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treizechenes

Building New Home in South Louisiana

TreizeChenes
11 years ago

My husband and I are building a new home in South Louisiana where it is predominately HOT and very humid. We want to make a sound investment in our HVAC system and get the most value for our money. The home is 6500 sq ft of living with two stories. We have 12 ft ceilings downstairs and 10 ft ceilings upstairs. Downstairs has specs for 2 units and upstairs 1 unit. The upstairs unit will need to be the largest unit. Possibly one 5 ton and two 3-4 tons. Which brands and models including SEER should we begin to look at? Thanks for your input!!

Comments (7)

  • tigerdunes
    11 years ago

    You will be all electric?

    If so, you want to at least look into geothermal.

    Otherwise conventional air source heat pumps with zoning controls. Trane, AmStd, Carrier, Bryant.

    Will you be in a coastal environment?

    Pst back.

    IMO

  • energy_rater_la
    11 years ago

    invest in a load calculation to size the unit to
    the house.

    avoiding rule of thumb sizing will allow smaller
    units, and dehumidification. 500 sq ft per ton
    is approx what is speced for your home.

    this will result in oversized units that will short cycling, resulting in higher operating costs & shortened life of equipment.

    tightness of house, and reducing the duct
    leakage are also good investments. the average
    duct system has 25-30% duct leakage.

    upgrade the insulation package to include
    foam seal of attic if ducts are placed in attic.

    there are several guides you can access through
    LSU Ag Center for building in a hot humid climate.
    Slemco has a design one brochure you can access
    online.
    building science has a builder's guide to hot
    humid climates also acessable online.

    use your time wisely to educate yourself as to
    what makes an efficient house in our climate.

    where are you building?

    best of luck.

  • TreizeChenes
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    TIgerdunes:

    No, it is not electric, it's gas. And, yes...we are in a coastal region.

    We are currently looking at the Trane 2-stage, 20 SEER unit to reduce operating costs. It's highly recommended from a friend. Any opinions?

  • TreizeChenes
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Energy Rater LA:

    Hi neighbor! We are building in Madisonville. Are you near? Thanks very much for the suggestions on foam insulation as we are looking into it as well. And a big thank you for the reading material!

  • energy_rater_la
    11 years ago

    I was born in St Tammany, but live near Lafayette now.

    if you do a foam insulated unvented attic,
    you'll need to upgrade to high efficiency gas furnace.

    compare the trane 20seer (actually 19seer) to
    American Standard. same equipment..different name.

    will you be gas & a/c on first floor &
    heat pump on second floor?

    you should contact LaGrange Consulting in
    Madisonville. Great guy with excellent information.
    and local for you!
    always willing to recommend a colleague who does
    exceptionally good work.
    with his local contacts, he will be a good person
    to help you with your build.

    best of luck

  • TreizeChenes
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Thank you very much, Energy!

  • TreizeChenes
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Just thought I would put my two cents into this thread since I was the original poster. I joined this site to get input from others whether in the field or not. I understood completely what Energy Rater was saying...he recommended load calculation and did not recommend sizing based on "rule of thumb sizing", i.e. 500 sq ft per ton. I did not get this confused. The information that Energy Rater posted was helpful.

    A big thank you to all contributors who help those of us out when needed. Your time is much appreciated!