House Remodeling Thread (long)

[Irulan]

Whole house fans can be very, very noisy but they are incredible for cooling off your house the moment the sun drops. We opted not to do this as the only location for it would be in the hall by the bedrooms, sounds like a train.

what we DID do was put in a thermostatically controlled attic ventilation fan. It kicks on automatically when the attic space gets above a certain temp. It sucks in on one end of the attic, blows out the other. Our house is a good 15 degrees cooler now since we put this in.

[Blueberry]

tulip-

You might be happier with the front loaders, stacked. They're more efficient than the usual stacked units (not sure if that's what you're looking at or not), and you can't do 2 sheets in the regular stacked ones at once.

On the furnace - I'd talk to an HVAC contractor. Since you already have an air handler for the furnace, you may just be able to put in an AC unit. I would not use window units - inefficient, and generally a security risk.

Our friends who just re-did their kitchen wish they had gone with butcher block countertops. Natural oil is all that's required. They did a cork floor that's really cool. They also did an induction cook top - and love it so far.

Consider re-insulating the attic and (if appropriate) above the basement. Have an energy audit done - you'll learn a lot!

Congrats on the house!!

CA

[DrBadger]

Hey Tulip-
COngrats on the house! I am looking right now too, and looking at very similar types of homes. One thing to consider with putting the washer/dryer in the kitchen... that might hurt your re-sale value. Most people in the US don't like to have their laundry in their kitchen. I have been watching a lot of HGTV, and every place they go into that has the laundry in the kitchen has that marked as a big negative. Might want to see and consider putting it either in a closet in the hallway, or in one of the bathrooms.

Have fun with the re-model and post photos when you move and and then when you do the renovations!

[Trek420]

what we DID do was put in a thermostatically controlled attic ventilation fan. It kicks on automatically when the attic space gets above a certain temp. It sucks in on one end of the attic, blows out the other. Our house is a good 15 degrees cooler now since we put this in.

I wish I could go solar like this one:

http://www.solaratticfans.com

But alas I own a condo so I can't do what I want

I did install a ceiling fan/light in the kitchen and dayum am I enjoying that now in this heat.