All Forum Posts by: Seth Borman

 LP is propane, and it is expensive.

I would look into both central heat pumps and mini splits. The central air will provide better performance but cost more.

 Are you paying $0.075/kWh like we are? In our area a heat pump will have a COP of 2-4 depending on the temperature, which means it will use 1/2 or 1/4 the amount of electricity than an electric furnace will use. 

I mean, I'm hard pressed to understand why anyone would install LP in a place where the lowest recorded temperature ever is only 5°F. 

Heat pumps! We have seven units converted to them within a few miles from your site. We increased the rent by 10% when we added them.

This is called the "split incentive" problem.

Generally speaking FFE becomes part of the property, not the leasehold.

This is important for people in the commercial business that are dealing with things like kitchens.

 Five years ago when I was in grad school at ASU we met with the people that developed Eastmark and also talked about Verrado... basically the exurban developments are under performing because they aren't finding as many people that want to live on the edge of town.

Has something changed?

HVAC sizing is one of those things that really gets people worked up.

The old rule of thumb was one ton per 400 SF.

New houses that are well built with tight envelopes and lots of insulation can often hit one ton per 1,000 SF, even in cold climates.

The right way to size it is to use a heat load calculation, a blower door test, and validate against your utility bills.

A simple Manual J is often off, and I can tell you from experience that most contractors don't do them anyway. Before I got savvy I bought a 75,000 BTU furnace for a gut remodel in Los Angeles. I would have been better served with a three ton heat pump. The record low in LA is 28°, which is really warm by heat pump standards.

 A heat pump is an air conditioner run in reverse. Instead of removing heat from the inside it brings heat from the outside in. The new models work well in the cold. They can replace your furnace, or merely augment it when it's not below freezing. 

Mini splits don't distribute air very well, so they work best when used in small spaces. We've installed 8 of them, the only complaints were on a two bedroom unit that didn't get warm in the winter.

A regular split unit is better for a unit this size. The information on sizing isn't correct, the worst thing you can do is oversize the units because they won't control humidity and they won't last as long. If you are selling you might not care... except that larger units are generally more expensive. 

The bigger deal in there is making cash for keys into a form of harassment...