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SpaceCadetBob posted:If the room is getting actually into the 100F range it sounds more like an insulation problem than an AC problem. Yeah, you’re absolutely correct about it being an insulation issue. I suspect that there is very little insulation between this room and the garage below due to the amount of sound and heat coming up, and the walls don’t do much to block the sound coming from a nearby highway. The attic above is insulated, but seems to be the bear minimum. The remodeling will be redoing the kitchen below, adding a bathroom to the second floor, addressing the insulation/sound issues up there, and either connecting it to the rest of the house’s HVAC or installing a real second zone. A mini split is more than I want to expend in dollars or effort right now. I mentioned I’m using a space heater in the winter, but we’re in California so it doesn’t actually get that cold, an hour in the mornings is sufficient to keep it warm enough for the rest of the day. For the return path I figured I could just leave the closet door cracked open. That way air gets sucked out of the closet into the main room by the vent, and other air can get pulled back into the closet through the door.
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May 30, 2022 17:08
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Turn off your space heater.  I would spend dollars on a carbon monoxide detector in the room if it doesn't already have one. Today. Yesterday if you can. You can build a little cardboard duct and affix it to the cold output of the window unit. Get it a few inches outside of the closet. Angle it up a bit. This gets you going with literal trash and should at least make it work harder all the time. Move your circulation fan about a foot outside of the closet. You're going to spend more money in electricity on that window unit fighting a lack of insulation than it will cost you to insulate it. Heck, park your car in the driveway in the summer and attach some foam insulation to your assumed uninsulated metal garage door.
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May 30, 2022 17:45
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Yeah the first thing I did when I moved in was check/install detectors, I am generally anti-dying. I also have the garage door insulation ordered and being shipped!
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May 30, 2022 18:01
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Totally understand wanting to limit spending on a new system, and fixing missing insulation between the floors and in exterior walls isn’t easy either. There really isn’t a valid reason to delay grabbing some R-30 rolls from home depot and topping off the attic one early rainy morning however. Can you find the model of your window unit and look up what size room its spec’d for? My wallet is on fire just imaging your upcoming electric bill.
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May 30, 2022 18:05
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It’s a new one and definitely rated for the space. I think the previous owner replaced it when they put the house on the market. All your comments have made me decide not to half-rear end this, I’m going to get a real energy audit done on the house, and from there figure out what can be done pre- and post-remodeling.
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May 31, 2022 17:35
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Mattavist posted:It’s a new one and definitely rated for the space. I think the previous owner replaced it when they put the house on the market. With a couple of pictures and a cardinal direction for the windows there are some stop gaps - but seriously shoot cellulose into everything. Is the window low-e? If not get some tint on it. Curtains over it for the highest sun exposure times, etc.
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May 31, 2022 19:11
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Dumb question: Would adding a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs help keep 2nd floor cooler? The situation : 1920s house, has central heat/ac, 2nd floor has supply duct in bathroom, one bedroom, and two bedrooms share a duct in their dividing wall. No returns upstairs, but at foot of stairs there is a return in the floor. All upstairs rooms connect to a central small room with the stairs, my thinking is replacing the celing light in this room with a ceiling fan, to help direct air down the stairs to the return duct. Does this make any sense whatsoever? Upstairs is plenty warm in the winter, but too warm in summer. I have added some duct dampers in the basement to try and force more air upstairs which has helped.
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May 31, 2022 21:24
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Question for ya'll is it possible for me to replace a minisplit that is malfunctioning (making an annoying whistling that the HVAC guys couldn't figure out how to fix) with an entirely new unit on my own. The minisplit that I have is this one: https://www.ecomfort.com/Daikin-CTXS09HVJU/p55812.html And I'd ideally just like to remove it, disconnect the hoses and power and reconnect them to a new one in place. Is that possible for an amateur to do? The HVAC company quoted me some insane price to do it I think because they wanted to replace all of the hosing as well which would involve tearing up my walls which seems insanely overkill to me.
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May 31, 2022 21:25
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Talorat posted:Question for ya'll is it possible for me to replace a minisplit that is malfunctioning (making an annoying whistling that the HVAC guys couldn't figure out how to fix) with an entirely new unit on my own. The minisplit that I have is this one: Is it the inside or outside unit making the noise? The inside one is easy if you're OK with imperfect charge. Assuming yours works like mine you can follow some instructions on how to pump down your gas into the compressor, close the valves, r&r the head, preferably vacuum out the lines, then follow the startup instructions. If you don't want to buy a manifold and pump you can truly yolo it but I would suggest getting them to make sure you hold a negative charge before opening the valves. Shop around. Someone should be willing to handle it for you. That's a "I don't want to be responsible if it breaks" quote. Ask them what it is if you check the box on the work order that says "NO WARRANTY".
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May 31, 2022 22:15
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Inside unit. Okay noted, so the basic issue is that the lines going to the indoor unit will empty when disconnected? Unfortunate that they don't have some sort of ball valve or similar, but I suppose disconnections aren't common enough for that.
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May 31, 2022 22:21
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Talorat posted:Inside unit. Okay noted, so the basic issue is that the lines going to the indoor unit will empty when disconnected? Unfortunate that they don't have some sort of ball valve or similar, but I suppose disconnections aren't common enough for that. Actually, come to think of it, I don't think the inside unit will easily disconnect.  Ignore me I'm on pain killers.
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May 31, 2022 22:24
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Oh! That might explain why they kept talking about also replacing the lines
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Jun 1, 2022 02:00
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Refrigerant lines aren't something you want to gently caress with as an amateur unless you know what you're doing. They contain liquid refrigerant at several hundred PSI and can easily give you severe frostbite and/or injection injuries if you do the wrong thing. You also really should vacuum test the lines and indoor unit after installing it, and if it passes that, pressure test them as well. I had leaks that I couldn't find with vacuum because the most vacuum you can pull is 14.7psi while the system runs at hundreds of psi normally. The leaks only became apparent when I dumped like 200psi of argon (pros use dry nitrogen since it's way cheaper, I didn't want to buy a whole tank of that since I never need it and had an argon tank on hand for my tig welder... Only difference is a thermistor based micron pressure gauge will read all crazy on argon unless you flush the lines with nitrogen or air after and then vac and measure again) in and started looking for bubbles with leak detector solution. AC is really not a job for amateurs to first time on, unless you're willing to do a LOT of reading and watching how to videos. I was only even slightly comfortable doing mine because I'd been working on automotive AC systems for five years and had a good grasp of how they functioned and what safety measures needed to be taken, and it was still a big learning experience.
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Jun 1, 2022 04:14
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Dont forget about the several hundo in specialized tools you won't use for anything else. I wish i had photos of my freeze burns, but i was too busy at the time treating them and hoping i hadn't lost any function in my hands and killed my career to take a selfie.
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Jun 1, 2022 04:50
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True. I forgot that, all I needed really (for one job - doing it daily I'd want a lot more) was a micron gauge and r410a manifold gauge set, but I also already owned my vacuum pump from working on cars.
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Jun 1, 2022 05:41
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heyou posted:Dumb question: Would adding a ceiling fan at the top of the stairs help keep 2nd floor cooler? Sounds like a standard Philly rowhouse. Try putting a good floor fan at the top of the stairs blowing down. I have the same issue and it helps quite a bit. If that works, good indication that a ceiling fan that pushed down the stairs would work too.
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Jun 1, 2022 13:47
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Bro and I just did a trial run of the geothermal AC hardware. There was a bunch of faffing around getting the air out of the brine plumbing, but once proper circulation was established things looked really promising. With the blower and brine pump going at full blast the temps were brine 7°C in, 9° out. Air 18° in, 12° out. With the blower at the lowest rpm the chilled air went down to 9° though I forgot to check the Δt on the brine- probably not much. I have no idea how to quantify the amount of air the blower is moving (bro probably knows the numbers given by the manufacturer since he bought the thing) but it's a lot and there's no doubt in my mind that it will suffice to cool his fairly large house plenty good. Noise levels from the blower was low, barely audible over the fridge compressor which it sits directly above. Now we need to sort out all the air ducts and insulate everything, also regulate the cooling (bro claims there'll be an app for that, raspberry pies and whatnot). Ambient air in the attic was neither hot nor humid but all exposed brine pipes saw plenty of condensation so all cool things need to be properly sorted. My overall impression is that the guts of the system seem to work just like we hoped they would which feels pretty great.
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Jun 1, 2022 22:24
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Awesome progress! Any pictures?
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Jun 1, 2022 22:46
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Not much to show. Today was mostly chasing air bubbles and semi-temporary wiring. I snapped a few bad pics but phone posting so can't be bothered. I'll take some pictures of the ductwork etc when we get that. Progress is pretty slow, but we work on this together a few hours a week and bro tinkers a bit on his own. As long as it works passably well before the summer heat comes it's all good. Also the attic will become increasingly unbearable, especially when dressed for working with fibreglass so there's that I guess.
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Jun 1, 2022 22:57
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Invalido posted:Bro and I just did a trial run of the geothermal AC hardware. There was a bunch of faffing around getting the air out of the brine plumbing, but once proper circulation was established things looked really promising. With the blower and brine pump going at full blast the temps were brine 7°C in, 9° out. Air 18° in, 12° out. With the blower at the lowest rpm the chilled air went down to 9° though I forgot to check the Δt on the brine- probably not much. I have no idea how to quantify the amount of air the blower is moving (bro probably knows the numbers given by the manufacturer since he bought the thing) but it's a lot and there's no doubt in my mind that it will suffice to cool his fairly large house plenty good. Noise levels from the blower was low, barely audible over the fridge compressor which it sits directly above. there are two ways to measure airflow: one, find a fan chart and measure pressure drop, consult chart. two, measure air velocity through known duct size, do math.
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Jun 1, 2022 23:05
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MRC48B posted:there are two ways to measure airflow: I actually knew about both these methods at least in theory, now that I think about it. I have access to pressure sensors (bro intends to maybe use them in concert with the raspberry pi for control) and an anemometer too. No excuse other than being pressed for time and sloppy with my language. Anyways, airflow is plentiful, we could probably get away with a size or two smaller on the blower. This is a good thing since we'll use more flexible ducts than I'd prefer, mostly because of the layout of the attic space.
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Jun 1, 2022 23:18
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A few bad pics. Bro messing around:  The white box with the little knob is some sort of temporary PWM controller he made for the blower for testing purposes. We had to disassemble some things and flip the heat exchanger around to air it out before the brine would circulate. Not shown is the expansion tank that sits above on a rafter. This is tricky to refill, and we had to pour five additional liters in it before things were done bubbling and gurgling.   These are the air outlets in the kitchen and guest bedroom. They're screwed shut at the moment but it's just an adjustable vent. There will be 7 of these in all rooms along the outer walls of the top floor of the house (double vents in the living room since it's big and facing south). A WC that's in the middle of the floor and can't be easily reached by an air duct will only be passively cooled by being surrounded by cooled rooms. The central hallway has no outlet, only the air inlet, but it's open to the kitchen and living room on either end that will have outlets. Hopefully we can get a reasonable balance between the various rooms by adjusting the outlets and also shut them in the winter to limit heat losses from the ducts which are bound to be much worse insulated than the ceiling is. Possibly some doors or inner walls will need additional ventilation so outlet air can flow past closed doors into the central hallway back to the inlet. We'll see. The brine sampled from the system doesn't freeze at the -20C found in the freezer but it can't be very far off, so we plan to automate the AC circulation pump to run to prevent frost damage in the AC plumbing if ambient air temp gets low enough for this to become a possibility - this temp is available on the internet which is easy because no wiring, although having one or two sensors locally is also a possibility. This running of the pump when it's really cold will lower the efficiency of the heat pump a tiny bit by cooling the brine some, but it shouldn't be noticable in the grand scheme of things as it's far from every winter it gets that cold. This is a chart of lowest temps measured in various months in Stockholm over the last years. -20 isn't unheard of but not exactly common either. 
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Jun 3, 2022 08:26
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I finally got an air quality meter for my house and I guess I'm poisoning myself a bit while working from home. CO2 PPM ranges from 1500-1900 during the day, and I can't go cracking windows since the AC is on. The MERV 13 filter seems to be doing a good job since my P2.5 is 0. I've confirmed this by taking the sensor outside and it drops immediately to 500ppm CO2 and P2.5 rises to 10. What are some solid brands for ERVs? None of the big name installers around my house do ERVs, so I'll have to start with a vendor and work from that angle. I have a wood framed, 2100ft house circa 1992 with a Carrier furnace/AC in the basement with forced air ducts, and I'm eyeballing 150cfm or so. edit: Ecobee3 controlled, if that makes any difference. edit edit: Alarbus pointed out my typo, thank you for nagging me offline you jerk DkHelmet fucked around with this message at 20:35 on Jun 8, 2022 |
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Jun 8, 2022 19:10
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DkHelmet posted:I finally got an air quality meter for my house and I guess I'm poisoning myself a bit while working from home. CO2 PPM ranges from 1500-1900 during the day, and I can't go cracking windows since the AC is on. The only way to get rid of co2 is exchange it with a better mix of gas or bring in a ton of green leafy plants. There is no magic filter to do the opposite of what your lungs do. Looks like erv's attempt to minimize this by heat exchanging intake air with the exhaust air, neat product. Crack a window. What did you buy? I am in the market for a impulse buy.
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Jun 8, 2022 21:17
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H110Hawk posted:What did you buy? I am in the market for a impulse buy. I got a DIY kit from AirGradient and soldered it up.
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Jun 8, 2022 22:47
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My house is made from concrete-mineral wool-concret sandwich elements. It mostly keeps cold out, so it works for that purpose. But it also lets heat in, and eventually the concrete warms up and then the apartment is very warm, too warm. Air circulation works like so: a machine on top of our apartment building sucks air from apartments. Replacement air comes in from outside, from slots in windows in different rooms. Kitchen, wardrobe room and toilet have exit vents for air.. so no air conditioning. The air is what it is when it comes in from the street. I installed IR reflective films to windows last summer, but it was not enough. So I bought a cooling system installed for 4500€. It was expensive but there were only 2 companies which said "yes we can do this" so it wasn't like I had much options. I asked over a dozen companies and they just noped out when they heard what I wanted. Anyways, "normally" these are installed to the outside wall in many countries. That is not allowed here so the outside unit with compressor had to be placed inside my balcony:  The right support foot is crooked like this:    It is what it is. The water runs via pipes to a drain in my balcony:  One interior unit is in bedroom:  The other one in living room:  The contractors plugged the living room unit's drain hose. So currently the water drains to my wall and floor... so I can't use the unit. They promised to come to fix it next week. Some other contractor comes to fix the extra holes and other mess they made. Also the units I bought had a timer function, so I could turn off automatically the bedroom unit at night when I sleep. They installed similar units but without a timer... well they promised they'll look at how it can be fixed, maybe a Wifi add-on or different remote. Well. At least the bedroom unit works. Ihmemies fucked around with this message at 06:57 on Jun 12, 2022 |
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Jun 12, 2022 06:51
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Quixzlizx posted:Also the units I bought had a timer function, so I could turn off automatically the bedroom unit at night when I sleep. They installed similar units but without a timer... well they promised they'll look at how it can be fixed, maybe a Wifi add-on or different remote.
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Jun 12, 2022 12:04
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New homeowner here with oil heat and baseboard heating. Looking at all the inspection tags, it seems it was last inspected in 2019. I’ve got about 1/2 tank full of oil right now (275 gallon capacity). When’s the best time of year to get this inspected? Oil prices suck right now but do I just suck it up and get the tank filled? I’m Not using heat right now but I guess this is what heats my water. I’ve never lived in a place without a water heater (tank). 
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Jun 13, 2022 16:10
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nwin posted:New homeowner here with oil heat and baseboard heating. If your local market is anything like mine now (SE PA), schedule for a cleaning and service now, and hopefully they can schedule you in the next 3 months. Oil burners have yearly maintenance items (filters, potentially igniters and orifices) and with $6 heating oil you want to be running as efficiently as possible. The rule of thumb I was always told was to not let your oil tank fall below 1/4 if you can help it to avoid pulling any solids off the bottom of your tank. Based on what i can see, you have what's called "tankless coil", where your boiler lights off when hot water is needed, so you need to watch your oil level even in the warm months because your heating system is never truly "off".
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Jun 13, 2022 17:15
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TacoHavoc posted:If your local market is anything like mine now (SE PA), schedule for a cleaning and service now, and hopefully they can schedule you in the next 3 months. Oil burners have yearly maintenance items (filters, potentially igniters and orifices) and with $6 heating oil you want to be running as efficiently as possible. The rule of thumb I was always told was to not let your oil tank fall below 1/4 if you can help it to avoid pulling any solids off the bottom of your tank. Based on what i can see, you have what's called "tankless coil", where your boiler lights off when hot water is needed, so you need to watch your oil level even in the warm months because your heating system is never truly "off". Thanks I’m in Connecticut and they can come July 21st. I guess I should get some oil since I’m at 1/2 tank. I’m sure it differs state to state, but are there any glaring issues to look out wrt companies or is it pretty much just shop for the best rate, which I doubt exists right now… nwin fucked around with this message at 18:49 on Jun 13, 2022 |
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Jun 13, 2022 18:26
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Preface: I know absolutely nothing about DIY and construction and anything. Talk to me like I am a five year old. So my bedroom was once a garage - stone or concrete walls or whatever. I sometimes smell the people in the apartment next to me smoking and I also have a portable AC in here and know that is creating a low pressure environment. I am concerned about COVID and would like to ensure that the only air entering into my room is air coming from directly outside through my window. My question is: how do I go about sealing those walls? I know they make tapes and various polyurethane stuff you can spray, but I have no idea what is and is not genuinely airtight. Like I honestly don't care too much about aesthetics since, as someone concerned about COVID it's not like I have company anymore, so honestly like if the tape is an ugly but effective solution, I'm down. I'd even say 'gently caress it, I'll just cover the walls in clear recycling bags' but I know from the fact that balloons deflate and not all surgical gloves are rated secure against viruses that not all of these things are truly airtight. I assume this is the correct thread for this kind of question? Apologies if not.
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Jun 14, 2022 01:02
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Your options are to coat everything in plastic, Get a two hose ac unit that doesnt cause negative pressure, Or find other housing options. Are you sure the smoke isnt coming in the aforementioned window?
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Jun 14, 2022 02:18
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Not 100% sure but reasonably sure. Coating everything in plastic is fine, honestly. But like yeah, tapes like these https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-2-in-x-100-ft-Clear-Door-and-Window-Weatherstrip-Tape-04630/100177307 https://www.findtape.com/3M-Scotch-8979-Performance-Plus-Duct-Tape/p625/ https://www.findtape.com/T-REX-Clear-Repair-Tape/p1076/ https://performancebuildingtapes.com/product/fentrim-430-grey-4-siga-tapes/ or some kind of polyurethane spray/roll-on wouldn't work?
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Jun 14, 2022 02:23
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RoboChrist 9000 posted:Preface: I know absolutely nothing about DIY and construction and anything. Talk to me like I am a five year old. Typically for a whole wall it is a vapor barrier that is like 3 mil, or 6 mil plastic with the seams taped. This is usually covered with something like drywall that is also seam taped with mud and painted (also vapor retarder). Taping seams and sealing this barrier is difficult to do right, it's not just slap it on the wall and go. It's very easy to get up, and very difficult to seal tight. This plastic does not have UV protection and if the sun beats on it you will smell plastic and it will degrade/fall apart in time. All of the tapes you linked will also have this problem, they are not long term solutions. There is also vapor retarding latex paint that might be worth a look.
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Jun 14, 2022 12:58
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Yooper posted:Typically for a whole wall it is a vapor barrier that is like 3 mil, or 6 mil plastic with the seams taped. This is usually covered with something like drywall that is also seam taped with mud and painted (also vapor retarder). Taping seams and sealing this barrier is difficult to do right, it's not just slap it on the wall and go. It's very easy to get up, and very difficult to seal tight. This plastic does not have UV protection and if the sun beats on it you will smell plastic and it will degrade/fall apart in time. All of the tapes you linked will also have this problem, they are not long term solutions. It’s an indoor wall and I have a friend who’s a painter who I can have help apply stuff. I don’t really have the money or physical space to put up a layer of drywall over a wall but why would just applying plastic sheets not be sufficient? I’m any case thanks and any links to the type of paint I’d need? It’s porous stone type. Can photo later if it would help?
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Jun 14, 2022 14:53
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RoboChrist 9000 posted:It’s an indoor wall and I have a friend who’s a painter who I can have help apply stuff. I don’t really have the money or physical space to put up a layer of drywall over a wall but why would just applying plastic sheets not be sufficient? I’m any case thanks and any links to the type of paint I’d need? It’s porous stone type. Can photo later if it would help? As far as just plastic, you'd need to tape the entire perimeter to seal it to the walls and floor. Without that the air will just migrate around the plastic. You'll need to secure it to "something", like studs, or furring strips if your wall has any size to it. Paint wise, call Sherwin Williams or other reputable paint store and explain what you're doing. They'll have a good option.
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Jun 14, 2022 15:31
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RoboChrist 9000 posted:It’s an indoor wall and I have a friend who’s a painter who I can have help apply stuff. I don’t really have the money or physical space to put up a layer of drywall over a wall but why would just applying plastic sheets not be sufficient? I’m any case thanks and any links to the type of paint I’d need? It’s porous stone type. Can photo later if it would help? Your main issue is that your AC unit is creating a negative pressure in the room, dragging in air from outside of it. No amount of air sealing is going to fix this. Air sealing may be necessary IN ADDITION to rectifying the negative pressure issue but by itself will not solve this problem.
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Jun 14, 2022 15:35
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Motronic posted:Your main issue is that your AC unit is creating a negative pressure in the room, dragging in air from outside of it. No amount of air sealing is going to fix this. Air sealing may be necessary IN ADDITION to rectifying the negative pressure issue but by itself will not solve this problem. I was smelling smoke from them smoking before I got the AC. I just feel the AC had made it a more urgent issue. And I don't mind the room pulling in air from outside, it's pulling in air from adjoining rooms in the building I'm concerned about. And wouldn't even a wall AC create a negative pressure situation? Since it's still pumping out hot air? It's not really livable in here without air conditioning.
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Jun 15, 2022 00:42
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have you considered taking up smoking? weed, i mean, of course. then you won't be able to notice the cigarette smoke because your whole apartment will be dank as gently caress
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Jun 15, 2022 00:53
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RoboChrist 9000 posted:I was smelling smoke from them smoking before I got the AC. I just feel the AC had made it a more urgent issue. So you need both. RoboChrist 9000 posted:And I don't mind the room pulling in air from outside, it's pulling in air from adjoining rooms in the building I'm concerned about. This isn't something you get to choose in a space you don't own. It's fairly fundamental building characteristics that require extensive reno to change or remediate. RoboChrist 9000 posted:And wouldn't even a wall AC create a negative pressure situation? Since it's still pumping out hot air? It's not really livable in here without air conditioning. What is a "wall ac"? What's being suggested here is a 2 hose portable AC unit. But the more you revel the more this comes down to saving your money to move rather than trying to do whatever this is.
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Jun 15, 2022 01:12
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