Another score for the "summer home"

[rickr]

Remember the house I bought for $3500.00?

It had hot water heat that was installed in the early 1970's. Prior to that, it had forced air gas heat. All the radiators burst, so the heating system was ruined. I wanted to reinstall gas forced air heating with central air conditioning.

Here is what I bought this week for $600.00

 

[rickr]

.

This is a 90% efficent furnace, and it is only 5 years old. It came from a house on the west side of the city that was going to be demolished to build a Target Store. I purchased it from a small company that recycles old homes. Usually they only deal in older items for classic homes such as trim, doors, woodwork, ect. However, due to the recent changes in our economy, they have expanded to include good recycled items like this for newer homes.

 

[rickr]

.

Compressor unit is a 2 ton unit, and the heating system is 45,000 BTU. This is the correct size to use in my other home.

I'm happy as hell! I thought converting this house back to forced air heat, and adding the a/c was going to cost me several thousand dollars!

 

[rickr]

.

close up of a/c evaporator.

 

[revvinkevin]

Wow Rick, that is AWESOME!!!!!

That's one helluva deal on that HVAC equipment you got there! Is the A/C portion a high enough "tonnage" for your house? (or perhaps too much?) Either way it's STILL a great deal!

I look forward to photos a the house progresses!

Kevin

 

[ttuee2006]

Ruud/Rheem is the greatest brand IMHO. We have them in our office building (4 of them), 2 at my parents's house, and 1 in my house here. We have NEVER had a single problem with ANY of them. They're just painfully simple and run forever. Only 1 unit has ever needed a charge since 1996. Talk about reliability! Here in Texas it commonly gets over 100˚ in the summer, so those units get quite a workout. They just don't go down without a fight!

 

[rickr]

Thank you Kevin!

Eric it is good to know what the quality is for Ruud. I have not heard of that company, so I was not sure of the quality. I was sure of the price however! lol!

 

[58limited]

I second that

These units are great! My RUUD A/C was 10 years old when I replaced it last week - due to salt water exposure from hurricane Ike. It was still running strong but the insurance adjuster and my A/C man both said to replace it. The unit was a 10 seer unit. I replaced it with a Rheem 14 SEER - the max SEER rating that the existing evaporator is compatible with according to my A/C guy, who is my boss's son. It is so quiet that I can't hear it run unless I go out the back door.

The house's original RUUD water heater from 1936/7 is still working too - it has a monel tank.

 

[rickr]

As long as we were over there anyway...

We decided to remove the boiler from the utlity room and put it out in the garage for now.

I also bought a recycled 200 amp electical service box, complete with all the breakers for $50.00.

Dan is doing the demolition work, but has only been over a couple days last week. The floors are torn out,except for the kitchen, and the walls in the bathroom are torn out. Still have some demoliton to do yet, before we can think about putting the house back together. IN our struggle to get the boiler out of the house, (boy that M/F was heavy!) I forgot to take pixs of the demolition work, or the electical box.

At any rate, here is Budder, disconnecting the boiler with my instructions. (yes the power shut off to this circuit, and yes the water and gas are shut off)

 

[rickr]

BTW: This house has a Ruud water heater that was installed before I bought the house. I was afraid that it may have frozen and cracked, but when I opened the valve at the bottom of the tank, the water ran out for several minutes. I am hoping that the tank is ok, so I can use it. I am thinking it is ok, so we will try it out when the plumbing is installed.

 

[rickr]

We stuck the boiler in the garage.

Don't know if the dude that has the recycling company will want it or not, but I will check. Perhaps he will give me some credit for it. Never hurts to ask, so we put it out in the garage for now. It looks brand new!

 

[toggleswitch2]

What a score!

AFAIK RUUD/RHEEM is a builder's grade brand. But I know of no complaints.

a ton= 12,000 BTUs
IIRC the rule of thumb is 20 BTUs/ square foot for cooling.

For electric "resistance" heat the rule of thumb is 10 watts per square foot*. (Assuming a normal ceilinng height. (circa 8 fgeet).Since there are 3.4 BTUs per watt, that equates to 34 BTU's per square foot for heating.

*for rooms with extra tall, vaulted or cathedaral ceilings 1 watt per cubic foot is generally used.

Of course these vary by climate, insualtion level, construction techiques, the existatnce of occupied dwelling space above and or below, etc. THESE ARE ONLY VERY ROUGH GUIDES.

 

[Cybrvanr]

I would say try and sell that boiler on Craigslist or something...you could get enough money back on that boiler to pay for the forced air system....that was a good find! Awesome!!!

I've always been right partial to the RUUD and Rheem water heaters. We have a few local plumbers around that swear by them. The one in my house has to be over 30 years old, and with some new elements in it, is going strong! I still want to replace it though, primarily because it is not very efficient, and could use better insulation.

A 2-ton unit ought to be perfect for that house. My house is 1000 square feet, and it has to deal with the humid Virginia summers, and it does so just fine. I would say upsize a half-ton for a heat pump to what works well for a air conditioner, and just cut the fan back...the heating can sometimes bee more of a challenge. I can't remember how many square feet that house had, but it looks to be about the same as my house. Your gas furnace though is the perfect size for this house to keep it plenty cozy, especially if you install new windows and insulation. Is the ductwork already in place? If so, you are a good ways there, but make sure you check it for leaks. Ductwork leaks can cost a fortune in lost energy! If not, then you may end up having to pay some money to have some "tin monkeys"(HVAC ductwork guys) to come in and build some ductwork for you if you are not familiar with building it yourself (it's not hard really, just labor intensive)

Good luck with the house there, looks like it's really coming together awesome! Having central air on the house will be a good selling point no matter if you rent or sell!

BTW, I hope you saved those cool kitchen countertops with the chrome edges!

 

[petek]

That boiler is brand new... geeze. Mines a 1958 model and still boiling.

 

[toggleswitch2]

And for everyone out there with hydronic (hot-water)heat. Do yourselves a favor and have your heating contractor add a check-valve and antifreeze to the system. Should there be a blackout, lack of fuel or any other reason for a freezing home, your pipes and boiler won't freeze and burst/crack.

Look at the mess the ice storms made resulting in many areas being without power (which controls oil and gas heat; meaning there won't be any) for weeks on end.

 

[tolivac]

You got a SUPER deal on that RUUD HVAC unit!My Moms house in Florida had two of those and one lasted over 20yrs without any problems--she replaced it with another RUUD unit.I had one as well.nice units.Mine was also a heat pump-worked well in the NC climate.All the units you bought look in remarkable condition for their age.Good luck with it.will be MUCH less hassle than the old system.My Mothers Fla units were heat pumps too and worked well for her in the Fla winters.

 

[toggleswitch2]

~I would say try and sell that boiler on Craigslist or something.

It may be cracked/leaky.

 

[toggleswitch2]

... and be carefu pressure testing it. In normal operation it only gets 10 to 15 psi, not full tap pressure!

 

[iheartmaytag]

RUUD Units are extremely good

They are made by Rheem, and at the time we bought were the highest efficentcy units made.

The only thing, at least in our area, you may wan to put a security fencing around the outside unit as Ruud has all copper tubing which is very attractive to metal thieves