I spent several hours over at the house on Saturday removing the protective metal sheeting that surrounds the hold hot-water heating pipes, so those can be removed quickly and at a lesser expense by my carpenter. The upstairs units are no longer operational, so it was safe to do this. Downstairs, the pipes are still heating the house, so I expect to prep those on Wednesday or Thursday after work, when the new system is turned on.
Here's what the baseboards look like with the sheathing removed:
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| The master bedroom. The space under the window was never painted. |
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| Hall window. You can see the holes for the old radiators as well. This is where the window seat is going. |
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| The office. With a room this small, it actually makes a difference to have the bulky old heating units gone! Now each upstairs room just has a single ceiling vent. |
I got a tour of the installed upstairs HVAC system from Ryan, one of the installers. You can see that it is positioned right next to the chimney, on top of the walls straddling two bedrooms. The rigid ducts are metal covered in insulation and the flexible ducts are puffy and somehow make me think of Moomins!
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| Ryan was excited to tell me about the challenges of attaching the system to the old wood beams in this house--true 2x6 beams (not the modern 1.5" variety) that are hard as a rock. He was very impressed. |
I know that some people might disagree with my decision to remove the old heating system, since it is known to produce a wonderfully cozy heat. But it's less efficient than modern electric heat-pump heat, and I had to install the new ductwork anyway if I wanted central air, plus I am an architectural snob and don't want pipes and ugly baseboard heaters all over the house disrupting its beauty. Tradeoffs! I think it will be really good for resale value, too.
My next posting will probably be about paint, so stay tuned! Exciting things are happening...
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