HVAC pros here?Heating Ventilation Air Conditionig

[Cactus]

Just wondering if ant HVAC ( Heating Ventilation Air Conditioning) pros are here?

The Church building I worship at has an old propane furnace and old air conditioner and it is going to destroy our budget( it wrecked it last winter). I was thinking about finding a new modern more efficent electric furnace and air conditioner to install. We only heat the building on Saturday night so the auditorium will be warm for worship services on Sunday morning and Sunday evening. Through the week the heat is not routed to the auditorium but we have a damper we can turn in the duct work and then just heat the bathrooms and nursery to keep the water lines from freezing and keep these areas below 50 degrees.
Last winter during the colder nights when the unit was cranked up to heat the auditorium it would drop the propane level in the 500 gallon tank 4 % to 5 %
If I remember right the higher the seer rating the more efficent the unit.
I thought I would 1st pose the question here before I went over to any HVAC discussion boards.


Thanks
Cactus

 

[kenmac]

You are correct . The higher the seer the more efficent the unit . Is this a split system or a package unit?( heat&a/c all in one unit) if it is a split system , you could look at getting a newer propane furnace that is 90+% efficent & a higher seer a/c condenser unit .The newer condenser that are to b comming for next year will b no less than a 13 seer with the new 410 refrigerant. most that are out there now are 10 seer with 22 refrigerant.

 

[Jagmandave]

On a related note, going from a 4 seer rating on my old a/c to an 11 rating cut my a/c electric bill in half, so it may be worth it to do this..........

 

[thcri]

How big of a building are we talking about square footage wise. What is the existing furnace and air conditioning size. Also what are your electric rates right now?

murph

 

[Sigarms]

Church buildings can be "very unique".

You didn't specify if there are more than 1 floor/floors in your building.

Expect some sort of zoning. You didn't mention if the damper is manual or t-stat controlled.

Per Murph, you didn't list any "measurements". A load calulation should be done to "figure" the load requirements of the the system.

This type of structure can be very "unique".

You have the load for the building, then you also have to figure the amount of people that will be there at certain time (example, figure "roughly" 600 btu per person, AND THEN you have to figure when and where these people will be at what time). 200 people and your load just "went up" substantially.

Interesting that you more concearned about the heating than the a/c, usually the "complaints" are on the a/c side.

You're correct on the SEER rating.

As mentioned before, you did not specify, spilt system or gas pack, but have to assume split system.

Just out on a job for a chuch. Mechanical contractor was having "issues" trying to explain why the current system was not working to the customers expectations (keep in mind, the contractor did it the way the "church" wanted it done).

Problem was in the zoning and return air. People want things done that "look nice", fact is that this can cost money.

You may want to think about going with a high efficiency (sp?) heat pump with a high effienciency (sp?) variable speed gas furnace for "back up " heat". This will cost more money (but could save you more "in the long run").

You also didn't specify if there was some sort of "bakery" in the building (for food service). This is common is small churches, and this can also "play a roll" in determining system size.

Even if you go to a dedicated HVAC website and post the same questions, ultimately, you will need a contractor to vistit your building to determine what would "work best for you" (there is NO WAY anyone can give you an "estimate" without seeing the job firsthand, no way).

Anyone that tells you elsewise, will cost you more money in the long run (I've seen it personally at least four times that I can think of).

Actually, the last time was for a Baptist church about 3 weeks ago.