[Greenbuilding] Question about Air Conditioning

Kathy Cochran kathys_old_house at goldrush.com
Wed Oct 24 23:24:02 EDT 2007 

ALL of my pipes broke last winter at 16-18 degrees.  Heat IS OBVIOUSLY
important.  But when I came home from work at 6pm on July 3rd and wanted to
weave on my loom, and it was 108 degrees in the "loom room", I became a
believer of A/C.  My "mini-climate" consists of being on top of a hill ,with
south exposure, west winds, and NO trees to shade on the south, as the hill
drops quite sharply down hill from there.  I anticipate planting a wisteria
vine on the south, with proper support, for shade in the summer. Probably on
the west side, as well.

I appreciate all your comments.

Kathys_old_house at goldrush.com



-----Original Message-----
From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
[mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Steve Houlihan
Sent: Wednesday, October 24, 2007 8:08 PM
To: Greenbuilder list
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Question about Air Conditioning

People seem to think that all of Northern California is like San Francisco 
or Mendocino but the entire central valley from Bakersfield to Redding 
spends most of the summer over 100 F.  Even were I live in the redwoods 
above Santa Cruz we get a week or two of temps over 100.  We complain a lot 
and say it didn't used to be this hot.  Nobody in my area has AC. I've also 
had a few broken pipes in the Winter.Generally it is quite mild and 
pleasant.

Steve
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Keith Winston" <keith at earthsunenergy.com>
To: "Greenbuilder list" <greenbuilding at listserv.repp.org>
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2007 10:58 PM
Subject: Re: [Greenbuilding] Question about Air Conditioning


> Hi Kathy: you say "Summers can easily get to be 110F". Where exactly in
> N. CA are you? Those are very unusually high temperatures for N. CA., I
> think. We can find what your actual design temps are when we know where
> you are located.
>
> Your questions are only about cooling. You are in a heating dominated
> climate I THINK. If you do little cooling, then a higher efficiency unit
> makes less sense. In any case, always attend to insulation and air
> tightness first and foremost, and possibly consider (if you've been
> successful at air tightness, especially) mechanical ventilation (an HRV
> or ERV).
>
> All that said, SEER is a linear measure of efficiency, so a 17 SEER unit
> will use 13/17's as much energy as a 13 SEER unit. If you can estimate
> your cooling bills, you can figure out the payback period of the higher
> efficiency unit.
>
> What is the house like? How big? How many rooms? Have you considered a
> mini-split system? Might not be appropriate, or might...
>
> Keith
>
>
> Kathy Cochran wrote:
>> Hello, I am putting an old house built in 1940 back together.  I moved it
>> from 20 miles down the road (in 4 pieces).  I am in Northern California,
>> where summers can easily get to be 110 degrees and winters down to 20
>> degrees.  I am getting bids for Central heat (propane) and air, and have
>> some questions about air conditioning.  I can get a 3 Ton high efficiency
>> furnace + installation, with digital programmable thermostat for $4500, 
>> plus
>> the A/C.
>>
>> I have been quoted $1515 more for a 13 seer condensing unit, $2600 for a 
>> 15
>> seer unit, and $3,086 for a 17 seer AC unit.  Is the 13 seer enough?   Is
>> the 17 seer overkill?  I would appreciate any comments any of you might
>> have.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> Kathy Cochran
>> Kathys_old_house at goldrush.com
>>
>> -----Original Message-----
>> From: greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org
>> [mailto:greenbuilding-bounces at listserv.repp.org] On Behalf Of Racheli Gai
>> Sent: Wednesday, October 03, 2007 7:52 AM
>> To: Greenbuilder list
>> Subject: [Greenbuilding] Advice on heating
>> Tucson______________________________________________
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