2 air conditioners & 2 furnaces??

[AlexTina]

Dh and I have been looking for a new house for about 1 year now. We just had our 3rd child in August and need more space!! Well we finally found a great house which is about 3250 sq. ft. Our current home is 2050 sq. ft. and has one air conditioning unit and one furnace. With the size of the new home it will require 2 furnaces and 2 air conditioners. I am wondering for those of you who currently have 2 of each are your utilities double what your friends and family pay who have 1 of each unit? Do you find that you utilize 1 unit more than the other or are they both set at the same temp? Just trying to create a future budget so that I can get and idea of the total cost of this move.

Thanks in advance

 

[Aimeedyan]

We have a 2800 sq ft two story house. One AC unit covers the upstairs, one covers the downstairs. It was a HUGE selling point to us because we don't "live" upstairs right now so the AC up there can be set really high to save us money and no one cares. I'm so glad we aren't trying to cool and heat the entire house at the same temp.

Our electric bill is not much more than what we were paying for a 900 sq ft old house that we previously lived in. This house is more energy efficient plus we don't have to maintain the upstairs much at all (just when we have guests).

Now, in a few years when kids live upstairs it'll change but even then, I think we'll like the freedom of having two units.

 

[shellyfive]

we have two seperate air/heating systems too. Like the other poster said, it is nice to be able to turn one down when you're not in the space----vs.constantly heat/cooling the whole house. You have to check your sun exposure too-----we found out after we built that we picked the correct lot for sun-----our morning room in the back is full of windows, and the sun rises on one side of it and sets on the other----it is one of my favorite places to be.........there are other families in my development who paid$$$$$ for an additional sun room, and because of their site and how the house is exposed, the only get sun for a few hours!!!! We actually don't turn our heat on once the sun starts coming in that room, because it gets too warm with the heat on!!!.....and that REALLY saves on the gas bill!!!

 

[AlexTina]

Thanks for your input, this is basically what I was thinking. During the winter We will most likely only use the upstairs furnace at night, the living room ceiling goes all the way to the second floor and since heat rises I'm sure it will be warm up there whether the unit is on or not and my kids being 5, 2, and 6 months don't spend much time upstairs by themselves anyway, however, during the summer it will be a different story. As it is now my dd and dh sleep with fans blowing in their faces while I'm shivering in a corner. Once they realize the comfort of a seperate unit for the second floor they will have it cranked all summer long, LOL...

 

[jillyjoey]

We have a 2800 sq ft two story house. One AC unit covers the upstairs, one covers the downstairs. .

This is us -- but we use both floors. We have 2 story l/r with open family room on 2nd floor so no way to close 2nd floor off (any way kids' rooms are on 2nd floor --it would be mean not to give them air or heat). The system does a lot better than I thought it would -- coming from single story single system. Make sure you install the digital thermostats that you can program to cycle -- this saves a lot on your bill. Also ceiling fans in every room.

 

[swilshire]

We have two of each in the new part of our house. The heat seldom comes on upstairs in the winter. The AC seldom comes on downstairs in the summer. I'm not sure out total utilities are any higher than they would be with only one set of heating and cooling systems, but we certainly are more comfortable this way.

Sheila

 

[karinbelle]

A bonus of having two is that if one goes out, you have the other one to tie you over until the repairman can get there. We just had to have the upstairs furnace serviced, but were able to wait 3-4 days and not pay an emergency service fee. We were comfortable at night because the downstairs furnace still worked and heat rises.

Our bills are lower than our neighbors (about 1/2 the price). However, we are conservative and turn down our units at night (winter and summer) and when we are not in the house.

 

[dismom24]

We have a 3600 sq ft house and have 3 units. Our bill has not doubled since we have added on. We have one for a large 700 sg ft game room that we only turn up at night or when we have company and then upstairs which is only on in the afternoon and evening. Our upstairs one gave us some trouble last weeka and we just put on the downstairs one and it has kept the upstairs warm (still waiting for part to come in). The heat / ac people told us this would work out most economical in the eng because one or two would be pushed too hard.

 

[tar heel]

We used to live in a Cape Cod-style house with just one of each unit, and you could not get the upstairs cool in the summer. It's essential to have two in a big, two-story home.

I'll caution, though, that two-story rooms and foyers and big open spaces are not the direction to go in if you're worried about utility bills. I don't think having two units doubles the price, but big, open rooms may. Virtually all my downstairs is open and you've got to go to a high setting to get it truly warm. Something to think about as you're looking at homes.

 

[seashoreCM]

Usually there is no predictable cost difference between one large furnace or two smaller (but not really small) furnaces. If one furnace is out of service, the costs go really high using the other because some rooms end up really warm before other rooms are comfortable. Not because one furnace is inherently better than two or vice versa.

One big or central AC usually costs less to run than individual AC's such as in the windows of each room. Except central AC requires ducts to the various rooms.

Disney hints:
http://members.aol.com/ajaynejr/disney.htm

 

[Frantasmic]

You can negate some of your warming/cooling issues if you have windows on the "right" side of your house. 80 percent of our windows face the rear of the house, which also happens to face east. In the winter, we open up the blinds and get nearly full sunshine until noon or so. This can heat up the back of the house, where the bedrooms are, quite nicely

 

[tomandrobin]

We have a 3100 square feet house with one hvac system. Both of our neighbors on each side of us, have two hvac systems and thier houses are 3600 square feet. Our bill is 30% of more higher then both of thiers. The more zones you can have in the house, the moe effiecent you heating and cooling needs will be.

 

[j's m]

We have a 3500 square foot house with one unit each upstairs and downstairs. After we had DS we had to get a special thermostat for his room/side upstairs. We couldn't keep his room and our bedroom the same or even close temps due to exposure/sun/windows etc.

So now we have 3 different programmable thermostats and can vary where we heat and air condition. Since I work from home and it's only me during the day, I tend to turn most of it down low and bundle up during the day.

Our old house had one thermostat and the air had to run all day to get it 80 degrees upstairs, so we made sure when we built this house, it would be comfortable and energy efficient.

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

We've had houses with one system and houses with two systems.

This house has two systems, gas HVAC. Unlike the other houses with one for upstairs and one for down, this one has one for the main living area of the house and one for the great room/laundryroom/breakfast area. A little wacky, but it works.

The secret to a good dual zone is the installation and sizing of the unit, not the number of units. The one for this house is large, efficient, and the thermostat's in the right place. There's literally nothing worse than a house that's alternately roasting you and freezing you!

Dual zone's not a good thing or a bad thing; if it's sized right and installed properly it won't cost you more and it will keep you more comfortable than a single zoned system.

There are also electronic damping systems where you can place thermostats in rooms and the thermostat will automatically regulate air flow to that area depending upon the temp. It's cheaper than a new system...

 

[Oreo Cookie]

We used to live in a Cape Cod-style house with just one of each unit, and you could not get the upstairs cool in the summer. It's essential to have two in a big, two-story home.

I'll caution, though, that two-story rooms and foyers and big open spaces are not the direction to go in if you're worried about utility bills. I don't think having two units doubles the price, but big, open rooms may. Virtually all my downstairs is open and you've got to go to a high setting to get it truly warm. Something to think about as you're looking at homes.

I agree with you. Our first house was a cape code style also, and now we live in a Contemporary style home. It's 3 floors and approximately 3500 square feet. We have two furnaces and 2 AC units, but it is the open spaces and high ceilings that really affect the cost of utilities. Our living room and family room are open and have graduated ceilings starting at 18' and going up to 28', and I know there is a lot of heat that goes into that open space. We are planning to put in fans to help with the heat/cooling. I can tell you that our heating (gas) and cooling (electric) is more than double our old house, not just due to size but do to open areas. . Our house is zoned, but that only has a casual affect on the bills.

 

[mickeyfan2]

My home is 4000 square feet and we have multiple zones (3 AC and 5 heat) but we only need 1 AC unit and 1 furnace. Why do you think you need two.

 

[kileybeth]

I also live in a 4200 sq foot house, 5200 if you count the finished basement where my kids playroom,full bath and teens bedrooom is. . .

we also have a 2 story family rooom open to a balcony for upstairs rooms.

1 a/c unit, 1 furnace (gas )

no problem heating (goes to below 0 degrees here in winter sometimes) or cooling (reaches high 90's and humid most of summer) temperatures are even and consistant on both floors. basment area is often cooler in summer which is nice of course and in winter we thought it might be cold down there so we installed a gas fireplace down there but rarely use it!

energy cost is comprable to our 30 year old house which was half the size of this one. this house is approx. 5 years old.

anyway, I'd rather be in Florida by a pool or riding Alladins Magic Carpets with a breeze in my face. . .

flip side of having 2 units to hold you over if one breaks is there are maintenaince issues of 2 units vs. 1 ?

m2cents

 

[Kickapoo Joie Juice]

My home is 4000 square feet and we have multiple zones (3 AC and 5 heat) but we only need 1 AC unit and 1 furnace. Why do you think you need two.

You have an electronic damping system that keeps air flow and heat/cool targeted where it needs it.

With most single unit systems there is no damper and thus no control over how much air goes where.

A dual system gives you more control, because each system is run by a thermostat.

Your system must be hee-yoooge to run that whole house properly; I have the largest residential sized system running most of my house-5 tons, but have an additional 1.5 ton running the addition. Even then when it gets to be close to 97 degrees here the system's working hard! Your climate is probably more temperate than us southerners...

Wintertime is when I notice that the system is oversized; it will heat the house 10 degrees in less than half an hour. But it's worth it to stay cool in the summertime.

And no, I'm not an a/c person. But I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

 

[AlexTina]

My home is 4000 square feet and we have multiple zones (3 AC and 5 heat) but we only need 1 AC unit and 1 furnace. Why do you think you need two.

Actually I don't really think I need two, but around here it is the norm to have 2 units in anything over 2800 sq. ft. Our normal temps during the winter generally range from the 10's to 20's at night and 30's to 40's during the day, in the summer we stay around 70 to 80 at night and it usually goes over 100 during the day at least for a few weeks out of the summer, the norm is mid 90's. It does seem to me that 1 unit would be working really hard to accomodate a 3200 sq. ft. house. My current home is only 2050 sq. ft. and we generally keep the thermostate at 72 during the summer and 68 - 70 during the winter and it is usually pretty warm upstairs during the summer, seems to me a second unit is very necessary at least for cooling purposes.

 

[mickeyfan2]

You have an electronic damping system that keeps air flow and heat/cool targeted where it needs it.

With most single unit systems there is no damper and thus no control over how much air goes where.

A dual system gives you more control, because each system is run by a thermostat.

Your system must be hee-yoooge to run that whole house properly; I have the largest residential sized system running most of my house-5 tons, but have an additional 1.5 ton running the addition. Even then when it gets to be close to 97 degrees here the system's working hard! Your climate is probably more temperate than us southerners...

Wintertime is when I notice that the system is oversized; it will heat the house 10 degrees in less than half an hour. But it's worth it to stay cool in the summertime.

And no, I'm not an a/c person. But I DID stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night...

Actually our A/C is only 2.5 tons (we could have used a 2 ton but decided to increase it to 2.5 tons). We build an extremely energy efficient home and the A/C is a ground source heat pump. The heater is baseboard hot water. We heat and cool to 70 degrees.

We have dampers, thermostats and valves to control where the heat or cooling goes.

In the summer it gets in the high 90s here for weeks on end. Our system is not running all the time. It cycles on and off.

Over insulation in the walls and roof and high end windows really make a big difference.