Heating and Cooling Options for 1850s Greek Revival New York

Dan_Btek · December 25

Hi Ichamb,best option to heated all house is radiant floor with separate thermostat installed for every room 9but this is most expensive one0 , next one - forced hot air wit hot water coil installed in HVAC units, next-hot water radiators, but all this system must be have PROPERLY CALCULATED for your area .

Adk1guy · December 25

Especially since you have allergies avoid forced hot air. As many have said hydronic heat is premium providing radiant and on and convective heat. The oversized radiation you hopefully hope have play right into a constant circulation modulated temperature system in which the water temperature in the radiators varies relative to the outdoor temperature. I live in the location that is coldest in the country many times per winter. The heating source of choice here is modulating condensing gas boilers. Since we don't have natural gas we use propane.

Bill_44 · December 25

Your friend's father-in-law is correct, except for one thing. Go with ESP (hi-velocity.com) rather than SpacePak. Better equipment and support. They also have an excellent indoor air quality/filter (HE PS) for your allergies. Viessmann is top of the line and surprisingly affordable in the residential sector. There are many reputable Viessmann contractors in NY.

hot_rod · December 25

my vote, keep radiators, add TRV, mod con boiler. Indirect with electric element (solar tank) for back up

AC would depend on the layout and ease of ducting, so maybe a hi-velocity, maybe mini splits.

CTB · December 26

Great insights here! If you decide to go mod-con, consider having the installer use primary/secondary pumping scheme WITH at least one MAGNETIC hydraulic separator. Although there is only one true water loop, flow through the boiler is ensured and you can capture lots of entrained corrosion material (rust) with the magnetic devices. You will have to understand and maintain the system, but if you are taking the time to think ahead, I am sure you would anyway. Most ModCon boilers have a way to adjust outdoor reset temp based on the house's characteristics - x10 on everyone who noted that warm water constantly circulated through <oversized> radiators provides excellent heat.

It's perfectly fine to use another cast iron boiler and have outdoor air reset for water, however, as long as you have a lower limit on temp so there won't be any condensation. I operated a system for 25 years that way, and had low fuel costs ant great comfort until renovations that called for eliminating the chimney led us to install Viessmann ModCon. We added indirect DHW at the same time (not a combi boiler) and the results have been fantastic.

Take some time to create an as-built of the current conditions to identify future zoning opportunities that match how you plan to use the house.

kenjohnson · 12:40PM

https://forum.heatinghelp.com/discussion/comment/1878913#Comment_1878913

Please keep your old wood windows. The old-growth wood in them will last a hundred years longer (or more). Repairs to pieces on the windows can be made yourself or by a knowledgeable carpenter.

Re: wood window repairs and improvements, I'd recommend "The Window Sash Bible" by Steve Jordan - great book on renovating wood windows. I would get a set of professional scrapers and infrared lead paint removal tools - available from https://www.solventfreepaint.com/. . It is relatively easy and low cost to effectively air seal wooden windows. I removed sash weights from the upper windows (most didn't operate anyways) added 2-1/2" of foam insulation in that part of the pocket and retained lower sash operation. PM me if you would like more details on what I did.

Single-pane windows can have wooden storm windows added. This will double the R-value of the window and increase comfort. Adding indoor shades of some kind will add another R-1 (or more) to the window. Given that a really good new window is probably R-4 or R-5, this gets you most of the way there and costs a lot less than new windows (which will likely look cheap and need replacement in 15 years or so).

I kept most of the wooden windows in my house (except when renovations required new windows). If I replaced all of the large wood windows on the first floor I would have spent another $30k (or more) on good quality Marvin replacements. That was money better spent elsewhere.

jesmed1 · 1:17PM

Let me second what @kenjohnson said about keeping the old windows. I live in/maintain a 1924 4-unit house in the Boston area. Two unit owners (me and one other) had our original wood windows professionally weatherstripped with spring bronze and silicone rubber seals. The other two owners had replacement vinyl windows installed.

We have identical but separate heating systems, one for the half of the house with original windows, and one for the half with replacement windows. Our heating oil consumption is virtually identical. In fact, the other half of the building should be using LESS oil than us, because they get more sun. So I contend that our weatherstripped original windows, with good storm windows, are performing as well or better than their replacement double-pane vinyl windows.

And as Ken said, our windows will last another hundred years. Theirs will be failing in 20 years.

Jamie Hall · 3:19PM

Wonderful to see folks concurring on keeping the old wooden windows!!! Three cheers for our side! Just for giggles — I'm typing this in a room with three old wooden windows… like, 200 years old. And they're just fine, thank you!

DCContrarian · 5:28PM

If wooden double-hung windows are so wonderful, why did we ever stop installing them?

I'm sorry to be Contrarian, but as windows, modern windows are so much better. The old windows swell with the seasons, they stick in the summer and they rattle in their frames in the winter. They leak cold air, even with storms. They need to be painted every five years or so.

Good quality modern windows keep out the cold and are much more soundproof. You don't have to fight them to open and close them. There's just no comparison.

Heating and Cooling Options for 1850s Greek Revival New York

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