For New Home Buyers
If you are buying a new home, you should know the condition of the installed heating system before you commit to the purchase.The single most complicated system in most houses is the heating system. This is also the system that consumes your money every single day that you own your home. It is also the most expensive to repair or upgrade. Changes to a home heating system should be considered before a house is purchased. Upgrades and changes are most affordable when they are a part on the initial mortgage.
The first winter that you live in your new home is not the time to discover that you are facing expensive heating system repairs with no way to finance them.
Won't the home inspector tell me about this?
Probably not, heating systems are very complicated and seemingly, small details can create major problems. It takes a specialist with an engineering background to notice these problems before they become a serious issue. In many cases, the installed systems are in violation of the National Fire Code and licensed home inspectors are often prohibited from reporting code violations.
What about the oil company?
Oil and fuel supply companies are in the business of selling fuel. Do you really believe that it is in their best interest to tell you that the heating system can operate better while using half as much fuel?
What about an energy audit?
Energy Audits can be a useful tool for accessing the state of the building envelope. This address the containment portion of the heating system. Companies that specialize in energy audits do not have the proper staff to evaluate the critical details that dictate the efficiency of the total system.
For Example:
- Does the installed fuel system comply with the national fire code?
- Is the boiler the right size for the house?
- Are the installed circulating pumps adequate for the house?
- Will the existing heating equipment need to be replaced within the next few years?
It is virtually impossible to build a house with an efficient heating system if the architect does not provide a room by room heat load plan for the contractor. Without this study there is no way to know what size radiator, type of baseboard, or the amount of radiant floor tubing that needs to be installed to effectively heat each room.
Recently we received a house plan with the following construction detail for the heating system.
“Heating systems shall be designed to achieve the minimum indoor design temperature of 68 at a distance of two feet and more from exterior walls, and at a level of five feet above the floor, in habitable spaces, kitchenettes, bathrooms, toilet rooms, and for the comfort of the occupants relative to the physical activity in which they are usually engaged in other spaces. The capability of the heating equipment to achieve the indoor design temperature shall be based on the average of the recorded annual outside temperatures for the locality.”
This is a useless specification. It is just the same as if the architect said, “Build an inexpensive, attractive, house on a proper lot that is suitable for four humans to live in.”
Without a proper heat load study, the contractor has no way to know what equipment is suitable to install in the house.
Since the architect already knows all the details necessary to complete the heating requirements there is absolutely no reason that he should not complete his job and tell the builder how much is need in each room of the house.
Since the determination of heat load is based on the size of the rooms, the insulation that is installed, the type and size of the windows and doors, and the equipment installed in the rooms, the data to calculate the heat load has already been assembled by the architect. By simply entering this available data into the proper heat load software program: the builder can easily be provided with the necessary information to enable the construction of an efficient heating system. Without the heat load specifications the only way to build the heating system is by guessing on the equipment or by paying another designer to reassemble all the data the architect’s data and then complete the necessary calculations. More often than not, the builder gives the heating job to a subcontractor who simply uses his best guess as to how to build the heating system. When this is done, the heating plant is usually oversized: a practice that protects the contractor from installing a plant that is too small, but one that automatically compromises the energy efficiency of the system. Moreover, when the construction is done this way, there is no clear trail of responsibility when the resulting heating plant is inefficient.
When the architect does not provide a heat load study for the builder the architect has not completed his job.
Why is Energy Application Associates different?
Our only business is advising homeowners on how to heat their home safely, comfortably, economically, and with the least environmental impact.
We can evaluate the entire heating system and provide a detailed report on all the important issues regarding a household heating system. When a new homebuyer has this information, they can safely anticipate any future costs and plan accordingly.