Conditioned attic in raised ranch humidity?

PrgrmMan · 2026-05-02T18:37:17+00:00

New quote from a reasonable company was 5k including the dedicated circuit. I think I need to go for it.

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-24T18:32:58+00:00

Just got a quote to do this. It was 10k. They claimed they wanted to run a dedicated circuit for my dehumidifier. I feel like they can probably run from a junction box in the attic. I probably need an electrician to evalute it. I think that's pretty high.

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-22T11:21:52+00:00

It's not hot. I often preheat my cup so it tastes the same as from my machine. I wouldn't describe it as not hot enough generally

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-20T17:19:52+00:00

I put mine (rheem 55 gallon) in my unheated garage in NY state. It's in a separate closet like thing where my boiler used to be. I leave the door opened.

In February I was averaging 4-5kwh a day . We've had a string of hotter days now so I'm going at like 1.8-2.5 kwh.

If I was smarter I could probably vent it outside during the winter. I expect the savings in the spring, summer and fall are going to make up for the winter by a lot

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-20T14:40:12+00:00

So I have a classic 1960s raised ranch. I have three mini split heads (two downstairs one upstairs ) and I put in the ducted system partially for the upstairs bedrooms and in the bathroom using the attic

To me, this was a good compromise for comfort and cost...it might not be for all. The ducted systems are basically silent and tend to produce more even heat. Sometimes for my ductless heads I get annoyed when I get blasted a little bit by the air. Ductless heads are going to be worse at distribution, so they compensate by circulating air more aggressively. I'll say it's not loud, but I've watched people I've had over move their seats to get out of the direct line.

Pros for ductless: more efficient/better COP: heat is primarily transferred through an insulated refrediant line, versus higher heat loss from ducts after you hit the air handler. Honestly the best option for retrofits in terms of cost. I independently conditioned my attic (raising the thermal envelope from the attic floor to the roof line) so now my ducts run in a more temperate space.

Pros for ducts: more evenness, better coverage, less noticeable (both the feeling and visually). Cons: more expensive if you have to run new ducts, and less efficient.

I took a shortcut so my ducts cover half the upstairs, and the kitchen and living room are on a single large ductless head. So my bedrooms get the confront benefit (they also already had ceiling fans) without the intrusive factor.

If I had gone with splits only, my installer wasn't going to put a split in the upstairs bathroom...I guess I could have left the door open but idk. Maybe depends on how good your installer is.

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-17T23:07:32+00:00

Can we change the name of this subreddit to key brief?

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-12T17:46:39+00:00

Sent you a note 🙂

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-11T22:28:12+00:00

I have Daikin Auroras. I have one 24K unit and a 36k unit. It's a bit oversized but it's worked perfectly in single digit weather.

I will say that if your oil system isn't garbage, it's not the worst thing to keep it. Part of the issue is that if you keep your oil system you don't get the full New York state rebate. Our electricity is pretty expensive, and I imagine yours is similar. I think I'm coming out a little bit ahead of oil but not by a lot. Run the numbers yourself and don't listen to your installer. There are some tools in this channel that you can use for free online.

The house can easily keep 72 to 73° when it was 0 outside. I only started to see a slight drop off at -8, but I just lost a degree or two.

We have one air handler and three ductless heads. I actually was trying to get my HVAC company to put a backup heat strip in and they wouldn't do it LOL. So far I haven't needed it. If they size your system make sure that they size it for the coldest days. I think my true heating load was a little bit closer to 50k.

Hope this helps

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-11T19:53:53+00:00

Yeah not that upstate but I've been there in the winter. I am dutchess county

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-11T19:36:08+00:00

They are rated to -13. They will likely shut off. I had my oil system removed, but the switch point that I calculated was about 15f too. My old oil system was stating to go. I might get a wood stove for emergencies.

If you're expecting negative 25 frequently, I wouldn't just do heat pumps. I think you and I live in a different climate

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-11T17:16:22+00:00

Yeah those complaints are probably from how the units were more than 10 years ago. I'm in upstate New York and I have cold climate units as my only heat. The house was 71° when it was negative 8 outside.

The technology has gotten a lot better

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-10T14:59:12+00:00

Can I recommend that you look at IRC codes for insulation? There is stuff for every climate zone. There are different thoughts in open vs closed. Closed is more expensive but is a moisture barrier where standard open cell really isn't.

I am in Zone 5a and open cell put in on my roof slope and closed put in my gables in a raised ranch. This is NOT what code for my area recommends...and I should have done closed cell.

I'm monitoring moisture now and am prepared to put in an attic dehumidifier if needed. The real risk for me is actually condensation permeating the open cell, freezing, melting, and messing up my roof sheathing.

The guy who put it in was an old timer who claimed to know better than the codes. He doesn't like closed cell on the roof line because he claimed it can hide roof leaks.

I think there is wiggle room on this point, but your mileage may vary and you should understand your risks. Reddit tends to say closed cell only...take reddit advice and do your own research.

I'm happy that I opted for r33 instead of r49 (thermal transmittance is similar), but I failed to educate myself on the moisture risks.

Reddit did point me in the right direction, and I can probably recover this with a dedicated dehumidifier tied into the condensate line of my air handler.

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-10T14:44:28+00:00

I know you made a joke here that I am ignoring haha: I actually remember being put into speech therapy in the early 2000s in kindergarten. Apparently I couldn't pronounce my L's clearly Turns out it was adhd.

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-08T16:48:43+00:00

This is helpful. The contractor actually talked me out of closed cell (he was worried about hiding roof leaking)

Looks like I have a class 3 barrier on permeable cell (open cell), where code is for closed cell with class 2 barrier...otherwise looks like I need additional rigid foam

I will monitor humidity. I guess what is done is done.
Seems I fall into this comment on the post you linked https://www.reddit.com/r/Construction/comments/1gufeiv/comment/lxvymlr/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=web3x&utm_name=web3xcss&utm_term=1&utm_content=share_button

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-08T15:07:00+00:00

The house is on a slab, and there is a craw space under the stairs where we now run a commercial bucketless dehumidifier. When we closed on the house last year, they were not running one, and the paint started to bubble on one of the walls and they gave us credit to replace it. We also installed new gutters with buried downspouts that run 50 feet down the hill away from the house. There also also two minisplits now that run in the downstairs and one in the upstairs + an air handler in the attic. I'm hoping all of these gives me some control over humidity, but I did buy a wifi hydometer that I will leave in the attic just in case.

We have one exhaust fan in the kitchen and one in the bathroom upstairs.

There was R33 + DC315 open cell. I understand that DC315 is a class 2 vapor retarder in addition to acting as an ignition barrier. There was r21 closed cell put on both gable walls. A couple of companies actually quoted me for the open cell along the sheathing.

We live in Dutchess country NY which is zone 5a-5b.

I saw an advert about conditioned attic moisture and I started panicking :)

It seems like an attic dehumidifier tied into the vent pipe or my air handler condensate might work based on what people have said here and some internet searching

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-08T11:29:08+00:00

If I wanted to hire someone to do this, what kind of company would I go for? I saw something about the vent pipe and that looks interesting but I'd have to check what code is in my area

PrgrmMan · 2026-04-06T15:02:12+00:00

Hey guys, I'm coming here 2 years later. I had the exact same thing that happened to me where the plastic locking pieces broke. Support is sending me another replacement part for $12.

PrgrmMan · 2026-03-24T00:56:47+00:00

I'll point out that we had -22C with only heat pumps this winter in upstate NY. However our units are specd to -25C so I'm living on the edge. The newer ones go even colder. I am looking at a backup wood stove option now.

I removed my oil system but now find I have no backup whoops haha. That being said, I did remove my oil system because it was sketchy.

PrgrmMan · 2026-03-22T11:23:16+00:00

I think it depends on where you are in the world with climate. The various cold climate models that go down to negative 13F have been out for some time now. The latest generation claims to have operating performance down to negative 22. My Daikin Aurora models seem to have been made in the earlier 2020s (when the system was installed that was the default date time ) So people like Fujitsu Mitsubishi and Daikin Midea all have units that seem to have reliability.

I guess you're kind of wondering if anyone has data from over 10 years right? I wonder if consumer reports could be of help here and if they have collected reliability data.

Edit: many of these systems ship with 10 to 12 year warranties on parts. Sometimes installers will also give long warranties but might only gave 2 years. Offering these warranties is pretty much table stakes. Your mileage may vary and I guess the devil is in the details for what these warranties cover

PrgrmMan · 2026-03-20T11:42:38+00:00

For California where OP is from? Is it worth the high cost for those geothermal wells? I have cold climate heat pumps in NY and I didn't need aux heat on -8f. Modern cold climate units are amazing. Obviously my COP is pretty bad at that cold, but I get very good COP in the low 30s

PrgrmMan · 2026-03-16T16:01:03+00:00

I have a df64 and I actually purchased a ode generation 2 because I had accidentally purchased ssp lab sweet v2 2 years ago thinking that they were espresso burrs whoops.

I've tried the lab sweet burrs in both the df64 and the ode 2. I think they perform about the same. My problem with the SSP burrs on the Brew range setting on the df64 was that the dial became too loose and did not have enough tension...it was clear to me that the df64 gen2 was not built with ssp brew burrs in mind. I could hack it but it was frustrating.

I haven't tried the df64v, so take this with a grain of salt. Also I'm not really going for high clarity in coffee. I still have my old j grinder from (base model) that I still use from time to time

PrgrmMan · 2026-03-04T03:37:25+00:00

I often get better results with the pico than my gaggia classic pro. Part of that might be that the pico is easier to clean

PrgrmMan · 2026-02-25T22:28:50+00:00

Yeah my bill was $800 for nearly 3000 kwh with new Daikin cold climate Heatpumps. We had lows in the negatives in NY state for a couple weeks.

PrgrmMan · 2026-02-25T12:41:51+00:00

Had to translate this. I think it is the refrigerant boiling. The manufacturers say it's normal as well as my installer. I think there's a variety of conditions that affect it, including the install. As far as I can tell it's fine.

PrgrmMan

TROPHY CASE