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cape cod mass

wt
wt Member Posts: 13
this concerns a one-story, two-bedroom addition to a rambling unheated summer home in the marine environment of cape cod, massachusetts.  this addition was built in the late 50's and has little ceiling insulation, no floor insulation, and presumably only ok wall insulation, if that.  the old GFA unit has finally died so now i would like to have a new one installed.  the space isn't large, about 1175 square feet including the mechanical/storage closet.  the windows, while not numerous, are single glazed, and there is a fairly sizable picture window in the living room.  the old GFA unit has a conventional flue.



this space will not be used in the winter, probably ever, but is used in the spring and fall, and heating is necessary from time to time.  my contractor spec'd a 90,000 btu goodman 80% efficient unit.  my crude calculations tell me i need a 54,000 btu unit and when i told him that he said he could do a 70,000.  my biggest priority is that the unit be quiet and not wasteful.  does anyone have any suggestions?  the space is shown in the picture - it is the section with the bay window closest to the camera.



thank you all in advance,



will

Comments

  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    insulate?

    Why not?  You could probably get by with a mini-split and have year-round comfort.
  • wt
    wt Member Posts: 13
    insulate?

    yes, i think it would make sense to beef up the ceiling insulation and possibly add both a moisture barrier in the crawl and floor insulation.  what is a mini-split?



    thanks!
  • SWEI
    SWEI Member Posts: 7,356
    mini-split

    is a ductless heat pump.  Little indoor heads, often located in multiple rooms.  No ductwork, but refrigeration lines run to each terminal from an outdoor unit. Common all over Asia and South/Central America.  The current generation employs variable speed fans, variable speed compressors, and outdoor reset control.  They work amazingly well in most weather conditions.



    http://www.fujitsugeneral.com/  http://www.mitsubishipro.com/en/ http://samsung-minisplit.com/ http://www.lg-dfs.com/ etc.
  • billtwocase
    billtwocase Member Posts: 2,385
    looks like mid Cape

    Upper Cape here
  • wt
    wt Member Posts: 13
    cape

    it is Bass River.



    and in reference to the previous post, i think we are most interested in staying with gfa, and will probably install a unit with a cooling coil so that in the future if we decide to do a/c we can.  our contractor seems quite averse to using a high-efficiency furnace.  he thinks it will be too expensive to pipe the flue.  i would like something quiet, perhaps with a modulating fan, but i really don't know a lot about gfa.  anyone have any suggesitons about a good gfa unit for this place?  thanks!
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