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Furnace Repair Washington
QUESTION:Having just been thoroughly chastised at alt.hvac, sometimes I just love the
Net Police, it was suggested that I post my question here. To add a bit
more context, I have been searching Google for a few days now and have not
really found much that is definitive. I am trying to understand the
technology from the point of view of a consumer, not a system designer, and
to become educated enough to determine if the contractor/consultants we deal
with are worth a hill of beans :-). My field is Software Development, and I
can assure you that every good consultant/company there are 100 hacks that
will take your money and give little value. My experience is that this is
common across all fields and that quite often system failures are a result
of not knowing enough to ensure that you get one of the "good ones".
We are awaiting completion of a new home in the Marysville area of
Washington, about 30 miles North of Seattle. I am considering speaking with
the builder about putting in a heat pump rather than a conventional gas
furnace. We don't often get temperature extremes in this area, a few weeks
of sub-30 degrees in the winter is a cold one and a few weeks of +80 is the
summer is a warm on, although you would be hard pressed to believe the
latter had you been here the past of couple of weeks :-).
I don't know much about heat pumps, other than the "big bits" sit outside.
What is the feeling about this being cost effective in this climate and what
should I look/ask for? If we do go with a heat pump, should we be asking
for any changes in the standard duct work regarding placement? Our
alternative is to add a couple of ceiling fans for cooling and circulation
along with a conventional gas furnace.
Please make the assumption that I don't even know the right questions to ask
of the group and help educate me. This statement got me reamed on alt.hvac
for "being lazy". What this is is an acknowledgement that the professionals
in this area know a lot more than I do, and any tips that I can get to vet a
good installer/contractor will certainly help. Ideally would be to find
someone in the area via this website that I could do business with. Not that I
don't trust the builder, but I don't even trust myself
ANSWER: To start with answering your questions....
Anybody that wants to install a system in your home needs to start with a
Manual J & D.
This will insure they size the units properly for your particular home.
Manual D, will insure that the duct system is adequate for the size of
equipment.
After that, they need to qualify your particular needs.....
Air filtrations needs....do you need better filtration due to allergies?
Humidification....due to cold dry weather conditions.
System noise, are you concerned with system noise?
Temperature swings.....etc, etc....
Then after they know your needs, they can set up a system that will perform
well to your particular requirements
Heat Pumps really don't work well in area's where the ambient temps drop
below 32 degrees.
Also, HP will require larger ductwork for them to operate efficiently.
I would look into getting the highest efficiency gas fired furnace you can
afford.
Find the best installer you can find. The installer is more important then
the name on the equipment.
Your buying quality that the contractor is providing for you. This is
something you will use for years to come, so don't skimp on the initial
install.
Doing it right the first time is a must, as it will cost BIG dollars to fix
any mistakes later down the road.
Also remember your comfort relies on the contractor you choose, so make a
sound decision on quality and not a 'low bidder' syndrome.
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