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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.
Just thinking about how norms feel normal and stepping outside of them feels weird.
When I hear people say "where else would the furnace go?" or whatever, it's super puzzling to me because... in the furnace room! We literally called it that in the house I grew up in.
But if it's normal to shove it up in the attic where you live, planning a room for that stuff might feel wasteful.
@TechConnectify I’m guessing basements aren’t the norm out there? If so, why? Water table weirdly high? Ground freeze too deep?
@98codes @TechConnectify Ok, I'll chime in from Massachusetts. 1908 house. Steam heat. 3rd floor attic that is all weird angles and you can't stand up straight. Evap unit in the attic, the dreaded condensate pipe/pump, ductwork punched down into the ceilings of the 2nd floor bedrooms.
@andthisismrspeacock@mas.to@98codes @TechConnectify Here's why I don't mind:
1. I'd much rather lose the useless 4’ high attic space than have to build out a utility room in a useful room downstairs.
2. The whole place (incl. attic) (and duct work) is well insulated, so I'm not losing much thermal efficiency.
3. I only care about AC in the 2nd floor bedrooms, ceiling fans are fine for the living/dining/etc. And that attic space the ducts cross was useless anyway.
YMMV but for me it's a good layout.
@andthisismrspeacock @98codes In your case, I'm honestly not bothered because you have an old house which has been retrofitted. I definitely wouldn't suggest /adding/ a utility room.
But when designing a new home, I think you should.
Also, as soon as the HVAC industry realizes how amazing they are, ductless mini-splits will probably render your kind of retrofit obsolete. But right now, it's pulling teeth to get them unless you DIY it.
@TechConnectify @98codes Oh, absolutely, for new construction why would you ever do this?! If you had the option of making a utility closet. And I've considered splits for the downstairs but it's not (yet!) hot enough here that we need them so fans work ok. For now. What a fun time to be alive.
@TechConnectify @andthisismrspeacock @98codes Mini splits are better than hooking into an existing forced air heater?