Remodeling attic into living space....

[ultramegabob]

does anyone have any suggestions on how to add heating a cooling to an attic room? of course there is base board heat, and I have seen p-tac units in hospitals and hotels, but I was wondering if there is anything similar that uses natural gas for the heat. I dont really want to go with electric heat, and I want something that looks nicer than a ceiling mounted shop heater. any suggestions are appreciated.

 

[wireguru]

what about a mini split AC with heat pump? (i dont know what climate you are in if heat pump will work)

 

[ultramegabob]

what about a mini split AC with heat pump? (i dont know what climate you are in if heat pump will work)

Im not a heating guy, so fill me in on what the diffence is between a p-tac and a mini split are exactly...

edit- are all p-tac units one piece? and mini splits the ones that you run a lineset to a small condenser?

 

[Cavie]

im not a heating guy, so fill me in on what the diffence is between a p-tac and a mini split are exactly...

Edit- are all p-tac units one piece? And mini splits the ones that you run a lineset to a small condenser?

yes...........

 

[ultramegabob]

how does a heat pump work, is it more efficient that baseboard radiant heat?

 

[Cavie]

how does a heat pump work, is it more efficient that baseboard radiant heat?

Heat pump is an A/C working in reverse. Hot air blowing inside, cold air blowing outside. I won't work below 32 Degreese. It will need a backup heatstrip to come on at that temp. Yes it is cheaper than base board heat.

 

[ultramegabob]

Heat pump is an A/C working in reverse. Hot air blowing inside, cold air blowing outside. I won't work below 32 Degreese. It will need a backup heatstrip to come on at that temp. Yes it is cheaper than base board heat.

I think I will do a little research into one of those, does the mini split control the heatstrip automatically?

 

[BryanMD]

What kind of heat do you have in the rest of the house? Extend that and add a window shaker for a/c. Oh yeah... don't forget good insulation and the vapor barrier issues.

 

[LarryFine]

how does a heat pump work?

If you took a window AC out, turned it around, and put it back in, it would heat the inside. A heat pump does the same thing with a reversing valve that swaps the order the freon flows through the inside and outside coil.

is it more efficient that baseboard radiant heat?

In theory, relocating heat is supposed to be more efficient than creating it. In reality, it all depends on the definition of efficient: energy or cost. In other words, conversion of watts/therms into BTU's, or dollars into BTU's.

 

[ultramegabob]

What kind of heat do you have in the rest of the house? Extend that and add a window shaker for a/c. Oh yeah... don't forget good insulation and the vapor barrier issues.

I have a gas forced air system, but it would be a really large project to run anything upstairs from it. and there is only one window up there, I would rather not block it off with a window unit.

 

[ultramegabob]

In theory, relocating heat is supposed to be more efficient than creating it. In reality, it all depends on the definition of efficient: energy or cost. In other words, conversion of watts/therms into BTU's, or dollars into BTU's.

My dollars spent on BTUs is the efficiency that I am interested in