Cooling An Old Farmhouse

Old Farm was considered a "tear down" farmhouse since there wasn't a way to access the upstairs after a larger; new chimney was installed. Heating it would be no problem, and by opening up the chimney surround with a cathedral ceiling the house could cool down naturally. I designed stairs that started in the foyer some, allowing room for a landing notched into the chimney to turn into a hall. Fans in the upstairs windows help draw out the heat.

The old farmhouse Christian bought, had a nearly installed new HVAC system in it. The air handler was in the attic connected to a compressor outside, and the ducts were being installed. Since the main part of the house has exterior brick walls, many of the ducts were in closets and one in the corner of the living room. This week we sold all of these parts to buy an AC compressor for the new air handler installed in the expanded basement.

Meanwhile, the vintage attic fan has a temperature gauge which turns it on when needed as it opens a large ceiling vent upstairs. It's a wonderful system and since this house has many old shade trees around, it has been comfortable even during this record hot summer.