Retrofitting older house with modern HVAC system?

[Nessism1]

Mini split seems like the way to go.

With a full house system, 5 radiating units, I'll have to upgrade my electrical system. Inside the existing fuse box, there was provisions to feed an electric range, 240V, but I diverted that power out to my garage a couple years ago, to power my air compressor and lathe/mill. Dang old houses. I'll have to add the cost of upgrading the input power, and a new electrical panel. Not the worst thing in the world, I suppose.

 

[FZ1]

My house, built in 1952, has one wall heater, and one (non functional) manual wall heater unit back by the bedrooms.

The main house heater is a great unit, but it is a simple radiant heat unit. The house gets cold in the winter, but not unbearable, considering So. Calif.

A friend had his similar house retrofit with a ducted forced air heating/cooling unit, located up in his attic. My guess, with modern costs, a similar unit would cost $30k.

Another friend suggested a mini-split unit install. Has anyone around here have experience with these units? I'm guessing that 5 in-room units, along with the required plumbing would be enough for my small home.

Please share your thoughts.

Maybe repair or replace the non functional Wall heater back by the bedrooms. You could also get some Persian area rugs for uncarpeted areas. 2" window blinds, etc.,etc. .02

 

[SubieRubyRoo]

True, but it's all about comfort level.

Are you okay with 62F inside your house, and a $200/month heating bill? Clearly, this is related to insulation in the house. With my house, even with the main wall heater running often, the heat doesn't get into the back bedrooms all that much. No biggie, just add more blankets. Clearly, I need more insulation, but the lack of heating capacity is clear.

You hit the nail on the head and apparently don’t realize it. Adding insulation to the attic is by far the easiest and cheapest way to improve your heating (and cooling!). I forget the exact number, but greater than 70% of heat loss is via the ceiling to the attic. Once it’s in the attic, it’s forever lost. If you can blow in your own insulation or even roll out new batts laid crossways over your current insulation, you may be out $1000-3k depending on the SF of your attic and insulation depth, but you’ll likely recover every bit of that cost in 3 years or less depending on how many heating/cooling days per year you have.

 

[Nessism1]

You hit the nail on the head and apparently don’t realize it. Adding insulation to the attic is by far the easiest and cheapest way to improve your heating (and cooling!). I forget the exact number, but greater than 70% of heat loss is via the ceiling to the attic. Once it’s in the attic, it’s forever lost. If you can blow in your own insulation or even roll out new batts laid crossways over your current insulation, you may be out $1000-3k depending on the SF of your attic and insulation depth, but you’ll likely recover every bit of that cost in 3 years or less depending on how many heating/cooling days per year you have.

Maybe 5 years back, I installed insulation in the attic. There was NONE! Crazy, yes. And holy hell, my knees hated me afterwards! Didn't go super thick, just up to joist height. Need a second layer, crosswise now.

When the roof was redone a year and a half ago, with three layers on the main house, and four on the garage, when they demo'ed the roof, the amount of slag/grunge that fell down in between the roof board slats was epic. My garage was a major mess. I've never looked up the attic, out of fear. All that insulation I installed is no doubt covered with a massive amount of crud. It saddens me to think. Eventually, it needs to be addressed, though. And it's common for insulation companies to come in, drill holes in the walls, and inject spray insulation. I'd need that done also.

Crank up the money printing press! Need a few more tens of thousands of dollars fixing up my POS house!

 

[FZ1]

Maybe 5 years back, I installed insulation in the attic. There was NONE! Crazy, yes. And holy hell, my knees hated me afterwards! Didn't go super thick, just up to joist height. Need a second layer, crosswise now.

When the roof was redone a year and a half ago, with three layers on the main house, and four on the garage, when they demo'ed the roof, the amount of slag/grunge that fell down in between the roof board slats was epic. My garage was a major mess. I've never looked up the attic, out of fear. All that insulation I installed is no doubt covered with a massive amount of crud. It saddens me to think. Eventually, it needs to be addressed, though. And it's common for insulation companies to come in, drill holes in the walls, and inject spray insulation. I'd need that done also.

Crank up the money printing press! Need a few more tens of thousands of dollars fixing up my POS house!

Portable heater and/or fix the wall heater first. Inexpensive and easy.

 

[FZ1]

Maybe 5 years back, I installed insulation in the attic. There was NONE! Crazy, yes. And holy hell, my knees hated me afterwards! Didn't go super thick, just up to joist height. Need a second layer, crosswise now.

When the roof was redone a year and a half ago, with three layers on the main house, and four on the garage, when they demo'ed the roof, the amount of slag/grunge that fell down in between the roof board slats was epic. My garage was a major mess. I've never looked up the attic, out of fear. All that insulation I installed is no doubt covered with a massive amount of crud. It saddens me to think. Eventually, it needs to be addressed, though. And it's common for insulation companies to come in, drill holes in the walls, and inject spray insulation. I'd need that done also.

Crank up the money printing press! Need a few more tens of thousands of dollars fixing up my POS house!

Do the simple/inexpensive things first. Expensive Mess to punchl the walls then re sheet rock them. Central Hvac is just gonna BLOW OUT all the crevasses in you Envelope (House ) . Don't waste you HVAC money on a Sieve. Simple things first. Don't get overwhelmed. One simple fix at a time. .02