Furnace and air conditioner can’t handle addition
About two years ago, my husband and I invested in an addition for our home.
- We wanted each of the kids to have their own private bedroom.
We desperately needed more closet space and another bathroom. The project was expensive, time-consuming and stressful. My husband and I knew absolutely nothing about designing an addition or how to handle the actual construction. We hired a general contractor who subcontracted work to a licensed plumber, electrician and sheet metal fabrication shop. We should have insisted on input from a certified HVAC professional. When the general contractor recommended that we extend the ductwork and utilize the existing furnace and air conditioner, we trusted his judgement. Designing, fabricating and installing a duct system into the addition was costly. The completion of the pipes delayed the project by several weeks and cut into the available space of our floorplan. We lost square footage to accommodate the ductwork. We now need to arrange our furniture to accommodate the location of the vents. Once the addition was complete, we figured out that the furnace and air conditioner are too small to handle the larger square footage. During the coldest months of winter, the heating system runs non stop, causes huge energy bills but can’t keep up. The house feels chilly no matter how high I adjust the thermostat. I’ve been forced to invest in space heaters to supplement. During the peak of the summer, the central air conditioner can’t combat the heat and humidity. We run box fans to try and make the bedrooms a little more comfortable.