsci said:
Exactly - oil is so expensive, but since I have the furnace, and backup or emergency heat from a normal heatpump is also really expensive - I like the idea of a heatpump with my furnace as the backup.

Anyone on concrete work / footers / addtion contractors?
Click to expand...

in case i wasn't clear, ABM can probably handle your addition needs
 
K

KellyG

New Member
Crawlspace

I have a feeling you might be spending money that might not be taking care of your true problems. If you take the symptoms that you are experiancing you will find that they are probably due to mold in your crawlspace. I own a company called Advanced Building Solutions. Our website is Advanced Building Solutions of Southern Maryland. Take a look at it. If you have a signifacant amount of mold that would have to be taken care of before I come into play. But I encapsulate crawlspaces with a 20 ml liner, kinda like a pool liner. By adding the liner, sump pump if necessary and a dehumidifier I can gaurentee a healthy living environment for you and your family. I will keep this short. Our inspections are FREE. If you would like to find out more please call our office at 301-769-4500 and I will be glad to assist you.

Kelly Gibson
Advanced Building Solutions
Clements, MD
 
smilin

smilin

BOXER NATION
We had the same problem in Town Creek. Went to Lowe's bought two rolls of Vapor Barrier and rolled it out over the crawl space. It originally was covered by tar paper that has disintegrated over time. No more smell, helped the allergies a lot also. Check for mold, if you have mold then you have a moisture problem that needs to be addressed.
Burch Oil replaced our A/C and furnace. Good people, did a great job.
 
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