Building any addition to your home entails expanding your home’s plumbing, electrical, cooling, and heating systems, all of which can be a bit complicated.
The following are some of the main elements that you should consider before embarking on any project:
Plumbing
If your home addition includes a bathroom, laundry, or a kitchen, a plumbing contractor will perform various calculations using a number of factors to determine if the existing water-heater will be able to handle the additional load of the new space.
Electrical
An electrician will check your electrical service panel to establish whether or not it can handle the extra circuits for your new space. In case the overall power capacity is insufficient, it will have to be upgraded, and if the panel lacks enough panel slots for the new wiring, it will either be replaced with a larger one, or a secondary one will be installed.
Extending existing HVAC system
In case your existing heat pump or furnace -A/C setup is not more than 10 years old and is capable of heating and cooling your new addition, you will only have to extend the duct work to accommodate your new space.
If you want to get the most out of your HVAC system, you should have all your duct work, existing and new, insulated and sealed to reduce instances of energy loss and promote better efficiency of the whole system.
Upgrading/replacing existing HVAC system
Based on the size of your existing HVAC system, you may want to think about increasing its capacity if you intend to have it handle the increased demands of a new space area.
However, if you can heat and cool you entire home including the additional area, with a smaller but more efficient system, particularly one that comes with energy-saving features and upgrades recommended by your energy audit, you won’t have to purchase a larger capacity HVAC unit. .
Installing an independent HVAC system
Regardless of how large and efficient a HVAC system is, it will lose its ability to heat and cool your new space if it is situated across the house from primary trunk of the existing duct system. The solution to such a problem is to install an independent system separate from your current one. It will lose less heat and perform much better due to shorter ducts.
B.A. Morrison is a Castro Valley and East Bay Area HVAC and General Contractor company that is well-equipped to handle all the home renovation tasks mentioned above.
Call 510-538-9817 for a free consultation or use our online free consultation form.
