JUNE 2012 REIKI
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sgwgrace@aol.com
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is in Shepherdstown but our
To air condition or not to air condition . . . that is the ques- tion. Of the many critical deci-
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sions we had to make while designing our new home sev- eral years back, one of the most handwringing had to do with air conditioning. Installing AC typically involves running a series of ducts to move cool air throughout the house. As this is definitely something easier to do during construction as opposed to adding once the home is built, it wasn’t a deci- sion we could defer for later. Considering the super-insula- tion provided by our strawbale walls, the ceiling fans we hung in nearly every room, and what our architect assured us was the humidity-managing nature of the clay plaster covering the walls, we were leaning against putting in AC. Still, we sought out an estimate for the job, just out of curiosity. The exor- bitantly high cost for running ductwork alone sealed the deal. There would be no AC for us. There have been times in summers since when we have questioned this decision. Our strategy of opening windows at night to vent warmer air and then closing them again each morning, capturing the cooler air that entered the house on the evening’s breeze, works well much of the time. But there are stretches in July and August—longer and longer stretches it seems—when night-
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time temperatures simply don’t drop low enough for a passive cooling approach to be effec- tive. Super-insulation or not, the temperature in our house creeps up as hot days lead to warm nights with few cooler breaks. Perhaps even more of an issue than the temperature is the humidity. Last summer our house seemed particularly damp. It is dampness, and the health issues surrounding the mold and mildew outbreaks it leads to, that worries us most. So we are revisiting the question of air conditioning for both cooling and dehumidifi- cation. We know well that the ship has sailed on installing a ducted HVAC system. Fortu- nately, there is another way: it’s called a ductless mini-split heat pump. The name itself describes the
basics of these systems. These are heat pumps that require no ductwork. The primary components of the system, the condenser and the air handler, are split off from one another and may be located a distance apart. This offers a lot of instal- lation flexibility and therefore makes for an easy retrofit for existing construction. Many people have a knee-
jerk reaction against mini splits based on the assumption that these are the same noisy, uncomfortably breezy units we’ve all encountered in cheap hotel rooms. They’re not. Hotel units are all-in-ones, where the
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noisy condenser is built in with the air handler. With mini-split systems, these two components are distinct from one another— the condenser is placed outside with only the quiet air handler mounted on the inside. The outdoor unit can be
placed at a distance from the indoor air handler. A conduit only a few inches in diameter passes through the wall and connects these two compo- nents, carrying both the refrig- erant and the power supply. One condenser can be tied to several air handlers at various locations throughout the home. You can have one in the liv- ing room, one in the bedroom and one in the basement, with each unit being independently controlled. The low profile air handlers may be wall or ceil- ing-mounted and are typically controlled via a remote. Mini splits can provide both cool- ing and heating and some offer humidity-management settings as well.
Compared to window air con- ditioners, the standard fallback for many of us without central air conditioning, mini splits are significantly more energy effi- cient. Cooling efficiency is in- dicated by the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, or SEER (think of it like an automobile’s mpg rating). The most efficient heat pumps now operate at SEER 20 and beyond. All residential heat pumps have an EnergyGuide label, which features the heat
4 bedroom, 3 bath rancher on 2.04 acres located off of Shepherd Grade Road. 3161 square feet on one floor and 1360 square feet below grade un- finished. Home has been completely renovated, freshly painted with new hardwood & new carpet, ceramic tile, new roof, mother in law unit. Call Linda Kilroy at 304-725-1145 or John Kilroy at 304-671-8751.
Small Planet The Air Conditioning Question By Jeff Feldman
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