California banning mentality continues....now large screen TVs!

[280plus]

Hmmm, maybe I mean plasma TV's. I'll have to ask my friend what he's got. We were at his house checking out his 100+ YO steam system and I noticed when I walked in front of his big flat screen there was certainly a fair amount of heat radiating off of it. I also noticed this a while back when waliking in front of the large multiple TV display at the local electronics store, where I originally came up with the idea.

Some of these ultra insulated places actually expect the heat coming off the inhabitants to keep the place warm. The joke is you heat with a candle and cool with an ice cube. That's how insulated we're talking. Not bad if you want to live in what is essentially a walk in cooler. A recording studio I recently did a loss on had 24" thick walls with an air gap between the inner and outer structure. Like a house within a house. My heat loss/gain program showed, for A/C anyways, that the only heat load was the occupants. Problem? Couldn't find anything small enough to do the job.

[Firethorn]

Down here is the Great Green South, natural gas is still cheaper through the winter than electric. 

Yes, but then you're also getting into situations where the additional cost of a high efficiency furnace, factored into it's estimated lifespan, might not be worth it.

And, as you'd be installing a A/C system anyways, it's only a few hundred to make it a heat pump...

Then like $50 of that cost is the direct resistance heating element as a 'kicker' for the really cold days, of which you might have 2-3 every other year.

Some of these ultra insulated places actually expect the heat coming off the inhabitants to keep the place warm. The joke is you heat with a candle and cool with an ice cube. That's how insulated we're talking. Not bad if you want to live in what is essentially a walk in cooler. A recording studio I recently did a loss on had 24" thick walls with an air gap between the inner and outer structure. Like a house within a house. My heat loss/gain program showed, for A/C anyways, that the only heat load was the occupants. Problem? Couldn't find anything small enough to do the job.

For heating or cooling?

[280plus]

Cooling, best I could come up with is a 9000 btuh Mitsubishi ductless split that had a variable speed compressor that would ramp down to meet the load. When I looked at the job he had a dehumidifier in there and on a 90* day it was maintaining 74*. Apparently he stayed with that. He didn't like the Mitsu idea because of potential noise. Even though it is virtually silent he was unconvinced. Funny part, he had a defunct 3 ton (36,000 btuh) conventional system that he had installed himself. Until I ran the numbers for him he had no idea how grossly oversized it was.

[Firethorn]

Cooling, best I could come up with is a 9000 btuh Mitsubishi ductless split that had a variable speed compressor that would ramp down to meet the load. When I looked at the job he had a dehumidifier in there and on a 90* day it was maintaining 74*. Apparently he stayed with that. He didn't like the Mitsu idea because of potential noise. Even though it is virtually silent he was unconvinced. Funny part, he had a defunct 3 ton (36,000 btuh) conventional system that he had installed himself. Until I ran the numbers for him he had no idea how grossly oversized it was.

I think I was looking at one of those Mitsubishi units myself - I don't need huge amounts of cooling, and only for very limited periods of time.

I agree about the noise.  Those units are often quieter than the ducts for other units.

[280plus]

yea, plus it has a remote control so how hard would it be to turn it off during actual recording? He's a big DIY-er and is probably more concerned with spending the money on it. That's the impression I got anyways. Those Mitsus are NICE SYSTEMS but they are not cheap, he was looking for a cheap way out. That I could not give him.

[sanglant]

yea, plus it has a remote control so how hard would it be to turn it off during actual recording? He's a big DIY-er and is probably more concerned with spending the money on it. That's the impression I got anyways. Those Mitsus are NICE SYSTEMS but they are not cheap, he was looking for a cheap way out. That I could not give him.

he'll probably end up with something like this he just needed to know if it was big enough