HVAC consult
As I begin to re-do the exterior of my home, new windows, siding, and some sheathing, I also need to keep in mind what I am going to do for heating, cooling, fresh air. And I think now would be a good time to plan that because I can easily waterproof any and every penetration that a new system would have. Much harder to add that stuff later.
i am going to be taping my sheathing joints. I’ll be trying to do a decent job at air sealing in general. And given that, coupled with the fact that I have no way to bring fresh air into the home other than opening a door or window, what product or type of product should I look into investing in?
we live in 4c and have a simple 1 story gable style home. With vented crawl and attic. (may seal crawl later – side question then: is air sealing dwelling irrelevant if you have a vented crawlspace?)
We currently have a gas fireplace for heat with some envi electric heaters in the rooms, and that’s it. No a/c but don’t really need it in Seattle. No furnace.
ive seen some in-line fans that have seemingly a very simple set up but don’t know much about them.
Just looking to get pointed in a good direction for heating and cooling/fresh air given my situation. And if possible, affordable, considering everything is being replaced on my house.
thanks again.
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Replies
Kevin,
You wrote, "I have no way to bring fresh air into the home other than opening a door or window."
I suggest that you install an HRV or an ERV. For more information, see these two articles:
"Designing a Good Ventilation System"
"Revisiting Ventilation"
>" side question then: is air sealing dwelling irrelevant if you have a vented crawlspace?"
A vented crawl space makes air sealing the rest of the house MORE important, not less. Warm air leaking out of the conditioned space depressurizes the house relative to the crawl space, so any leaks in the floor becomes air entry points for crawlspace air to get into the house, which is often not a very clean source of ventilation air
>"Just looking to get pointed in a good direction for heating and cooling/fresh air given my situation."
For the heating & cooling aspects, start with a Manual-J type load calculation on the "after planned upgrades" condition of the house. You might even run the load calc with the existing vented crawl, and with a sealed insulated crawl.
If the crawlspace is deep enough to accommodate ducts, a small ducted minisplit might be a decent heating solution, depending on where your load numbers come out.