Home Remodel: Do, Don'ts, Advice

[Core Shot]

You saw the Simpson product I linked originally?
Here: https://www.strongtie.com/avantcolle...t_strap/p/apvt

I missed that. But it’s only twelve gauge.
It would help for sure. But notice it’s in the “decorative” catalog. Lol


I would get quarter inch plate. At least eighth. Make it beefy.

But yeah, those are ready made and super easy. Better than nothing.
Until the earthquake

[oldnew_guy]

You definitely want to listen to the 9/11 truther for all things structural engineering. LOL

[climberevan]

The Simpson brackets or angles will definitely help, but what we'd likely be required to use now is a much more serious saddle that you can't reasonably retrofit. See pic.

If you're going to go the applique route, I'd use pretty thick straps (at least 12ga, but maybe 1/8", and use the smaller SDS screws that are intended for medium weight connectors. The full size SDS screws are likely overkill. Also go all the way across that one joint from post to post, connecting them together as well as to the beam.

[::: :::]

The Simpson brackets or angles will definitely help, but what we'd likely be required to use now is a much more serious saddle that you can't reasonably retrofit. See pic.

If you're going to go the applique route, I'd use pretty thick straps (at least 12ga, but maybe 1/8", and use the smaller SDS screws that are intended for medium weight connectors. The full size SDS screws are likely overkill. Also go all the way across that one joint from post to post, connecting them together as well as to the beam.

if it's any comfort, we did these straps one-sided in an existing timber/URM bldg


upside down, but it held together!



try again

[oldnew_guy]

We are looking at adding AC to our existing gas furnace forced air system because we are finding ourselves with window units installed for 3 months now. Does anyone have experience going from gas forced air to something like an electric ducted heat pump (IE - Mitsubishi SVZ)? It might make sense to just do an entire upgrade on our system due to the age of the existing furnace (coming up on 20 years old, but no signs of failure). Adding a heat pump to the existing or a new gas furnace doesn’t really make financial sense supposedly. I’ll need an upgraded circuit, but it is a pretty simple install.

Also curious about knowing when to replace the existing unit. Wait for certain repairs, replace at a certain age?

I’m interested in the carbon reduction side of things, but it also has to at least make some financial sense.

I have backup heat in the event of a long term electrical failure, which is unlikely where I am.

Any insight into subsidies or incentives coming that might make a decision easier?

[dan_pdx]

I talked to a few installers about adding a heat pump to the existing nat gas furnace in our house in Portland this summer. They were of the opinion that it was reasonable to keep the gas furnace as backup for temps too low for the heat pump to work efficiently, which would only have been 5-10 days per winter for the heat pumps they were suggesting. I don't have the quotes in front of me, but best I can recall, a heat pump was about $5k more than just adding central a/c.

That furnace was installed in 2005, but they thought it could have a lot of years left if used only for backup heat in combo with a heat pump. I read up on furnaces at the time, and it sounds like after enough heat/cool cycles, the furnace heat exchanger will crack, which puts combustion exhaust into the air going into your ducts. Apparently it's more cost effective at that point to replace the furnace. Based on what I read, most other issues are worth paying to repair.

[Supermoon]

How do the heat pumps do when we get the 100+ days in the summer?

We had the replace our furnace when we bought our house last January because the heat exchanger broke two days before we closed. Luckily we got a $5k credit from the seller for replacement and we got a new furnace and installed AC along with it.

Our old place had electric baseboard heat and we used window units in the summer. Even with our house being double the SF, we are still saving 50% on our heating and cooling costs in our new place.

[dan_pdx]

I asked a few friends with heat pumps, and they said their heat pumps work fine on very hot days, even during the heat dome. Efficiency is probably crappy, but sounds like they stayed cool.

[Supermoon]

Oh that’s good to know

[oldnew_guy]

Why wouldn’t a heat pump with AC not work? Isn’t just the same thing just with the ability to reverse the position of the hot coil and the cold coil?

[dan_pdx]

I need to paint a room that has knockdown texture and semigloss paint on the walls. My wife vetoed chemical deglosser, so I need to sand. Given the walls are reasonably textured, how OCD should I be when sanding? If there's a little divot or whatever in the texture that gets missed, that's not a big deal, is it?

[toast2266]

I need to paint a room that has knockdown texture and semigloss paint on the walls. My wife vetoed chemical deglosser, so I need to sand. Given the walls are reasonably textured, how OCD should I be when sanding? If there's a little divot or whatever in the texture that gets missed, that's not a big deal, is it?

I'm under the impression that you can just roll a coat of primer over the semi-gloss without needing to prime. But I'm not an expert.

[ötzi]

Why wouldn’t a heat pump with AC not work? Isn’t just the same thing just with the ability to reverse the position of the hot coil and the cold coil?

Can you repeat the question in English, please? Not sure what you're asking.

[oldnew_guy]

Can you repeat the question in English, please? Not sure what you're asking.

I don’t understand why a heat pump would have issues with 100 degree heat. Isn’t an AC just a heat pump run the opposite direction in the summer? If it’s sized correctly what would be the issue? Or do people have a heat pump AND an AC unit sitting outside their house in some climates?

I’m just interested in adding AC to my house. However, I am trying to weigh the costs and trade offs of:

1- retrofitting an A/C to an existing ~ 20 year old gas furnace (that seems to have no issues).

2- a new gas furnace and heat pump w/ AC

3 - an electric Mitsubishi ducted heat pump or similar. This is a system that uses an exterior heat pump connected to a air handler in the same location as the old gas furnace. This is basically the same technology as a mini-split, just with a different way of moving the air around since I already have ducts. I think there are going to be some substantial tax incentives to switch to all electric heat pump, but I don’t really know how these perform in terms of comfort and cost to operate vs gas. Supposedly with the variable speed fans and variable output heat pump the can have a more consistent heat distribution versus single or dual stage furnaces that cycle on and off.

Option 1 is half the cost of options 2 or 3, which are both within $1,000 of each other.

[::: :::]

Heat pumps’ Achilles heel is that they aren’t great at the extremes

[old goat]

A heat pump is the most efficient way to heat and cool, compared to the other options. How long it will take to pay for itself depends on your climate, local gas and electric rates, and available subsidies. Then there's the environmental benefit if your local electric has significant non carbon sources or you expect that it will, although heat pump efficiency means you will lower your carbon footprint even if your electricity is carbon generated. Do you have a local utility that does a free energy audit and can run numbers for you for the various options?

There's also the issue of whether you have to upgrade your electric panel, especially if you might want a car charger at some point.

[Shredhead]

Because of last year’s smoke. I added two Mitsubishi Mini Splits to the upstairs of my 3500 sq/ft 2 storie house, with in floor radiant heat.
The AC is nice and this morning I just turned on the heat in my living room for a few minutes, to take off the chill.

[bagtagley]

Why wouldn’t a heat pump with AC not work? Isn’t just the same thing just with the ability to reverse the position of the hot coil and the cold coil?

You’re correct. There’s nothing about a heat pump that will prevent it from cooling as well as a stand-alone AC, assuming they’re sized the same and everything is working properly. Our unit will keep up into the high 90s. We don’t get many 100+ days here.

The biggest complaint about a heat pump is that, when heating, they blow air that isn’t much warmer than the ambient air in the house, which can feel cold. The solution is typically to place the registers such that they’re not blowing directly on you.

[old goat]

You’re correct. There’s nothing about a heat pump that will prevent it from cooling as well as a stand-alone AC, assuming they’re sized the same and everything is working properly. Our unit will keep up into the high 90s. We don’t get many 100+ days here.

The biggest complaint about a heat pump is that, when heating, they blow air that isn’t much warmer than the ambient air in the house, which can feel cold. The solution is typically to place the registers such that they’re not blowing directly on you.

That's true about forced air gas as well--if you stand in the breeze from the register it chills you, unless you're very close. That's why floor registers are best on the floor, and are angled to blow parallel to the walls. If I were building a house, though, I would heat with heat pump hydronic. Living at altitude you really appreciate how much more effective radiant heat is compared to convective/conductive.

[mattig]

Totally disagree about heat pump heating. Someone tried to talk me out of one saying "it's a cold heat.". Bullshit. Hot as fuck when used in intended climate. 40-60 degrees, it's money. I don't even fuck with using it near freezing temps. Gas is way cheaper at that point. As an air conditioner, it barely breaks a sweat regardless of outdoor temp, but we only got up to 108 this year I think.

Of course it has to be the right size and efficiency. I believe mine is only 16seer, but they make em up into the 20s. Mine is also rated for like 2500sq ft and our house is 1600, at least for one more month, then I'm gonna be all up in this thread fixing some weird ass shit on the house I'm currently buying.

[old goat]

According to the heating engineer I talked to earlier generations of heat pumps didn't heat well in cold climates. Newer generations do. They are being used successfully in Truckee. While gas may be cheaper leaving a livable world for your grandchildren is priceless.

[mattig]

According to the heating engineer I talked to earlier generations of heat pumps didn't heat well in cold climates. Newer generations do. They are being used successfully in Truckee. While gas may be cheaper leaving a livable world for your grandchildren is priceless.

Agreed. Unfortunately with mine (and many? most?), the auto-changeover kicks in at near-freezing temps anyway.

The house I'm moving to is all electric with baseboard heaters as a backup for freezing temps ($$$$$$tupid... I think we may just bundle up in those cases and get as much mileage as possible from the passive solar)

[old goat]

Agreed. Unfortunately with mine (and many? most?), the auto-changeover kicks in at near-freezing temps anyway.

The house I'm moving to is all electric with baseboard heaters as a backup for freezing temps ($$$$$$tupid... I think we may just bundle up in those cases and get as much mileage as possible from the passive solar)

According to the aforementioned HVAC engineer and climate crisis zealot the ideal back up heat is wood.
Heat pumps are big in Norway. https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/h...heating-method

[mattig]

According to the aforementioned HVAC engineer and climate crisis zealot the ideal back up heat is wood.
Heat pumps are big in Norway. https://nextcity.org/urbanist-news/h...heating-method

Awesome! Also got a nice wood stove in the family room.

[toast2266]

According to the heating engineer I talked to earlier generations of heat pumps didn't heat well in cold climates. Newer generations do. They are being used successfully in Truckee. While gas may be cheaper leaving a livable world for your grandchildren is priceless.

Agreed. We have a ducted heat pump in Montana. Works great. The only time the electric backup kicks on is if I had the unit turned off and it's trying to heat the space up quickly. But the heat pump has been able to keep the house at 68, even when outside temps are getting down to -10F. Granted, the heat pump is running pretty much constantly at those temps, but it manages. And it's fairly cheap to run.

Installed some ductless splits in another part of the house last spring. So far they've been great. We'll see how well they keep up when it gets cold this winter, but I'm guessing they'll do just fine.