| Heating Up and Cooling Down: HVAC System |
From "Home IQ"
episode DHIQ-109 |
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The heating and cooling system in the Oberg's home is a HVAC -- heating, ventilation and air conditioning -- system. The building scientists at Ibacos and White Heating worked together to figure out what type and how big the system should be. Since the homeowners (Brad and Lynn Oberg) chose to make their home air-tight, they needed a way of getting fresh air into the home. They were able to accomplish this by installing an ERV unit -- energy recovery ventilator. The unit eliminates bad air and pollutants inside the home while bringing in fresh air from the outside.Many potential homeowners have the perception that the bigger a HVAC system is the better, but Eric Newhouse, systems integration designer at Ibacos, says this isn't always the case. "A properly sized piece of equipment that's not too large is going to work much more efficiently and maintain better and more even comfort in your home," he said.
The Oberg's home (figure A) will be broken down into two zones that will save energy and money. "The main benefit of having a zone system," Newhouse said, "is that you can have temperature control in different rooms of the home."- To accomplish this dual-system, the contractor installs a plenum (figure B), which sits right on top of the furnace. It controls the air coming up from the furnace and diverts it into the appropriate ducts that branch off into separate zones throughout the house. Each zone has its own thermostat that electronically controls the plenum. The thermostat sends a signal to open or close a zone -- depending upon the heating or cooling needs of that particular zone.
- For the Oberg home, one zone is upstairs where the daughters' rooms and guest room are located. And the other is the main living area on the first floor.
Providing Fresh Air "Inside" the Oberg HomeA typical approach to providing fresh air in your home, according to Newhouse, is to let the structure be "leaky" enough for air to naturally infiltrates from the outside into the home. But since the Obergs wanted an air-tight home, the best way to provide fresh air is a energy recovery ventilator (ERV) (figure C). - The ERV vents "out" all the bad air and pollutants in the house and replaces them with fresh air from the outside.
In the Oberg home the ERV was installed in the basement, and here (figure D) you can see the ducts that go in and out. On the right-hand side the air comes in and on the left-hand side the air goes out. The ERV draws air out of the house and exhaust it, and then it draws fresh air from the outside and sends that air through the ductwork, which in turn distributes the fresh air into the zones that we talked about before. Note: The ERV also will recover the heat from the outgoing air and use it to warm the incoming air in the winter, saving money on heating the fresh air coming in.
If you're a potential homebuilder, be sure to stay informed where heating-and-cooling questions are concerned. Know your options before you build. In the last segment the homeowners discuss the use of fireplaces in their new custom-built home.
RESOURCES :
Air Conditioning (Carrier)
Carrier Corp.
7310 W. Morris St.
Indianapolis, IN 46231
Phone: 317-240-5219
Website: www.global.carrier.com
Heat-N-Glo Fireplaces (Hearth & Home Technologies)
Hearth & Home Technoligies, Inc.
20802 Kensington Blvd.
Lakeville, MN 55044
Toll-free: 888-427-3973
E-mail: info@heatnglo.com or globalinfo@heatnglo.com
Website: www.heatnglo.com
Heating (White Heating)
White Heating
3467 Babcock Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Toll-free: 800-800-4328
Fax: 412-364-3632
E-mail: white@stargate.net
Website: www.whiteheating.com
GUESTS :
Anthony Grisolia
Systems Integrator
Ibacos, Inc.
Website: www.ibacos.com
Brad and Lynn Oberg
Homeowners
Company: IBACOS (Brad)
Title: Co-Founder/Chief Technology Officer
Website: www.ibacos.com
Greg Allen
Site Supervisor
Hendolhurst Homes
955 Markman Park Rd.
Baden, PA 15005
Phone: 724-935-5658
Fax: 724-935-0884
E-mail: gcrbs@adelphia.net
Eric Newhouse
Systems Integration Designer
IBACOS
Website: www.ibacos.com
John Holton
Senior Architect
Ibacos
Website: www.ibacos.com
Chris Haley
SpaceJoist®
Toll-free: 800-238-8678
Website: www.spacejoist.com
Gary Gressang
White Heating, Inc.
3467 Babcock Blvd.
Pittsburgh, PA 15237
Toll-free: 800-800-4328
Phone: 412-364-5003
Fax: 412-364-3632
E-mail: white@stargate.net
Website: www.whiteheating.com
Kevin Waldo
Product Manager
Carrier Corp.
7310 W. Morris St.
Indianapolis, IN 46231
Phone: 317-240-5219
E-mail: Kevin.waldo@carrier.com
Website: www.global.carrier.com
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