Why I suggest, if designing your own home, put the furnace/AC unit inside the living area.

[Aklogcabin]

I will put zone values in each room so I can control the temperatures separately with a thermostat. Most are programmable wireless now.
We have 3 separate heating devices. Fuel oil forced air central to the house. 2 story with a 4' crawl space. Furnace down there. But it is never used. Too inefficient. But bank needed it.
We use a fuel oil Toyo in the upstairs. We had a pellet stove on the ground floor for 15 years that we replaced with another Toyo last month. Working out ok. It's been averaging minus 12 but minus 20 at night. We used less than 40 gallons of fuel in a month and we have lots of windows. I like big windows. So near a hundred bucks. Pretty good for here anyhows. But I designed my own home. Didn't hurt that I went to school for heating n refrigeration, air handling n such

 

[Magus]

Have any of you guys ever used a 3d world builder to design a home?

 

[Caribou]

Reading this, had I know of this when designing the house I would have made this happen. Maybe two water lines, the first being to warm the supply water a little as it comes in the house. About this time of year the community water tanks start cooling down so the water coming in is getting cooler. Cooler water isn't a bad thing, I think it hovers about 55* during the winter months, but the damn new fangled water heaters don't heat the water as high as they used to so "safe" temperature hot water cools off fast when you dial in the cold water to the shower. I like plenty of water pressure in the shower and the new, low flow, water faucets don't give enough pressure unless you open both hot and cold faucets. I have talked about placing a 100 gallon or so water tank inside the house so the supply water will have a chance to warm a bit before it flows to the rest of the house. I may be over thinking this and should probably just settle for what I have but unfortunately my pea sized brain is always thinking about how to make things better.

Another benefit of having a 100 gallon tempering tank is that in a pinch you have 100 gallons of potable water. This water will be constantly refreshed as you use it.

I have a NG forced air heating system with plenums in the crawl space. I also have a NG unit heater in the attached garage and I can open the door to allow heat to escape int the residence. My third heat source is a wood/coal stove.

I have purchased a heat pump as my fourth heat source. It will work down to -23℉. It has modes for heat, cool, dehumidify, and fan only. The AC will be a nice addition. I have installed one in Mom's home and it is sweet. A friend has one that can handle three indoor units with one outdoor unit. I have one more to install for Mom and another for her rental. We are currently waiting on the indoor unit for the rental before we install that one. All told I have four of these units. I expect prices to raise just like everything else but I found the prices reasonable when I purchased mine.

https://www.highseer.com

 

[joel]

Have any of you guys ever used a 3d world builder to design a home?

My son lay out blueprint/ line drawings on my next house.

 

[Magus]

Do it 3d in a game engine that has a mapping feature, that way you can test paneling and carpet colors and even lighting!