What should I insist on in new construction?

[jim99000]

My wife and I are having a house built for us in NJ. It looks like our initial hopes for geothermal and radiant heat are going to fall under the budget axe (plus the reluctance of the builder to get involved in those options), leaving us with natural gas forced hot air.

We're at the contract stage and want to make sure that we at least end up with a very good forced air system and an appropriately "tight" house. What should we insist on in the contract with respect to the HVAC system and insulation to ensure good, even, not too dry and efficient heat (and a/c)?

The builder already has promised to provide a highly efficient furnace and two zone heat (presumably upstairs and downstairs zones; it'll be a two story colonial with @3,500 sf plus a full basement). We'll put those two items in the contract, though if more detail should be added please let me know.

What else should we write into the contract? We have a little extra money to spend for a good system since we've backed off the more expensive options (geothermal, radiant, baseboard, etc.).

We've had a bad experience in our current home with forced hot air and want to make sure the new system is very good.

The GC will be hiring the HVAC sub so now is the time to put our wants and needs into the main contract since we won't be dealing too much with the HVAC guy. Our builder also prefers to use batt insulation instead of blown-in so please keep that in mind.

Thanks in advance for any suggestions. The more specific the better!

[beenthere]

2 systems for your house, 1 for second story, 1 for first floor.

A humidifier on both units, media filters on both units.

2 stage for both the furnace and a/c, with VS blowers.

Humidistats for dehumidication in summer.

Or thermostats with cool to dehumidify.

[Dof3]

New Jersey? What are your summers like? Long hot & humid or mild? Maybe skip the 2-stage a/c and put infloor in your basement floor. I agree 2 furnaces and 2 a/c units. Most certainly 2-stage heat.Variable speed funaces even better.Some people like zoned systems and they are okay if put in right. At least get the tubing in the floor of the basement even if you don't hook it up right away. It cannot be done later and you cannot heat your basement[as well] any other way.Good luck!!

[johnl45]

An ACCA manual J load calculation and a manual D duct design.

[aircooled53]

Is this your house or the builder's?
Manuel J load.
1) I agree with two zones.
2)Humidifiers,and 5"media filter.
3)Trane ,Amana, Rheem equipment.Variable Drive/14.0S.E.E.R.
4)Zone returns in ever room except basement.
5)Manuel D and ductwork sealed.
6)Ten years parts & labor warranty
7)Honeywell 8000 Thermostats

[bar7]

boiler with 2 hydro systems serving 1st & 2nd floors
boiler weil mclein
hydro air air handlers FirstCO,coils
dont know if you have gas or oil for the heating side
remember the airhandler does both your heat & ac
the above mentioned will be ok as far as accesories go
many different ways to go..this way will serve you best... it gets very complicated for you the homeowner to fully compehend though...
Run it by the A/c contractor
N.J has alot of butcher AC contractors... GOOD LUCK

[billygoat22]

Find an hvac contractor your friends recommend. Builders tend to go with low ballers, even custom contractors in many cases.

Also put ductwork and equipment within the thermal envelope.

[diddlywhoot]

Be sure and get all equipment spelled out in any bid or proposals. make, models and warranties by either installer or mfg.

make sure you are not comparing apples and oranges.

do your own research on the net on equipment.

[corny]

I would really like to know how many of you in here actually do a manual d calculation on a house.......seriously... I bet you all whip out the ductulator and use .10 or .08 and call that doing a manual D.......

[dec]

well I will be honest ... I wouldnt mind looking at a manual d to see what it has to say. Been in business for years and have never seen one. Guess thats not how I was taught but Im always willing to learn. OH its ok to call me a hack for not using a manuel D...... I personally dont go by opinions of people that I really dont know if their credentials are what they say they are or if there worth the paper there printed on. A lot of people will brag about all they do as far as everything possible to make it the best system possible at any price. I have been around long enough to know If you do it that on every job you will eventally end up broke working for someone else again or end up a Building inspector for mechanical. Some people will pay the best system, most wont and if you do everything all the time you will price yourself out of the market.

[jim99000]

Thanks for all the replies so far - please keep them coming.

Any suggestions on insulation methods and ensuring the right "tightness"?

How about one of those ERVs - do we need one if the system is forced air to begin with?

The basement will be unfinished for several years. I'm not sure I understand what "tubing" you're talking about. If I don't do something now such as tubing (?) or ducts in the basement, how would I heat the basement down the road?

Is the basement considered within the thermal envelope? I think that's where the main equipment and ducting will be.

And yes, New Jersey summers are very hot and humid (though sadly not very long).

[robertusa123]

i can tell when someone is from the south
in nj most bulders put the upstail system in the attic.
the only problem with that is water freezes. so no humifider in attic areas.. also if a 90% unit is in the attic. the condsate from the vent can also freezup. i would only recmonend a 80% 2 stage unit to be used in a attic area. as far as brand just make shure you don't get a bulder modle just because its a brand name like carrier dosent mean its the best advaible. i also agree no geo systems cost so much you will never see a saveing pluse noone knows how to work on them

[splitbolt]

One of the best things you can do is to convince a GC to incorporate HVAC ducting into the build. HOs & GCs tend to get carried away with designs and frequent changes. This increasingly complicates a proper duct system and it can get VERY ugly for airflow and mechanical strain.

[uktra]

Do NOT sign contract until you locate a person with knowledge of building the "house as a system". Check your local utility, do a web search for energy raters in your area. Have this person make changes that will build your house to lower utility bills, increase comfort, and improve IAQ. Do NOT depend on the builder or HVAC contractor to do this. The vast majority do not have the knowedge or the desire to change. If the builder won't do the changes that an independant consultant recommends, fire him and replace him with someone that will. This is YOUR house--YOU have to live in it--and it's YOUR money.

[bar7]

robertusa is correct with his statement about humidification in this area...this is a problem sometimes..
but running hot water pipes to an attic airhandler isn't... so i would still recommmend the above mentioned in an earlier post

[docholiday]

I'd put mod 90's in. Its as close to wet heat as you're gonna get in forced air.

I agree on 2 systems, a house that big should have multiple systems.

[Dof3]

The "tubing" I am talking about is for in floor heat later on. If you put the tubing in now you can add a heat source {boiler or water heater} down the road. You can also use a boiler to heat your DHW and kill 2 birds with 1 stone.

[teddy bear]

Originally posted by jim99000
Thanks for all the replies so far - please keep them coming.

Any suggestions on insulation methods and ensuring the right "tightness"?
How about one of those ERVs - do we need one if the system is forced air to begin with?
Is the basement considered within the thermal envelope? I think that's where the main equipment and ducting will be.

And yes, New Jersey summers are very hot and humid (though sadly not very long).

Keep you space conditioning systems in the insulated building envolpe- too much sweating, condensing, air leakage, and poor efficiency. If you suceed at air tightening, you will not need a winter humidifier. Avoid ERV/HRV because of poor payback. Suggest 50-75 cfm of fresh make-up air ventilation, I prefer a ventilating whole house dehumidifier for fresh make-air ventilation, air filtering, and summer dehumidification instead of over-cooling the home during the wet cool weather which causes a damp basement. This must be confusing!

[thehumid1]

http://www.energystar.gov/index.cfm?...homes.hm_index

I would negotiate the contract that the Contractor guarantees the home will qualify as an energy star home but it sounds like yours won't if he was shying from radiant and/or geothermal.

In NJ there are various rebates offerred for new and existing homes:

http://www.njcleanenergy.com

that may offset some costs.

If you want a pre-build assessment of energy saving measures,cost analysis, etc. try

http://www.magrann.com

They are in Nj and were an energy star partner of the year in 2004. As Uktra mentioned you should get someone who knows a house as a system before you sign any contracts and they are probably the best in NJ as home performance contractors and raters.

[mjballweg]

The above advice given you by the professionals to focus on the entire structure as a system and to focus on this concept prior to signing a contract is priceless. I just went through the same process but wasn't smart enough to focus on the entire building structure before signing a contract with one of the highest rated builders in my area. While I do not doubt that we will have a high quality build, I could not pursue some of the recommended concepts, mostly because we were already too close to beginning the construction. A website from which you can gain a tremendous degree of head-spinning knowledge is http://www.buildingscience.com/. There are many documents available on that site for you to read. I also purchased the EEBA Builder's Guide for my climate which contains much of the same info as the Building Science website. Of course, there is a wealth of incredible information in this forum.

For what it is worth, my construction, when completed, will consist of damp sprayed cellulose insulation (insulation sub doesn't do foam) with the best sealing package (joint caulking and spray foam around exterior penetrations) the insulation sub-contractor could provide. I could not convince the builder to do the upper hvac unit in conditioned space. However, I went outside the contract for hvac and think my sub did as good a job as possible sealing the ducts in the attic. As part of my mid-contract-negotiations research, one of the most valuable things I did was sit down and speek with teddy bear who is very knowledgeable and has been involved with these building envelope issues for quite some time. Following teddy bear's theory of controlling humidity and ventilation, my hvac sub just finished installing a Thermastor ventilating dehumidifier. I am anxious to see how it performs when the house is finished in August. Good luck.