HVAC Folks

[EdinNO]

OK. What's a deduct water meter? :dunno:

Ed

 

[Se7en]

``Deduct'' as in ``deduction''

Picture this:

Water meter for building service.

The building has an inrrigation system.

The sewer department charges for water consumption.

A deduct meter is just another meter but the principle is that you deduct the meter readings from the irrigation system from the main water service meter for sewer pricing.

 

[EdinNO]

... and you would have one of them at home? :dunno:

Is it just a meter for tenant A, one for tenant B, one for tenant C and so on?

What are you deducting from?

Ed

 

[TouchDown]

We have what I believe would be similar for "off-peak" meter... Basically, we have a switch on our A/C unit so during Peak hours, (2-6PM) the electric utility can shut off our A/C unit for 20 minutes at a time to reduce Peak load. It help with the electric bill (they cut us a discount), but the house will get pretty hot those days (Peak outside and A/C fan turns inside, but the coil eventually reaches RT).

 

[TouchDown]

No real meter, though, it just cuts the A/C off... I think some heat pumps have a separate meter because some utilities will give you a break on the electric cost to operate a high efficiency heat pump, so they use that meter to deduct from your normal bill, and charge that consumption at a different rate.

 

[Se7en]

That sounds logical! (That makes perfect sense.) Thanx

 

[NCST8ENGR]

we normally do bump the upstairs up to around 82 when we leave. On the weekends when we are home and leave it on 80/79 it runs nonstop during the day, I will give it a shot though and see if theres a difference
most of my insulation is "good" (I think) I bought a new fan to put above the daughters room, but havent put it up yet, was going to do it early one saturday before it gets 140^ in the attic.

I really think my unit is underpowered. Upstaris we have 4 bedrooms, and 2 bathrooms, The "kids" bathroom is sort of like a hotel bathroom where the "tub & *******" are in a seperate room and then there is a sink area, they only put a vent in the "******* room" and the other room is hot as hell.

The closets are fairly big and there is no vent in the kids closets either, and since kids play in the closet, they leave the doors open, and it contributes to the overall "warmth" of the upstairs.

I need to suck it up and probably have a reputable HVAC firm check it out and see about getting a new unit for the upstaris, my power bills are approaching $400/month

Do you have a ridge vent installed? - That's the simplest way to vent the attic as long as you have soffitt vents. A ripsaw (circular saw) and a handful of roofing nails and you're done (outside) without getting into the attic. When I installed one on a relative's roof - it felt like one of those hot air curtains at walmart the hot air was just streaming out of there...

Also in our area (southeast) a new trend is icyenene (not sure if I've spelled that right). it's very similar to say foam in a can, but the installers have large quantities of it. You basically spray the underside of the rafters completely. Same principle as the foil backing, but holds up a little better, and also saves years on your shingles... the #1 cause of shingle decay/damage is from "cooking" the shingles from the inside..

How much/if any insulation between floors? first & second... this is a common building mistake i see in that because it's all "heated" space, some builders forgoe the insulation between floors, and opt for just the floor and ceiling... I've seen folks go back and "blow" insulation into the ceiling/second floor layer because there was none and it payed for itself in a few months... With split - seperate units for up and down stairs, it's one way to control what you're heating and cooling.