Future of HVAC and industry supply issues.

[wilso]

Growing up we never heated or cooled except when the great aunts came over for Christmas and Thanksgiving and then often only a roaring fire.

Could be why so many 1920’s homes still have only a 20,000 BTU floor furnace.

Plenty of homes in the million to 2 million range without A/C… some still with single pane windows and little to no insulation…

I’ve read some humorous disclosures that can be summed up saying old house, everything is old and may or may not function… use caution… inspection highly recommended.

It’s wild how many high-end older homes still have minimal heating and no A/C, efficiency just wasn’t a priority back then. Modern buyers are often shocked at utility costs after moving in. I’ve seen folks drop $40–50k just to get a proper HVAC system in place. Recently talked to a good sacramento hvac contractor https://alphamechanicals.com/ (I'm sure other contractors will tell you the same) — half the battle is retrofitting without wrecking the historical character, and the other half is explaining to the new owners why their “million-dollar dream home” needs ductwork like it’s 1950.

 

[ultrarunner]

It’s wild how many high-end older homes still have minimal heating and no A/C, efficiency just wasn’t a priority back then. Modern buyers are often shocked at utility costs after moving in.

Or the climate is so mild not much is needed…

 

[arto98607]

Or the climate is so mild not much is needed…

I think those places are few, but closer to Pacific coastline perhaps?

We have lived long time in WA State and about 90 some miles from the Pacific coast - the coldest I recall has been about 3 or 4*F (around -15*C) with brutal east winds, and the hottest about 96*F (around 36*C) and also windy.

We have a ground source heatpump and I would not want to live here without whole house heating & AC.

I realize this is relatively "mild climate" compared to most of the USA.
Wet winters & bone dry hot summers...

 

[ultrarunner]

San Francisco and Oakland come to mind…

Multi Million dollar homes and just normal homes in a land where A/C is rare and still many older homes in the 600k to 800k have no central heat and mostly only later added attic insulation…

With the mandate for heat pumps those going that route get cooling by default.

Many homes here… even larger older 2500 square feet have 100 amp to 125 amp service…

The neighborhood grids are already having trouble due to EV charging… transformer letting go after decades of zero problems… not counting the increase demand adding heat pumps.

My biggest expense in a unusually well insulated home is natural gas for the hot water heater…