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View Full Version : Beginning AC research for 24 year old 1 and 1/2 story home with gas hot water heat


nurse111
Jun 26, 2010, 09:10 AM
We need some sort of A/C but have numerous logistical problems. First we have 3 very small upper bedrooms(1 and 1/2 story house)ranging from 10x11, 11x12, and 12x14 all clustered around a small upstairs bathroom. To make matters worse is that we have an open foyer where all the heat rises and gets trapped in our bedrooms. We also have basically no cross ventilation and we have roll out casement windows so no window air conditioning units apply. The downstairs is almost double the size and we have 1 mounted air conditioner in a back wall that cools 2 rooms.(By the way the downstairs is bearable because of excellent cross ventilation and sun position) We have gas hot water baseboard heat and live in an extremely moist swampy area in Pennsylvania. We used to have a "whole house fan" mounted at the top of the steps which did the job previously but the humidity we have with the lack of real coolness at night makes it useless plus the hot daytime heat. We do not have a finished basement. We got estimates from a local supply company for the air conditioning but it is showing 2 intakes and 2 outakes in a room as small as the 10 by 11 with 7inch and 8 inch pipe running but the "registers" are round and about 13 inches wide. I don't want the ceiing in the small room looking like something from Star Wars.(4 registers in the ceilings) Finally the question, would a heat pump with a/c working wall mounts be more feasible or should we go with the traditional central air-also my husband is just talking about central airing the upstairs only. Is that realistic or just absurd? Please help. If this was your house what would you do? Selling is not an option. Thanks in advance.

hvac1000
Jun 26, 2010, 11:38 AM
We need some sort of A/C but have numerous logistical problems. First we have 3 very small upper bedrooms(1 and 1/2 story house)ranging from 10x11, 11x12, and 12x14 all clustered around a small upstairs bathroom. To make matters worse is that we have an open foyer where all the heat rises and gets trapped in our bedrooms. We also have basically no cross ventilation and we have roll out casement windows so no window air conditioning units apply. The downstairs is almost double the size and we have 1 mounted air conditioner in a back wall that cools 2 rooms.(By the way the downstairs is bearable because of excellent cross ventilation and sun position) We have gas hot water baseboard heat and live in an extremely moist swampy area in Pennsylvania. We used to have a "whole house fan" mounted at the top of the steps which did the job previously but the humidity we have with the lack of real coolness at night makes it useless plus the hot daytime heat. We do not have a finished basement. We got estimates from a local supply company for the air conditioning but it is showing 2 intakes and 2 outakes in a room as small as the 10 by 11 with 7inch and 8 inch pipe running but the "registers" are round and about 13 inches wide. I don't want the ceiing in the small room looking like something from Star Wars.(4 registers in the ceilings) Finally the question, would a heat pump with a/c working wall mounts be more feasable or should we go with the traditional central air-also my husband is just talking about central airing the upstairs only. Is that realistic or just absurd? Please help. If this was your house what would you do? Selling is not an option. Thanks in advance.



Your local people can see exactly what you have and do a manual J and D for your home to be sure the system will work correctly. See item below