With 6,500 square foot in total, this house used to have one huge HVAC system in one corner of the building and was just never comfortable.
Planning the project
For every project we do a complete mechanical design of the whole house. This includes measuring the building, the type of insulation, the type of crawl space, among others. Then we come up with a concept for how to break up the house into different zones. Using Fujitsu Inverter Heat Pumps we’re are able to design small but very efficient systems for each zone.
This particular house has 4 zones: guest bedroom, living area, master bedroom and a lower floor game and bedroom. Each zone is being controlled by it’s own thermostat. For the guest suite we’re choosing a 1,800 BTU system, a bigger 2,500 BTU for the living area with it’s high ceilings, the lower floor and additional bedroom each get a 1,000 BTU system.
Every duct is designed for size and velocity and every register for how exactly we are going to throw everything. Detailed data about velocity and airflow for every register helps us decide where in the building it should be placed and what the requirements for the duct work are. Everything is designed to the last point.
Then, at the end of the job, when we start all the systems up, we do a complete air balance to every single register. We check the performance and how much air is being moved.
All systems is this home are performing by 25%, in our dry climate that’s an A+. And that’s how we start every single job, from start to finish we use this data to optimize the HVAC system.
Crawl Space
The crawl space area is connected to basement, and is now completely encapsulated which means it has no vents. The building has a Radon issue so the encapsulation with plastic using negative pressure keeps the home save. The walls and all concrete were insulated underneath the whole house.
When conditioning a crawl space, the goal is to have a similar temperature as the floors above. This way the floors will be comfortably warm. Also, no airflow is blowing through bypasses or cracks in the house, so there’ll be no unwanted drafts.
Because the air inside the ducts and the crawl space have such similar temperature, there’s very little duct loss. Any duct loss that might still happen simply helps to condition the crawl space, so if it might ever be a little damp it has a chance to dry out.
Only taking care of the crawl space causes a huge increase in comfort, just by having cozy warm floors.
Attic
We have a total of 4 systems, 3 of them are in the attic. This attic is entirely encapsulated, which means it has foam insulation and no vents. Same as with the crawl space, we have very little duct loss which would only help getting rid of any moisture.