HVAC for new house

[Collin]

Again good system but at a high cost. Collin have you seen the Buderus boilers that Ecco carries.

Yup, nice unit but we prefer to get our boilers from the plumbing supply co's like Andrew Sherat. I buy a lot of venting and gas supplies from Ecco though.
We have a customer with a 9000 sq. foot home on the water. Gas bill for all heating, cooking and hot water was 300 bucks for December. Condensing boilers cost more, but are worth it.

Regarding high velocity, everything I have read is you lose efficiency. My Lennox XP19 and variable air handler is 18 Seer, 9 HSPF. No way can you get that with high velocity from what I understand.

[BaldLoonie]

Loonie where did you get the idea that HIV will kill the efficiency and reduce capacity, you better do some research my friend.

Couple of examples:

Rheem RAND-036, with Unico 11 SEER 29,800 BTU

A-S 2A7A4036 with Unico 11.15 SEER 30,400 BTU

these 2 lost 2-3 SEER points and 1/2 ton capacity

similar results with Space Pak

[ryanpatr]

Again thank you all for the great information from these discussions.

I am committed to the hydronic radiant heating in floor, so there will be no change on that.
The air conditioning is the sticking point, I like the Unico system for the high velocity, but it is not recommeded to attach a HRV to it. This would require another ducting system for the HRV system.
Baldloonie suggestion of using a high efficiency furnace with a coil for the air conditioning, the furnace would be a backup heating system, and the HRV can be attached. I have not priced it out, but I am sure that there very little difference in cost between them.
ryanpatr

[Collin]

Hi:
This is my first time on this site, and I am building a new house 2000 sq.ft. bunglow.
II am planning on installing the piping between the wooden joists that will have 23/32" OSB subfloor on them, and which will have 1000 sq.ft of tile, and 1000 sq.ft. of hardwood. ryanpatr

OSB?????

Why not plywood? I know it costs more but one major water spill and you will curse yourself if the OSB swells up.

[Collin]

Baldloonie wasn't recomending a furnace, he was saying use an air handler. It looks like a furnace but only has a fan and the air conditioning coil. You really don't need the extra cost of running the gas and venting the exhaust of a furnace. (we're not supposed to talk $ but since you are Canadian lets say the furnace is approx. 1 grand more.) Now you can use the supply ducts from the air handler to distribute from the HRV, but still run dedicated 4" 'exhaust runs from the bathrooms, laundry and kitchen back to the HRV.

[ryanpatr]

I have looked at plywood, but the cost is around $50.00 for a four X eight sheet of 3/4", but I was willing to pay this because of the water issue until I discovered the the some OSB that can stand up to water. (See attached for just over $20.00 per sheet.)

http://www.gfp-inc.com/index.php?opt...d=23&Itemid=36

Also, for your information I am using an engineered joist that can accommodate ducting through it.
http://www.alpafloor.com/details.htm

Regarding the air handler unit, do you have any suggestion of some of the brand names that I can look at?

Thank you for your input.

[Collin]

Cool links, I haven't seen those joists with the build-in chase out here on the West Coast and it was good to be re-educated regarding OSB.
Regarding brands, I have had great luck with Lennox, but Trane, American Standard and York seem to be well supported too.

[ryanpatr]

Baldloonie wasn't recomending a furnace, he was saying use an air handler. It looks like a furnace but only has a fan and the air conditioning coil. You really don't need the extra cost of running the gas and venting the exhaust of a furnace. (we're not supposed to talk $ but since you are Canadian lets say the furnace is approx. 1 grand more.) Now you can use the supply ducts from the air handler to distribute from the HRV, but still run dedicated 4" 'exhaust runs from the bathrooms, laundry and kitchen back to the HRV.

Are you saying in this message that I can connect the exhaust from the fan in the bathroom ,the kitchen hood, and the dryer vent into the HRV?

[Collin]

Sorry, I don't visit the Residential forum often and forgot I was posting on this thread.
No, you can not hook the dryer, range or fans into the HRV.
You simply run a 4" vent into each of those rooms to suck out stale moist air. In a powder room, that might mean you can forgo installing a fan. I always recommending installing a seperate fan in larger ensuites though.