LESLIE: Rob in Nebraska is looking to capitalize on some additional space at his money pit. How can we help?
ROB: I have an 80-year-old house and it’s a little bungalow – story-and-a-half – but the half upstairs was never finished. And so I’m wondering about the best ways to heat and cool that space, rather than just maybe baseboard heaters or a window air conditioner.
TOM: How is the rest of the house heated?
ROB: It’s got a central furnace and air conditioning.
TOM: Yeah. Well, I will tell it’s a challenge, especially to push air conditioning from a basement up to that attic space. And so you may want to consider a second zone here, Rob, where you would install an additional system in the attic that would handle heating and cooling for the newly finished attic. It has a lot more exposed areas to the weather than just about any other room in your house because, if you think about it, on all sides except for the floor you’re exposed directly to the elements. So it does have some significant heating and cooling needs in terms of the number of BTUs it will take to heat or cool that space. So installing a second zone is probably the best way to do that.
ROB: Alright, well that’s great. Thank you very much.
TOM: You’re welcome, Rob. Thanks so much for calling us at 888-MONEY-PIT.
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