RZehr wrote: ↑Fri Aug 04, 2023 12:18 am
Wow. My house has central AC and is all electric, the bill I got today is $221.25. Last month my AC quit because my furnace filter was clogged and sucked up into the fan. The. My lines froze up. Replaced the filter, but after I paid $$$ for a service technician.
We have a big OLD farm house. I put $1500 of insulation in the attic and need more. That will happen in about a month, after the heat abates. Just hard to find time to do it right now.
I doubt we have anything int he walls, but most walls are coved by massive windows that are single pane and quite old also. Still working on how to remedy that without spending $500+ per window of the 18 I need.
I am thinking of getting one of those precharged mini split units to have a heat pump + A/C. Some guy in Lewisburg Pa sells them. It can have up to 4 heads. The house I want it for has poor ductwork and airflow without the correct cold air returns.
I would like to convert the house to all electric as the girl who lives there could receive better heating assistance for all electric as opposed to gas + electric and the gas furnace does need replacing. (The state incentivises going all electric right now.) Any thoughts?
And yes I know that means shutting off the gas stove. (Actually she could keep hers as long as an electric stove is also put in and she would appreciate having a dedicated canning stove. I don’t personally understand such things but I’m not a plain woman.)
Josh wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 2:57 pm
I would like to convert the house to all electric as the girl who lives there could receive better heating assistance for all electric as opposed to gas + electric and the gas furnace does need replacing. (The state incentivises going all electric right now.) Any thoughts?
Heating up north is a good bit more expensive with electric. Even heat pumps are not as efficient as gas. Electric keeps getting more expensive and locks you into only one way to heat. I like options for heat. A new inside air handler for heat will only be about $600-$700 not counting installation. You can buy them from the big box stores. If the AC is already there and working, it is not too hard to refit to use it.
Gas heat feels much warmer than heat pump heat too.
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Josh wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 2:57 pm
I would like to convert the house to all electric as the girl who lives there could receive better heating assistance for all electric as opposed to gas + electric and the gas furnace does need replacing. (The state incentivises going all electric right now.) Any thoughts?
Heating up north is a good bit more expensive with electric. Even heat pumps are not as efficient as gas. Electric keeps getting more expensive and locks you into only one way to heat. I like options for heat. A new inside air handler for heat will only be about $600-$700 not counting installation. You can buy them from the big box stores. If the AC is already there and working, it is not too hard to refit to use it.
Gas heat feels much warmer than heat pump heat too.
Every winter, i pray for no electric power outages. Cold quickly becomes life threatening. Even gas furnaces now rely on electricity.
Your gas furnace does not operate like a stove because it needs electricity to generate the heat necessary to warm your house.
A gas furnace is ineffective during a power outage because it needs electricity to power the components that make it work.
i don’t have a backup generator, i don’t know many who do.
Josh wrote: ↑Sat Aug 05, 2023 2:57 pm
I would like to convert the house to all electric as the girl who lives there could receive better heating assistance for all electric as opposed to gas + electric and the gas furnace does need replacing. (The state incentivises going all electric right now.) Any thoughts?
Heating up north is a good bit more expensive with electric. Even heat pumps are not as efficient as gas. Electric keeps getting more expensive and locks you into only one way to heat. I like options for heat. A new inside air handler for heat will only be about $600-$700 not counting installation. You can buy them from the big box stores. If the AC is already there and working, it is not too hard to refit to use it.
Gas heat feels much warmer than heat pump heat too.
There is no AC other than old, tired window units from garage sales which run up an electric bill north of $400 in the summer. The gas furnace also needs replaced soon, whilst the last hvac tech claimed they fixed the gas leaks I still smell leaks sometimes. I would prefer to supplement with wood heat and can put in a wood burner cheaply.
It doesn’t get that cold here much of the year anymore. We really only have a few weeks of very cold days.
Some states require return air in each room. If your state does not, then the existing ducts could work for a new central AC. Will run between $5000 and $8000, my wild guess. A new gas furnace will be about $1000 installed. Maybe a little more. I bet your heat exchanger is rusted out and that is why you smell gas. If so, you will get some smoke and/or gas smell in the house since it "bleeds" over into your circulated air vents.
A wood stove is cheaper, but much dirtier. Soot and ash along with wood/bark drop off in the house. Anyone with breathing issues will have more trouble.
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Today, my day started terribly. Dealing with 2 of my sons was just overwhelming. I told my boss I was only at about 50% for the day. He asked why. I shared a little. I grabbed me, hugged me, and prayed over me. By the end of the day, because of the wonderful people I work with, I was hitting about 90% and went home feeling much better. I really love working where I am at. It feels good to be part of a place that gives people a healthy, peaceful place to connect with God.
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Wife: Soloist got the AC working a lot better (our hero), and it actually keeps up with the heat wave. We don’t know if this was the original issue, but while he was cleaning up stuff the next day, he also realized there was a clog in the drain line which was causing the outside unit to turn off, but he also thinks that might have been after him cleaning the coils. Our issue now though is that we are having condensation in our living room on the duct vents, which, from what we can tell, is probably humidity hitting the cold air.
Robert, do you think that might be because of a lack of insulation now that we pulled out the wet stuff on the bottom of the crawl space under the unit? You got to understand, it’s been a couple months since it has actually worked efficiently. As long as we have the dehumidifier going out in the living room, it doesn’t happen. Soloist is planning on messing with putting in more insulation when he isn’t working.
You're on the right track with the condensation problem. The temperature and humidity interact to determine the dew point (you can use the chart on this page to calculate the dew point). Any surface colder than the dew point will produce condensation.
When the AC unit wasn't working efficiently, it was putting out warmer air and the duct wasn't cold enough to reach the dew point; now it is. When you run the dehumidifier, it reduces the humidity and thus the dew point, preventing the condensation. Adding insulation will help as well.
i have to plug my fav insulating product:
it’s not good for every application, but i would consider it for any area that might get wet.
this describes some pros+cons:
ohio jones wrote: ↑Wed Aug 09, 2023 11:00 pm
You're on the right track with the condensation problem. The temperature and humidity interact to determine the dew point (you can use the chart on this page to calculate the dew point). Any surface colder than the dew point will produce condensation.
When the AC unit wasn't working efficiently, it was putting out warmer air and the duct wasn't cold enough to reach the dew point; now it is. When you run the dehumidifier, it reduces the humidity and thus the dew point, preventing the condensation. Adding insulation will help as well.
Insulation and good duct or metal tape to seal the metal duct so air can not get to it. This blocks out more humidity from getting in there and condensing out as water.
You can put a little bit of bleach in that drain line to help clear it out. That will kill of any algae that is building up and creating clogs.
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(Actually she could keep hers as long as an electric stove is also put in and she would appreciate having a dedicated canning stove. I don’t personally understand such things but I’m not a plain woman.)