The ducts that will deliver the heated or cooled air, as well as the ducts to return the air back to the furnace have been delivered and are ready for installation. Other than bringing in the power and adding the drains for the furnaces I farmed the entire HVAC install out. (9/4/04)

We have a second furnace installed on the second floor rather than up-sizing the existing furnace or installing the second furnace in the basement. It's a more efficient configuration since the second floor can be run completely independently of the first floor, and you don't lose heat pushing the air up from the basement. It also greatly reduces the amount of damage to the first floor walls since you don't have to run duct work down to the basement. (9/4/04)

The main heating/cooling trunk as well as the main cold air return goes down the middle of ceiling. The original plan was to put the furnace in the back of the house, but placing these lines here is more efficient and reduces noise since you don't need a 'T' in the main line. (9/4/04)

The old furnace that was pulled out of the basement, and is shown here in the garage. The builder took it with him to use as a temporary heater when building in the winter. (9/22/04)

The new furnace has been placed, but no duct work attached. The basement furnace needed to be replaced to put on the addition since we took down the chimney to make room for the addition. It was old and ready to be replaced anyway. (9/22/04)

This is just another view of the furnace. The lower right hand side shows the condensation pump I installed on the old furnace a couple of years ago. It takes the water that drains off from the A/C and pumps it up to the ceiling and drains into the laundry tub. It used to drain into the floor drain, but the hose kept getting kicked out causing it to drain all over the floor. (9/22/04)

The duct work has been added to the basement furnace. If you look closely at the bottom of the photo you can see the footprint of the new furnace is smaller than the old one. It is also much more efficient, and vents out the side of the house rather than through a chimney. (9/22/04)

This is the front view of the basement furnace after the duct work has been attached, but before gas and electric has been installed. (9/22/04)

The ducts were installed on the upstairs furnace, as well as the PVC drainpipes. The gas, electrical, and exhaust have not yet been installed at this point. (9/26/04)

The cold air return ducts are attached at the top of the stud wall. The vents will be installed at the bottom of the wall. There is no need to run a duct through the wall since this vent is carrying room temperature air back to the furnace to be heated or cooled again. There is also an exterior return to bring in fresh air from the outside. (9/26/04)

The main heating/cooling trunk and the cold air return trunks are installed. They are made of sheet metal and are insulated with foil-backed fiberglass. All the round runs are connected directly to these lines. (9/26/04)

This vent attaches to the cold air return run to bring in fresh air from the outside. (9/26/04)

This is a heat run for the master bedroom. It has a round sheet metal core surrounded by a fiberglass sheath. The outer covering looks to be vinyl or something similar rather than foil. Since all the heating is flowing through the ceiling instead of the floor the vents are mounted on the ceiling as well. (9/26/04)

The furnaces each have their own A/C condensers in the back yard. The two boxes on the wall between them are the fused switches for the units. The other boxes above to the right are for the uninterruptible service. DTE Energy reduced the rates on A/C electrical usage in exchange for the right to periodically cut power to the units should their system become overburdened in a heat wave. (10/23/04)

This photo shows the second electric meter for the condensers. We have been having trouble getting DTE to upgrade the service to the house because they are saying the electrician hooked it up wrong. In fact, the wiring does (and did) pass code. The electrician, HVAC contractor, HVAC inspector, and electrical inspector all agree that wiring is safe, but DTE has a different preference. This was a battle that continued for a while. (10/23/04)