Has anyone used a PTAC unit(the units you see in motels) to heat/cool a basement? We were thinking this would be the way to go for ours. Our current system would be at it's limit if we added the basement to the system. Since the basement stays at a pretty constant temp most of the time (2 sides are underground) and the basement will be used mostly by my hubby for his office we really think a system that could be run when needed is the way to go. Just checking to see if anyone has had experience-good or bad with these things,
Thanks,
Annette

P.S. PTAC stands for "packaged terminal air conditioning"

 

They are essentially a self contained AC unit with electric heat. If it works for the hotels it will work for you. It will be more expesive to operate then a furnace/AC combo, although it may cost less to buy. The "bad" thing about it is that it has to go in one spot, and you need a pretty big opening for it, so some substantial framinng modifications will have to be made since you'll need to make a whole in the outside wall.

 

Yeah, I figured it would be more expensive to run, but we are pretty sure that it would be run very infrequently. I found a couple of units at www.michaelholigan.com that can be mounted in a window like an ac unit, and then installed permanently into the wall if we decide to make it more permanent.
I guess I can start making calls to see if I can actually get my hands on one now.
Thanks again,
Annette