It was not something I asked about but we have only one furnace and ac unit but three zones. A simple controller and dampers decide where to send the heating. Never been a problem. My bil has two furnaces for seems like about the same size or smaller house. Just can’t see the reason for three separate units unless duct work makes it impossible with maybe new additions.
We have two units, a heat pump for the top floor and a gas furnace/traditional AC system for the first floor and basement. I asked our GC why they used 2 units when the house next door used only one. He said it was efficiency and we’ve found that to be true. We set the temperature on the main level to 68 in the winter and 76 in the summer. We set the top floor temperature at 80 upstairs in the summer and 60 in the winter. Our utility company provides a report card for energy use and we have the lowest usage in the neighborhood. We couldn’t do that with a single zone.
We do have separate thermostats for each zone though, so you can set them differently and they can be on separate set back times (which we don’t use). Only thing is you either have to warm or cool. Can’t heat one and cool another.
We’re three stories on top of each other with truss joists, so might relate to how easy it is to run duct work.
House was built in 2002. The main house has an oil fired furnace w/two zones for the first two floors. The rec room third floor has it’s own propane fired furnace and A/C system. An ADU over the garage has a separate propane furnace and A/C system. 5900 sqft, no one furnace or A/C unit can handle that.
I clicked reply to bing and it registered as jtsanders… this site is totally messed up…
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Yeah, you ain’t kidding, take a look around Tacoma World if you want to see a very well run and organized forum, and it is huge…
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Yeah I see that. Try to hit like and it doesn’t do anything except repeated button pushing gets a time out. So sorry for not doing a like.
George was the first to notice this. It’s all his fault!! 
Just to make things interesting, I’ve noticed that sometimes a “like” gets registered to the wrong post.
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I dunno, i find it a lot easier to run my emergency generator off my natural gas line.
So many people in the East have generators, despite the cliches I am getting the impression California residents have the most reliable electric power.
Even worse, Clueless clicked on a solution and it went to the wrong person, he had to go back and correct it later…
I have also noticed that when you have been given a “like”, it doesn’t show up unless you hit the refresh button…
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A) I don’t have natural gas lines where I am, so I’d need a big ol’ propane supply.
B) I’d also need a whole different generator…
Mine is a portable and not a whole house “stand-by” as, I think, is the same for the others commenting on reserve gasoline supplies.
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Ah, but the whales in Mojave are getting cancer from the wind farms.
Minnesota used to have very reliable utilities but has been going down hill the last few years. We were out for a couple hours last month but that was the worst for the last ten years. Due to the battery back ups on the Wi-Fi and computers though, everything stayed up except no lights. I was surprised that the batteries lasted that long.
A couple years ago my son in Ohio was out for a full week. I offered to meet him half way with my generator but they got by charging phones and cooking on the grill. I think their power provider is very unreliable. I really think they should invest in a whole house generator. My bil in Kansas has one big enough to run his house and shop and only cost $20,000. Natural gas seems to be the usual choice.
I wouldnt live in an area that didnt have a natural gas network, or a municipal water supply, or a municipal sewer system.
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We have all 3 in the area but natural gas lines were never run to my neighborhood. Nat gas is used for power plants in Florida.
In areas that rarely need heat for homes, it doesn’t make economic sense to feed neighborhoods just for hot water and cooking.
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Thanks for that info. Nice to know.
I have none of those…
But I’m happy to live on a quiet, rural back-road. And I do just fine with my portable generator that runs my well (oh Go…sh please give me well water instead of “municipal water supply”), and with my septic system.
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I’ll take municipal water any day. It’s tested for multiple contaminants often and at least where I am it’s too new to have lead pipes. About 10 miles west of us people had well water but contaminants leaching from the land fill near them was so dangerous that they were put on municipal water. With well water you get whatever is in the ground and it can change over time. Maybe you are so far away from cities and towns that disposal sites are nowhere near you. Still, you can’t control contamination from natural or man made sources. DI or RO systems can control some things but probably not all of the dangerous chemicals in ground water.
Water from my well is NOT safe to drink. I have a sediment filter to remove sediment. This needs to be changed every 3-4 weeks. Next in line is a water-softener to remove high levels of Magnesium. That goes into a bubbler to remove Radon. And the last filter is only at the kitchen sink and it’s an RO filter to remove arsenic. The water from that tap is extremely clean. I drink a lot of water. RO water is NOT the greatest to drink because it lacks minerals. So I have a mineral additive I put in my Yeti container every time I fill it up.
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