March 15, 2025 • 27 mins
Today, Dean is having an all-calls day. Where he answers any question, you may have revolving your home. Dean talks about the hidden barn-styled door and advices a caller about a mini split system and a Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning system. He also explains what mini split systems are and how they work. Lastly, Dean shares about the Unico System and finding the right contractors.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
K f I A M six forty. You're listening to
Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand on the iHeart
Radio app i AM six forty live streaming and HD
(00:55):
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, welcome home. I'm Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes. I build
a few custom homes along the way, and I am
your guide every weekend to better understand that place where
you live. Today on the show, well this weekend. On
(01:15):
the show, today's episode and tomorrow's It's an all calls weekend.
We do this every few weeks. I love all calls weekends.
Why because you get to set the agenda of what's
going on the show today. Anything you want to talk
about regarding your home. I'm going to give you the
number right now because the phone lines are open and
(01:37):
it's a Saturday morning, so you can just rub the
sleepy out of your eyes and give me a call.
It's light traffic on a Saturday morning, So now is
your chance the number to reach me. Eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three three. The numeral two ask Dean
eight three three to ask Dean again, anything you want
(01:59):
to talk about regarding your home construction design DIY. We
can talk architecture, we can talk high and lofty things,
we can talk about how to fix your leaky toilet
and everything in between. Uh, let me introduce our awesome
team to you. Of course, Sam is on the board
as always, taking care of everything that's going on, and
(02:22):
he's got his hands full this morning, so I'm not
gonna bug him right now. Producer Richie nowhere near a
microphone at the moment, but standing by ready to take
your calls. He's just opened up the phone boards again
eight three three two. Ask Dean is the number to
reach me and my buddy Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk.
Good morning, Eileen, Good morning sunshine. How's it going. You
(02:43):
sound nice and perky this morning. Well, thank you. That's
all just a lie. It's a lie. Take it till
you make it, Take it till that coffee kicks in. Yeah,
what flavor of tea are we sipping this morning today?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's a sweet and spicy. It's actually decaff right now.
I'll move to caffeinated in just a minute. But yeah,
it's a nice sweet, naturally sweet blend of Rebos and
who knows what else.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Clothes Oh my gosh. Eileen is our resident tea expert,
so I always just have to check in and find
out what's going on with the tea. Sitting across the
table from me, my better half, my design partner, my
best buddy in all the world, Tina is also here,
Welcome home, Good morning to you, Good morning, And Sammy's here,
(03:31):
and Sammy the beagle is also here. Sammy will probably
not be screaming like he was a couple of weeks ago,
because Sammy had a pinched nerve in his neck that
was hurting him really bad. But we're past that now.
He's very calm, well as calm as a beagle can get,
and he looks to be quite content and happy this morning.
(03:53):
All right, y'all, listen, it is an all calls weekend.
I'm just gonna be jabbering about a few odds and
ends until the phone begins ringing. So eight three three two,
ask Dean A three three the numeral two, Ask Dean,
that's the number to call, and it all gets started.
Can't hi, Dean sharp the house whisper? Hey, Whether your
(04:16):
home is a condo, a cottage, or a castle, it
doesn't matter. I am here to help you take it
to the next level. And guess what we're doing helping
you take your home to the next level this weekend.
It is an all calls weekend. We have just thrown
open all the phone lines. We've got a couple of
calls right now. I'm going to turn to them in
(04:37):
just a second. But the number to reach me. We've
got so much room for you. Really, this is the
advantage of being an early riser on a Saturday morning,
or the advantage of living further east than California. Because
for you, you're already up. So give me a call eight
three three two Ask Dean eight three three. The numeral
(04:57):
two ask Dean eight three three to ask Dean. It's
just that simple, all right. I'm gonna finish out my
thought as promised about this hidden barn door, and I'm
using my famous air quotes with the word barn door.
You should check it out. If you go online and
just search for sliding barn door a trackless, I'm sure
(05:22):
you will run across at least one or two videos
demonstrating it. But it is a wonderful innovation. It's a
great piece of hardware. Tina and I checked it out thoroughly.
And what we're talking about is the concept of a
barn door, which of course you know is you know,
they've been so popular and now they have started to
(05:43):
fall out of favor for exactly the reason that I'm describing.
Because when the barn doors first came out, they're like,
oh my gosh, how a door? But is that you
can just put this rustic little door and it's hanging
on an exposed track. You normally we use a barn
door where we can't use a pocket door because the
wall won't accept the door for whatever reason. Maybe it's
(06:04):
a structural wall, maybe we don't have the room for that,
and so on the outside of the wall hangs a door.
And you know, barn doors definitely have their limitations. They
don't seal a you know, sound very well, and they're
not lockable per se. But they do provide a certain
level of sound buffing and privacy and the aesthetic is
(06:26):
really cool if if you're going for that you know,
farmy and or industrial look. But that's about where they
come to an end. And that's when you know everything
when you know a few years back when everything was
going you know, farmhouse chic and transitional farmhouse and modern farmhouse.
(06:49):
Everybody's like, I get myself a barn door, and now,
you know, not so much of a thing, but because
of this innovative hardware, now a barn door again, I'm
just going to say, a trackless sliding door, uh is
entirely available to any house, any style of house, and
(07:12):
any motif from ultra custom and modern all the way
down to the you know, the classic kind of farmy
barn house look. And so we can take any door,
a super contemporary, sleek looking door, any period door, and
simply hang it on this hardware. And now what do
we have. We just have the door. That's it, just
(07:34):
the door. That's all you see is the door sliding
back and forth across the opening. No hardware, no track,
no you know, hyper industrial look. So somebody asked me
what I think? Amy asked me yesterday, what do you
call a barn door that is trackless and where you
(07:55):
can only see the door in any style used? I
call it sexy, That's what I call it. So, so
that's one of the hidden and or flush things on
my hidden in flush list, And if I need to,
I will love I'll be peppering that into our program.
Today in between calls. But right now we've got a
couple of calls on the board, and so I want
(08:15):
to get started. Let's get started at least before we
go to a break with Grace. Hey, Grace, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Hi, this is Grace. Good morning, Dean.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Good morning, Grace. How you doing this fine morning?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I'm doing actually very well. But let me get to
my question. I have one hundred year old home with
window units. I want to go to a new system,
but I'm not sure which way to go with the HVAC.
Are the mini splits leading towards the mini split? But
(08:55):
I would like to know kind of your opinion and
are they really more cost efficient later on?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Okay, that's a really good question. So tell me a
little bit more about your house, Grace, hundred years old?
Are you here in southern California? Are you elsewhere? Are
we one story around?
Speaker 3 (09:15):
I am in? I am in southern California and it
is a single story it's a single story house.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And what style of home is it?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
It's almost like I would say, between a tutor and
a craftsman.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Okay, Okay, cool, cool, great, great, So here is the
thing with you? And by the way, do you happen
to have an old gravity furnace basement area underneath the house, which.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Is saying, no, we don't. Actually we have wall on
the wall heater. But I have a basement.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
In my garage, a basement in your garage. Yes, that's
a unique setup. Okay, all right, So here's the thing, Grace, Well,
here's the thing. I just looked at the clock, and
it's time for me to take a quick break. So
i am gonna leave everybody hanging, and I'm gonna pop
you on hold, and I'm gonna take a thorough answer
(10:18):
to your question as soon as we come back. So
can you hang tight?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
By can? Thank you very much?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Awesome? You hang tight, Grace. And we're going to answer
a question that is becoming more and more important to
Southern Californians as Southern California homes continue to age in place,
and that is what do you do with one hundred
year old home? If you want to put HVAC in it?
What options are available to you. We'll talk about all
(10:46):
of that, plus more of your calls when we return.
You are Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper. You're
listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI
AM six forty. I am fine. I am forty. Live
streaming in HD everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp,
(11:07):
the house Whisperer, with you here on this lovely sun
isn't even up yet Saturday morning. Thank you, Daylight Savings time.
Not a big fan. I'm not a huge fan of
daylight savings. I really am not. But you know, I
don't mind. I'm up when I'm up. We're over it now,
so I'm not going to whine and complain anymore than
(11:29):
I just did. It is an all calls weekend. So
if you are up with me right now here on
the West Coast in southern California or anywhere across our
great nation. And if you're not on the West Coast,
I hope you're up by now, you lazy bones. So
give me a call. Anything you want to talk about
(11:51):
regarding your home. It's a free flowing, free wheeling any
subject you want, Saturday morning, today and tomorrow both. The
number to reach me right now eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three three The numeral to ask Dean.
We've got room for you on the callboard. Eight three
three two. Ask Dean anything that's got you scratching your
(12:14):
head about your home. Now here is a really good one. Grace,
who I popped on hold right before the break, is
still with me? Yes, Grace, are you still with me?
I'm here, okay. So Grace lives here in southern California.
She's in a kind of craftsman Tutoresque style one hundred
(12:36):
year old home. We have, you know, more and more
of those homes all the time, one hundred year old
homes still though one of the classic eras of construction.
Here in southern California, Craftsman, Spanish revival, tutor story book
bungalow style homes. Lot of just beautiful homes. And she's
(12:59):
running into one of those challenges that many one hundred
year old homes face, and that is she's got old
gas wall furnaces. She would love to have a full
HVAC system in her house, and how do you go
about doing it? So here is the thing, Grace. Of course,
(13:19):
I can't tell you exactly what to do regarding your home,
but I can tell you this, If the integrity of
the design of your home is of primary concern to you,
and I hope that it is, I want you to
take your time, and I want you to source out
(13:42):
a number of different HVAC contractors and options for how
this gets done. Now, I know you said the mini
split system is something that somebody has recommended to you,
and that is a viable way to get air conditioning
(14:02):
and heating into a home, and heating included because a
mini split system, like so many air air conditioning systems
can have, be a heat pump system that both provides.
It's basically an air conditioner that also works in reverse.
So when an air conditioner brings cold air into the house,
(14:23):
it can reverse itself and bring warm air into a house.
And you know, for a room or two. Many split
systems are you know, pretty economical and they're relatively easy
to install because they don't need ducting in order to transmit.
They use what we call cassettes. Cassettes are whatever they
(14:47):
come in ceiling size is now classic. The classic mini
split cassette is kind of a long rectangular thing that
gets mounted to the top of a wall and there's
only a a refrigerant line set in between the unit
outside and the cassette and meaning small copper piping with
(15:08):
insulation around them. And so they can pretty much be
you know, wormed in just about anywhere, in any space,
and that's what makes them a viable option. However, I
just want to I want you to know, Grace, that
there are, quite possibly, inevitably, there are other options. In
(15:29):
your case, you have a one story home with attic
space above you. If it was a two story home,
that would definitely limit possibilities as well. But you've got
a one story home that is one hundred years old,
so you've got a crawl space and an attic space.
You're not sitting just on a slab. You have a
crawl space under your house, and since it's a single story,
(15:51):
one hundred year old home, you have attic space, which
means we've got options. We've got some flexibility. You could,
in theory, run an entire h FEVAC system, one single
zone system just with ductwork underneath the house and have
floor events delivering hot and cold air throughout your house.
(16:13):
That is one distinct possibility for a system. The mini
split system is another distinct possibility. And because this is
something that I am very familiar with, because we get
called upon to deal with century houses all the time.
From a design perspective, I've got clients who specifically call
(16:36):
us and saying, all right, I know how important design
and story preservation is for you, and I know how
much integrity you approach a project with. So how can
we update our house and live in it in the
twenty first century and still maintain this beautiful one hundred
year old home. And so there is yet a third
(16:58):
option for you. And it's what's called the Unico System.
And I want you to write this down because you
can do some research on it later and anybody who's
interested in this, it's Unico. Unico is a company that
has kind of been at the tip of the spear.
They're not the only one out there doing this, but
they're the one that is most readily available here on
(17:21):
the West Coast. Unico Unico. And if you go to
the Unico System website, you can put in your name
and address and get a list of HVAC contractors who
are familiar with it. And what the unicosystem is is
also a central heating and air conditioning system that uses
(17:44):
what's called high velocity small ducts. So instead of your
classic you know, six inch, eight inch, twelve inch duct
work having to find space running through houses and up walls,
which means opening up walls, which means tearing things up.
The unicosystem was pretty much exclusively designed to retrofit into
(18:06):
older homes. I mean century old homes, Victory East Coast,
Victorian homes, all sorts of problematic systems. Because their ducts
are only three inches in diameter, they can be fed
up through walls from the bottom to the top and
then ducked out into ceilings in incredibly creative ways. It's
(18:27):
high velocity, meaning that it produces the same heating and
cooling effects as the large, low velocity ducts, but there's
no noise. It's super quiet and very very efficient. And
when design preservation is at the top of your priority list,
then a unicosystem is one of those things that we
(18:48):
turn to grace. It's such an important question, and I've
got a whole other set of comments on this, so
I will if you can hang tight for one more break.
I want to just use this as a springboard to
talk about the idea of how to find the right
(19:10):
contractors given a difficult job, How to find the right
contractors and what not to accept and what to accept
from them along the way. Can you hang tight one
more time?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I can sounds great.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
All right, Grace, you hang tight such a pertinent question.
This is why I love All Calls weekends, because it
gives me an opportunity to really talk to everybody about
super relevant important things. When you were trying to get
stuff done on your home. So we'll get right back
to it. Hey, Fie Bean sharp to the house, whisper,
(19:43):
welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program. The
sun is coming up. I'm looking out the window and
I see blue sky outside. Good Saturday morning to you all.
It is an all Calls weekend. I'm doing nothing but
taken calls, so long as you know you're calling in
(20:04):
the number to reach me eight three to three two
ask Dean A three three the number two. Ask Dean.
All right, I want to get back to Grace. Grace
is still with me.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
I'm still here, all right.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
My friend. So, Grace has got a hundred year old
home here in southern California, single story, one hundred year
old home, and she, you know, has window air conditioner
units that she's had to put up with until now,
and she is ready to move on to something better.
And somebody had recommended the mini split system, and I'm
(20:41):
giving her a larger perspective, I hope on what's possible
for her home, including all the way up to a
Unico system. So I just wanted to take a couple
of more minutes, Grace and explain kind of the big
picture of what you're looking at here. You've got window
air conditioners. Window air conditioners are noisy, uh they are.
(21:03):
And the reason they're noisy, by the way, is not
just because the fan. It's it's not the fan, actually,
it's the little condenser motor that actually does the air
conditioning work is right there inside that box that's hanging
on your window, and there's no sound buffer in between
it and the room. So that's why window air conditioners
(21:24):
have that b hum to them, and they're you know,
they are what they are. Plus they're single room in
their efficiency, and they fill up a window, which you
know nobody likes. So for you, I just want to
be really clear, everything that we're talking about from many
split on up is an improvement, and the question of
(21:45):
whether or not it should be a mini split system
or a central system that's going to be entirely up
to you as to what works with your budget and
what works with your life and and just all of
the things that are most important to you. I just
want to make sure that you are aware of everything
(22:07):
out there. And this is that point that I wanted
to hold you over for so I could talk to
everybody about this. Windows shopping and estimates are free. So
when it comes to anything that you are investigating for
your home, in a remodel, in a renovation, I want
you to take the time, take time, spend time to
(22:31):
educate yourself as to every single possible option that's out
there when it comes to whatever problem it is that
you are trying to solve. Why because it's free, because
you're not committing to anything, So at least know what
your options are so you can make the most intelligent,
the most informed decision about what's going to work for
(22:54):
your home. Don't just call a couple of contractors out
and what they have to tell you is that, well
that's it, and do your own research, look around, ask questions,
because unfortunately, unfortunately, there are far too many contractors out
there in any specialty, in any category of home improvement
(23:18):
that are what's the right word to say, oh, well,
they just basically want to sell you on what they
do and what they do best, and so some of
them have a wider range of specialty. Others do not.
It's one of those you've heard the old phrase for
a person who only owns a hammer, Every problem is
(23:39):
a nail, right, They just turn every problem into a
nail because the one tool they have is the hammer.
So here is the thing, Grace. A mini split system,
unlike your window air conditioner, will be an improvement because
you can have an outside unit making the noise, and
they're very quiet, but they're outside, so the mini split
(24:02):
system is quiet. You can buy many split systems that
have multiple cassettes, but that cassette is still going to
be a one room thing, and it's going to be
hanging off the wall or up in the ceiling somewhere,
and it's going to be next to the window air
conditioning unit. It's going to be the most visible, but
(24:23):
it won't be in a window, and it won't be noisy,
and it'll be far more efficient. And so it's a
vast improvement. Okay, But a well designed central system that
could be run, for instance, through your crawl space and
up through your attic will be just as if not
more efficient, than a mini split system. Have only one
(24:47):
outside unit and a mini split system. To do your
whole house, you might have to have more than one
unit outside. This will have just one outside unit and
it will look beautiful because you're just gonna have vents
in your ceiling like everybody else, and or your floor
like everybody else. And for the most difficult of situations,
(25:07):
a central system that's a Unico style system, a high
velocity system. Those systems can get anywhere into any corner,
any weird situation. And with your home, I'm not even
sure that you would need that, because you've got the
crawl space and the attic space to get flexible. What
you really need is an intelligent, intuitive HVAC contractor who
(25:33):
is willing to take the time to design a great
system for you. I believe we could probably get you
set up with a standard central system with just a
little bit of creative thought and process. But everything has
its price, So call out reputable HVAC contractors. Tell them
that you're well aware of many splits of central systems
(25:57):
and of the unicosystem, and that you want bids along
all those lines, and then you'll be able to make
your choice. How does that sound, Grace.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
That sounds great? You gave me a lot of information,
so I was actually leaning towards the mini split.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Now I'm rethinking, well, you you might. You might end
up leaning toward the mini split for cost or convenience
or whatever. It doesn't matter to me. I am just
here to let you know. I want you to know
all your options before you make a choice. That's all.
I have been doing this for a very long time,
and I'm very proud to say that I have never,
(26:35):
after you know, forty years of giving design advice and
construction advice to people, I've never had a client come
back to me and say this. They've never said, Dean,
why didn't we ever talk about this option. I exhaust
my clients with options so that they are completely satisfied
and comfortable making the intelligent choice. But you can only
(26:57):
do that if you know what all your options are. Grace,
thank you so much for the call. It is an
all Calls morning right here on Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer on KFI. You're listening to Home with
Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty
K f I A M six forty. You're listening to
Dean Sharp The House Whisper on demand on the iHeart
Radio app i AM six forty live streaming and HD
(00:55):
everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Hey, welcome home. I'm Dean
Sharp the House Whisper. I design custom homes. I build
a few custom homes along the way, and I am
your guide every weekend to better understand that place where
you live. Today on the show, well this weekend. On
(01:15):
the show, today's episode and tomorrow's It's an all calls weekend.
We do this every few weeks. I love all calls weekends.
Why because you get to set the agenda of what's
going on the show today. Anything you want to talk
about regarding your home. I'm going to give you the
number right now because the phone lines are open and
(01:37):
it's a Saturday morning, so you can just rub the
sleepy out of your eyes and give me a call.
It's light traffic on a Saturday morning, So now is
your chance the number to reach me. Eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three three. The numeral two ask Dean
eight three three to ask Dean again, anything you want
(01:59):
to talk about regarding your home construction design DIY. We
can talk architecture, we can talk high and lofty things,
we can talk about how to fix your leaky toilet
and everything in between. Uh, let me introduce our awesome
team to you. Of course, Sam is on the board
as always, taking care of everything that's going on, and
(02:22):
he's got his hands full this morning, so I'm not
gonna bug him right now. Producer Richie nowhere near a
microphone at the moment, but standing by ready to take
your calls. He's just opened up the phone boards again
eight three three two. Ask Dean is the number to
reach me and my buddy Eileen Gonzalez at the news desk.
Good morning, Eileen, Good morning sunshine. How's it going. You
(02:43):
sound nice and perky this morning. Well, thank you. That's
all just a lie. It's a lie. Take it till
you make it, Take it till that coffee kicks in. Yeah,
what flavor of tea are we sipping this morning today?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
It's a sweet and spicy. It's actually decaff right now.
I'll move to caffeinated in just a minute. But yeah,
it's a nice sweet, naturally sweet blend of Rebos and
who knows what else.
Speaker 1 (03:09):
Clothes Oh my gosh. Eileen is our resident tea expert,
so I always just have to check in and find
out what's going on with the tea. Sitting across the
table from me, my better half, my design partner, my
best buddy in all the world, Tina is also here,
Welcome home, Good morning to you, Good morning, And Sammy's here,
(03:31):
and Sammy the beagle is also here. Sammy will probably
not be screaming like he was a couple of weeks ago,
because Sammy had a pinched nerve in his neck that
was hurting him really bad. But we're past that now.
He's very calm, well as calm as a beagle can get,
and he looks to be quite content and happy this morning.
(03:53):
All right, y'all, listen, it is an all calls weekend.
I'm just gonna be jabbering about a few odds and
ends until the phone begins ringing. So eight three three two,
ask Dean A three three the numeral two, Ask Dean,
that's the number to call, and it all gets started.
Can't hi, Dean sharp the house whisper? Hey, Whether your
(04:16):
home is a condo, a cottage, or a castle, it
doesn't matter. I am here to help you take it
to the next level. And guess what we're doing helping
you take your home to the next level this weekend.
It is an all calls weekend. We have just thrown
open all the phone lines. We've got a couple of
calls right now. I'm going to turn to them in
(04:37):
just a second. But the number to reach me. We've
got so much room for you. Really, this is the
advantage of being an early riser on a Saturday morning,
or the advantage of living further east than California. Because
for you, you're already up. So give me a call eight
three three two Ask Dean eight three three. The numeral
(04:57):
two ask Dean eight three three to ask Dean. It's
just that simple, all right. I'm gonna finish out my
thought as promised about this hidden barn door, and I'm
using my famous air quotes with the word barn door.
You should check it out. If you go online and
just search for sliding barn door a trackless, I'm sure
(05:22):
you will run across at least one or two videos
demonstrating it. But it is a wonderful innovation. It's a
great piece of hardware. Tina and I checked it out thoroughly.
And what we're talking about is the concept of a
barn door, which of course you know is you know,
they've been so popular and now they have started to
(05:43):
fall out of favor for exactly the reason that I'm describing.
Because when the barn doors first came out, they're like,
oh my gosh, how a door? But is that you
can just put this rustic little door and it's hanging
on an exposed track. You normally we use a barn
door where we can't use a pocket door because the
wall won't accept the door for whatever reason. Maybe it's
(06:04):
a structural wall, maybe we don't have the room for that,
and so on the outside of the wall hangs a door.
And you know, barn doors definitely have their limitations. They
don't seal a you know, sound very well, and they're
not lockable per se. But they do provide a certain
level of sound buffing and privacy and the aesthetic is
(06:26):
really cool if if you're going for that you know,
farmy and or industrial look. But that's about where they
come to an end. And that's when you know everything
when you know a few years back when everything was
going you know, farmhouse chic and transitional farmhouse and modern farmhouse.
(06:49):
Everybody's like, I get myself a barn door, and now,
you know, not so much of a thing, but because
of this innovative hardware, now a barn door again, I'm
just going to say, a trackless sliding door, uh is
entirely available to any house, any style of house, and
(07:12):
any motif from ultra custom and modern all the way
down to the you know, the classic kind of farmy
barn house look. And so we can take any door,
a super contemporary, sleek looking door, any period door, and
simply hang it on this hardware. And now what do
we have. We just have the door. That's it, just
(07:34):
the door. That's all you see is the door sliding
back and forth across the opening. No hardware, no track,
no you know, hyper industrial look. So somebody asked me
what I think? Amy asked me yesterday, what do you
call a barn door that is trackless and where you
(07:55):
can only see the door in any style used? I
call it sexy, That's what I call it. So, so
that's one of the hidden and or flush things on
my hidden in flush list, And if I need to,
I will love I'll be peppering that into our program.
Today in between calls. But right now we've got a
couple of calls on the board, and so I want
(08:15):
to get started. Let's get started at least before we
go to a break with Grace. Hey, Grace, welcome home.
Speaker 3 (08:24):
Hi, this is Grace. Good morning, Dean.
Speaker 1 (08:28):
Good morning, Grace. How you doing this fine morning?
Speaker 3 (08:32):
I'm doing actually very well. But let me get to
my question. I have one hundred year old home with
window units. I want to go to a new system,
but I'm not sure which way to go with the HVAC.
Are the mini splits leading towards the mini split? But
(08:55):
I would like to know kind of your opinion and
are they really more cost efficient later on?
Speaker 1 (09:05):
Okay, that's a really good question. So tell me a
little bit more about your house, Grace, hundred years old?
Are you here in southern California? Are you elsewhere? Are
we one story around?
Speaker 3 (09:15):
I am in? I am in southern California and it
is a single story it's a single story house.
Speaker 1 (09:22):
And what style of home is it?
Speaker 3 (09:25):
It's almost like I would say, between a tutor and
a craftsman.
Speaker 1 (09:31):
Okay, Okay, cool, cool, great, great, So here is the
thing with you? And by the way, do you happen
to have an old gravity furnace basement area underneath the house, which.
Speaker 3 (09:48):
Is saying, no, we don't. Actually we have wall on
the wall heater. But I have a basement.
Speaker 1 (09:56):
In my garage, a basement in your garage. Yes, that's
a unique setup. Okay, all right, So here's the thing, Grace, Well,
here's the thing. I just looked at the clock, and
it's time for me to take a quick break. So
i am gonna leave everybody hanging, and I'm gonna pop
you on hold, and I'm gonna take a thorough answer
(10:18):
to your question as soon as we come back. So
can you hang tight?
Speaker 3 (10:23):
By can? Thank you very much?
Speaker 1 (10:25):
Awesome? You hang tight, Grace. And we're going to answer
a question that is becoming more and more important to
Southern Californians as Southern California homes continue to age in place,
and that is what do you do with one hundred
year old home? If you want to put HVAC in it?
What options are available to you. We'll talk about all
(10:46):
of that, plus more of your calls when we return.
You are Home with Dean Sharp the house whisper. You're
listening to Home with Dean Sharp on demand from KFI
AM six forty. I am fine. I am forty. Live
streaming in HD everywhere on the iHeartRadio app. Dean Sharp,
(11:07):
the house Whisperer, with you here on this lovely sun
isn't even up yet Saturday morning. Thank you, Daylight Savings time.
Not a big fan. I'm not a huge fan of
daylight savings. I really am not. But you know, I
don't mind. I'm up when I'm up. We're over it now,
so I'm not going to whine and complain anymore than
(11:29):
I just did. It is an all calls weekend. So
if you are up with me right now here on
the West Coast in southern California or anywhere across our
great nation. And if you're not on the West Coast,
I hope you're up by now, you lazy bones. So
give me a call. Anything you want to talk about
(11:51):
regarding your home. It's a free flowing, free wheeling any
subject you want, Saturday morning, today and tomorrow both. The
number to reach me right now eight three three two.
Ask Dean eight three three The numeral to ask Dean.
We've got room for you on the callboard. Eight three
three two. Ask Dean anything that's got you scratching your
(12:14):
head about your home. Now here is a really good one. Grace,
who I popped on hold right before the break, is
still with me? Yes, Grace, are you still with me?
I'm here, okay. So Grace lives here in southern California.
She's in a kind of craftsman Tutoresque style one hundred
(12:36):
year old home. We have, you know, more and more
of those homes all the time, one hundred year old
homes still though one of the classic eras of construction.
Here in southern California, Craftsman, Spanish revival, tutor story book
bungalow style homes. Lot of just beautiful homes. And she's
(12:59):
running into one of those challenges that many one hundred
year old homes face, and that is she's got old
gas wall furnaces. She would love to have a full
HVAC system in her house, and how do you go
about doing it? So here is the thing, Grace. Of course,
(13:19):
I can't tell you exactly what to do regarding your home,
but I can tell you this, If the integrity of
the design of your home is of primary concern to you,
and I hope that it is, I want you to
take your time, and I want you to source out
(13:42):
a number of different HVAC contractors and options for how
this gets done. Now, I know you said the mini
split system is something that somebody has recommended to you,
and that is a viable way to get air conditioning
(14:02):
and heating into a home, and heating included because a
mini split system, like so many air air conditioning systems
can have, be a heat pump system that both provides.
It's basically an air conditioner that also works in reverse.
So when an air conditioner brings cold air into the house,
(14:23):
it can reverse itself and bring warm air into a house.
And you know, for a room or two. Many split
systems are you know, pretty economical and they're relatively easy
to install because they don't need ducting in order to transmit.
They use what we call cassettes. Cassettes are whatever they
(14:47):
come in ceiling size is now classic. The classic mini
split cassette is kind of a long rectangular thing that
gets mounted to the top of a wall and there's
only a a refrigerant line set in between the unit
outside and the cassette and meaning small copper piping with
(15:08):
insulation around them. And so they can pretty much be
you know, wormed in just about anywhere, in any space,
and that's what makes them a viable option. However, I
just want to I want you to know, Grace, that
there are, quite possibly, inevitably, there are other options. In
(15:29):
your case, you have a one story home with attic
space above you. If it was a two story home,
that would definitely limit possibilities as well. But you've got
a one story home that is one hundred years old,
so you've got a crawl space and an attic space.
You're not sitting just on a slab. You have a
crawl space under your house, and since it's a single story,
(15:51):
one hundred year old home, you have attic space, which
means we've got options. We've got some flexibility. You could,
in theory, run an entire h FEVAC system, one single
zone system just with ductwork underneath the house and have
floor events delivering hot and cold air throughout your house.
(16:13):
That is one distinct possibility for a system. The mini
split system is another distinct possibility. And because this is
something that I am very familiar with, because we get
called upon to deal with century houses all the time.
From a design perspective, I've got clients who specifically call
(16:36):
us and saying, all right, I know how important design
and story preservation is for you, and I know how
much integrity you approach a project with. So how can
we update our house and live in it in the
twenty first century and still maintain this beautiful one hundred
year old home. And so there is yet a third
(16:58):
option for you. And it's what's called the Unico System.
And I want you to write this down because you
can do some research on it later and anybody who's
interested in this, it's Unico. Unico is a company that
has kind of been at the tip of the spear.
They're not the only one out there doing this, but
they're the one that is most readily available here on
(17:21):
the West Coast. Unico Unico. And if you go to
the Unico System website, you can put in your name
and address and get a list of HVAC contractors who
are familiar with it. And what the unicosystem is is
also a central heating and air conditioning system that uses
(17:44):
what's called high velocity small ducts. So instead of your
classic you know, six inch, eight inch, twelve inch duct
work having to find space running through houses and up walls,
which means opening up walls, which means tearing things up.
The unicosystem was pretty much exclusively designed to retrofit into
(18:06):
older homes. I mean century old homes, Victory East Coast,
Victorian homes, all sorts of problematic systems. Because their ducts
are only three inches in diameter, they can be fed
up through walls from the bottom to the top and
then ducked out into ceilings in incredibly creative ways. It's
(18:27):
high velocity, meaning that it produces the same heating and
cooling effects as the large, low velocity ducts, but there's
no noise. It's super quiet and very very efficient. And
when design preservation is at the top of your priority list,
then a unicosystem is one of those things that we
(18:48):
turn to grace. It's such an important question, and I've
got a whole other set of comments on this, so
I will if you can hang tight for one more break.
I want to just use this as a springboard to
talk about the idea of how to find the right
(19:10):
contractors given a difficult job, How to find the right
contractors and what not to accept and what to accept
from them along the way. Can you hang tight one
more time?
Speaker 3 (19:21):
I can sounds great.
Speaker 1 (19:23):
All right, Grace, you hang tight such a pertinent question.
This is why I love All Calls weekends, because it
gives me an opportunity to really talk to everybody about
super relevant important things. When you were trying to get
stuff done on your home. So we'll get right back
to it. Hey, Fie Bean sharp to the house, whisper,
(19:43):
welcome home. Thanks for joining us on the program. The
sun is coming up. I'm looking out the window and
I see blue sky outside. Good Saturday morning to you all.
It is an all Calls weekend. I'm doing nothing but
taken calls, so long as you know you're calling in
(20:04):
the number to reach me eight three to three two
ask Dean A three three the number two. Ask Dean.
All right, I want to get back to Grace. Grace
is still with me.
Speaker 3 (20:15):
I'm still here, all right.
Speaker 1 (20:17):
My friend. So, Grace has got a hundred year old
home here in southern California, single story, one hundred year
old home, and she, you know, has window air conditioner
units that she's had to put up with until now,
and she is ready to move on to something better.
And somebody had recommended the mini split system, and I'm
(20:41):
giving her a larger perspective, I hope on what's possible
for her home, including all the way up to a
Unico system. So I just wanted to take a couple
of more minutes, Grace and explain kind of the big
picture of what you're looking at here. You've got window
air conditioners. Window air conditioners are noisy, uh they are.
(21:03):
And the reason they're noisy, by the way, is not
just because the fan. It's it's not the fan, actually,
it's the little condenser motor that actually does the air
conditioning work is right there inside that box that's hanging
on your window, and there's no sound buffer in between
it and the room. So that's why window air conditioners
(21:24):
have that b hum to them, and they're you know,
they are what they are. Plus they're single room in
their efficiency, and they fill up a window, which you
know nobody likes. So for you, I just want to
be really clear, everything that we're talking about from many
split on up is an improvement, and the question of
(21:45):
whether or not it should be a mini split system
or a central system that's going to be entirely up
to you as to what works with your budget and
what works with your life and and just all of
the things that are most important to you. I just
want to make sure that you are aware of everything
(22:07):
out there. And this is that point that I wanted
to hold you over for so I could talk to
everybody about this. Windows shopping and estimates are free. So
when it comes to anything that you are investigating for
your home, in a remodel, in a renovation, I want
you to take the time, take time, spend time to
(22:31):
educate yourself as to every single possible option that's out
there when it comes to whatever problem it is that
you are trying to solve. Why because it's free, because
you're not committing to anything, So at least know what
your options are so you can make the most intelligent,
the most informed decision about what's going to work for
(22:54):
your home. Don't just call a couple of contractors out
and what they have to tell you is that, well
that's it, and do your own research, look around, ask questions,
because unfortunately, unfortunately, there are far too many contractors out
there in any specialty, in any category of home improvement
(23:18):
that are what's the right word to say, oh, well,
they just basically want to sell you on what they
do and what they do best, and so some of
them have a wider range of specialty. Others do not.
It's one of those you've heard the old phrase for
a person who only owns a hammer, Every problem is
(23:39):
a nail, right, They just turn every problem into a
nail because the one tool they have is the hammer.
So here is the thing, Grace. A mini split system,
unlike your window air conditioner, will be an improvement because
you can have an outside unit making the noise, and
they're very quiet, but they're outside, so the mini split
(24:02):
system is quiet. You can buy many split systems that
have multiple cassettes, but that cassette is still going to
be a one room thing, and it's going to be
hanging off the wall or up in the ceiling somewhere,
and it's going to be next to the window air
conditioning unit. It's going to be the most visible, but
(24:23):
it won't be in a window, and it won't be noisy,
and it'll be far more efficient. And so it's a
vast improvement. Okay, But a well designed central system that
could be run, for instance, through your crawl space and
up through your attic will be just as if not
more efficient, than a mini split system. Have only one
(24:47):
outside unit and a mini split system. To do your
whole house, you might have to have more than one
unit outside. This will have just one outside unit and
it will look beautiful because you're just gonna have vents
in your ceiling like everybody else, and or your floor
like everybody else. And for the most difficult of situations,
(25:07):
a central system that's a Unico style system, a high
velocity system. Those systems can get anywhere into any corner,
any weird situation. And with your home, I'm not even
sure that you would need that, because you've got the
crawl space and the attic space to get flexible. What
you really need is an intelligent, intuitive HVAC contractor who
(25:33):
is willing to take the time to design a great
system for you. I believe we could probably get you
set up with a standard central system with just a
little bit of creative thought and process. But everything has
its price, So call out reputable HVAC contractors. Tell them
that you're well aware of many splits of central systems
(25:57):
and of the unicosystem, and that you want bids along
all those lines, and then you'll be able to make
your choice. How does that sound, Grace.
Speaker 3 (26:08):
That sounds great? You gave me a lot of information,
so I was actually leaning towards the mini split.
Speaker 1 (26:14):
Now I'm rethinking, well, you you might. You might end
up leaning toward the mini split for cost or convenience
or whatever. It doesn't matter to me. I am just
here to let you know. I want you to know
all your options before you make a choice. That's all.
I have been doing this for a very long time,
and I'm very proud to say that I have never,
(26:35):
after you know, forty years of giving design advice and
construction advice to people, I've never had a client come
back to me and say this. They've never said, Dean,
why didn't we ever talk about this option. I exhaust
my clients with options so that they are completely satisfied
and comfortable making the intelligent choice. But you can only
(26:57):
do that if you know what all your options are. Grace,
thank you so much for the call. It is an
all Calls morning right here on Home with Dean Sharp,
the House Whisperer on KFI. You're listening to Home with
Dean Sharp on demand from KFI AM six forty
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