New construction home - HVAC in attic?!

Not sure that would pass code

 

You got that right. I rented a house one time that had electric baseboard heat. After the first expensive heating bill I learned to keep the thermostat down and just freeze my ass off.

 

OP , another option that could work for you if your ceiling is flat could be to spec that the trusses or a portion of the trusses be attic trusses . They are framed with an open 'room' portion in the middle of the truss that you could utilize for utilities and still allow the builder to use conventional insulation products like blown in for the lower ceiling and batts for the walls and upper ceiling while still creating an attic space within the conditioned building envelope .

 

Guess you'll have to put a box fan in the window.

 

When I did HVAC those nest thermostats were just coming out. You might consider one of those or something similar. I think there was an app and it would sense when you were about 10 mins away from home and turn the air on for you. Or you could control if from your phone so if you eat to many hot wings and are on the toilet sweating you can turn the a/c on.

 

I don't think you are crazy OP. I don't see many HVAC units in attics, and the ones I do the attic space is inside the building envelope. Spray foam in the rafter bays, like @OZ-T said it's really no different from vaulted ceiling.

Obviously codes and building practices vary based on location but it does seem silly to me to move conditioned air through a vented attic. I vote rip the roof off and slap some SIP's on the biatch

 

Its not built yet

 

What type of insulation are you putting in the walls?

 

That would be a good idea, I think the space is fairly limited up there though. The attic is basically in three separate sections. It might be an option to only seal and condition the section where the HVAC is in?
Here's a really shitty explanation using my phone haha. The master bedroom ceiling is vaulted, but the closet and bathroom ceilings are normal.

 

Still waiting to get a spec sheet. I can tell by looking at it that it's the eco kind that doesn't get fiberglass all in your arms. It's kinda brown. I remember working with that vs regular fiberglass and not feeling itchy after. Here it is shown in a pic. That wall on the left is an interior wall, hence the insulation there

 

Here's what the purchase agreement contract shows. As you can see, the "lower attic" spaces I'm talking about are technically floored. So they should be "spray foam", but they are not with current builds. At least if they waited this long to add it, they will have to really crawl around to get it everywhere it needs to be.



I love how it says the "roof" gets blown in cellulose. I don't think it works that way unless they use some sort of sheeting to hold it in place. I'm also pretty sure they meant "encapsulated". Which is funny because none of these townhomes have crawl spaces. They sit on a concrete slab.

 

R-15 roof ?

 

What are those 1" ish PVC looking pipes or conduits ?

 

No idea. Next time I'm over there, I'll try to trace them

 

the whole part of that barely makes sense

 

Is it Ecobatt ?

http://www.knaufinsulation.ca/en/content/ecobatt-insulation

 

We're R-22 walls here and R-50 attic or R-35 vaulted ceiling and I think both where I am and where you are are both Climate Zone 4 as far as heating degree days go

 

That looks like it

Hmm. Once I get the spec sheet I'll see what all it says.

 

Do you plan on living in the house longer than 5 years?

 

yeah