The first person to say “you never miss the water ’til the well runs dry” was probably not a plumber, but a heating and air conditioning man with a gift for the pithy aphorism. Surely few other aspects of homeownership receive as little attention from homeowners as the heating and air conditioning systems–until they malfunction.
This is even more true for new home purchasers. When touring a builder’s model, buyers are understandably bedazzled by trophy kitchens and monsterously big master suites. Most give the furnace room short shrift, assuming that the heating and air conditioning system will deliver a reasonable level of comfort.
The “reasonable level of comfort” standard, however, varies with individuals. And most home builders, knowing that heating and cooling systems rarely influence buyers’ purchase decisions, will not provide more than the minimum standard required in local building codes.
Upgrading the builder’s equipment will undoubtedly increase your comfort level and reduce your utility bills. Even if you intend to stick with what the builder’s offers, you should still check his model for noisy ducts, size and placement of registers and required maintenance.
What are some heating and air conditioning upgrade possibilities? These are the suggestions of several Washington, D.C., area mechanical engineers.
With admitted biases after 24 years in the heating and air conditioning business, Howard Menditch, a mechanical engineer based in Manassas, Va., stressed equipment efficiency to lower your utility bills. He always recommends a 90 percent-efficient gas furnace over the 78 percent-efficient one that is now required in many jurisdictions throughout the country and a 12 SEER (seasonal energy efficiency ratio) air conditioning compressor, instead of one with the standard 10 SEER now mandated by the Department of Energy. The 90 percent-efficiency gas furnace does not require a chimney.
But more efficient equipment does cost more money. You need to balance the initial cost against future savings on utility bills. The general rule of thumb is that the upgrade will pay off if you stay in the house at least five years. Some local utilities will give a rebate to new home purchasers who install more efficient equipment.
To get some additional energy savings as well as notable gains in your comfort level, John Wittman, a Sterling, Va., mechanical engineer who specializes in heating and air conditioning, recommended an automatic damper system. With this, you can control the temperature of each floor and even individual rooms. If you prefer to sleep in a warm bedroom, you don’t have to heat the entire house at night. And with the oven and frost-free refrigerator belching heat in the summer, you can cool down the kitchen just long enough to fix meals.
In some instances, an automatic damper system is not a luxury but a cost saver. Most larger houses–2,800 square feet and up–require two heating and cooling systems. But in some instances, you can substitute an automatic damper system and save as much as $1,000 Menditch said.
During the spring and summer when the pollen count is high in many regions of the country, an electronic air cleaner can be especially beneficial to individuals with allergies, because it reduces the amount of dust and pollen in the indoor air, said John Murray, another Manassas-based mechanical engineer.
Before you make any decisions on enhancing the builder’s standard heating and air conditioning package, look carefully at his model house. The first question to ask: “Are the cleaning filters easy to get out and clean or replace?”
Many homeowners do not know that hot air furnace and central air conditioning systems have filters that must be periodically checked and cleaned. Badly clogged filters not only reduce the amount of air that can circulate through the system by as much as 50 percent, they also cause the system to operate for much longer periods in order to adequately heat or cool the house. This increases utility bills and shortens the life of the equipment, Murray said. If the filters are located in a barely accessible place–an unfinished attic with a low clearance, for example–many homeowners are understandably reluctant to change the filter regularly.
Buyers should also check the number and location of the registers, Wittman advised. The return registers, which send air back to the equipment to be reheated or recooled, are large and square and located on the inside walls or ceiling. There should be at least two per floor, and, if the house is big, even more on the second floor.
The supply registers, which put hot or cold air into a space, are smaller and rectangular. These are located on the perimeter of the house, often under windows. As you envision where your own furniture might go, keep the supply registers in mind, advised John McLaughlin, a mechanical engineer in Clinton, Md. If the room is large with four or more supply registers, placing a piece of furniture over one won’t make a big difference. But if the room has only one or two supply registers and you cover over one, you won’t be comfortable.
Some people are bothered by heating and air conditioning system noise, which is usually the sound of air rushing through the ducts. To test the noise level of the system in the house you’re considering, turn the system go on and walk through the house. Stop in each room to listen. If you find the noise level disturbing, don’t pass on the house, Murray advised. “Bring in a qualified (heating and air conditioning) guy to check it.” Frequently, minor low-tech adjustments, such as installing baffles in some of the duct work or reducing the air flow on the furnace fan, will help significantly.
A really noisy system, however, can be an indication of “oil canning”–poorly installed duct work–and, in some cases, this may be a sufficient reason to move on to another builder McLaughlin said.
