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Re: my earlier toot.

Honest question - is a "utility room" some sort of Midwestern thing?

Talking about how to avoid running ducts through attics, it occurred to me that it might be.

Here, if you don't have a basement, there's usually a room with your furnace/air handler, water heater, and washer/dryer. Plumbing often routes there, too.

Sometimes it's less of a room and more of a closet, but we can't just stick the washer and water heater in the garage 'cause they'll freeze.

@TechConnectify Excuse a "stupid" question from an European, but what for do you need air ducts anyway?

Technology Connections

@smokku Because nearly all of us have air conditioning, and for those that choose not to have it, forced-air heat is so common at this point that it's cheaper to install a furnace than a boiler and radiators (plus it allows easy retrofit of an air conditioner down the line)

A fun little bonus is that, since heat pumps are just air conditioners that can also run backwards, most of our housing stock is ready to accept them with minimal modifications.

@TechConnectify Got it.

The thing with air is that it has low energy capacity.
Replacing hot air with cold works for a moment - until it heats from the walls.
It's even worse with replacing cold air with worm. You will still feel cold, of the skin not receiving IR radiation.

That's why I prefer water both for heating and cooling.

@smokku Um... sorry to be contrarian, but even a hydronic system is ultimately just transferring its heat energy to the air. That's literally what radiators do. If you're near one, you might get a nice amount of IR and I'm not knocking you for liking that, but directly heating or cooling the air is just as effective.

@TechConnectify My whole floor is a radiator.
And even with that, I resort to fireplace on a very cold winter nights.

@smokku They're pretty common, yeah! But interestingly, less so on the front door - it's usually at the back or side, and up here we call that a mudroom. But you could also have an attached garage that would *kinda* count, so long as you thought to close the overhead door before you went in. Obviously less effective, though.

But, get into large buildings and they pretty much all have a double-door vestibule airlock if not a revolving door.

@TechConnectify I get the "mudroom" name. We keep most of the shoes and currently used clothing in the airlock. It's a mess.
And it's a mess every visitor gets to see on entry. Yeah… ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

@TechConnectify @smokku *installs incandescent lightbulbs in all your sockets after first frost* 😈