This Old House Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning: A Guide to the Invisible Comforts of Your Home [Paperback]

Richard Trethewey (Author), Don Best (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1994

A definitive, step-by-step guide to heating and cooling systems features expert advice and handy tips on technology, energy conservation techniques, maintenance, and repair.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Trethewey, familiar to watchers of TV's "This Old House" show, is that master plumber who solves home heating and cooling problems, turning basic but complex matters into entertaining visual essays. Now, Best ( Cut Your Bills in Half: Thousands of Tips to Save Thousands of Dollars ) helps to translate such projects into a book filled with cautionary tales, charts and drawings which grant instant access to the house's inner workings. It's a helpful guide, spanning mechanisms from electric fans to boiler systems. The authors explain different levels of comfort for various geographic locales, habits and changing standards of energy conservation, writing with appropriate cost consciousness in mind. They use examples of actual houses to illustrate problems and convey suggestions. Since the average do-it-yourselfer can't do the work that's meant for licensed plumbers, the book limits our tasks mainly to maintenance, while educating us in matters beyond our competence. Reading may confirm suspicions that we are victims of careless workmanship, incompetence and planned obsolescence. And, ironically, the book could encourage the homeowner to become the contractor's nightmare--the know-it-all who hangs over the workers' shoulders dispensing unwanted advice and watching for mistakes. But it is worthwhile. Photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

Trethewey, the resident expert on heating and cooling systems for the popular PBS home improvement series This Old House , follows series host Steve Thomas into print. Thomas's volume, This Old House Kitchens ( LJ 12/91), had a more upbeat tone than the current volume. In Chapter 1, Trethewey writes that the work of heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) is not "very sexy." He laments the fact that much of the construction trade is devoted to surface appearances rather than the principles of true quality work. Trethewey details improvements and renovations to HVAC systems for those who are remodeling or building from scratch. While his book doesn't exactly offer exciting reading, his ideas are inspiring in a fashion. Recommended for homebuilding collections, particularly those with copies of This Old House Kitchens. (Index not seen.)-- Alex Hartmann, Bloomsburg Univ. Lib., Pa.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 255 pages
• Publisher: Little Brown & Co (P) (January 1994)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0316852724
• ISBN-13: 978-0316852722
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.5 x 0.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #688,696 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars spectacular consumer's guide to HVAC, January 17, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (New Haven, CT.) - See all my reviews

This review is from: This Old House Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning: A Guide to the Invisible Comforts of Your Home (Hardcover)

a spectacularly informative consumer's guide to HVAC systems. My definitive guide when deciding what equipment to install to replace the 50 year old boiler and water heater in my home. Local professionals provided little of the content in 1999 of what Trethewey wrote in 1993 about providing for an energy efficient and money saving house.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Old House Gives the Basics on Home Comfort, February 15, 2010

By 

Paul S. Edwards (Woodbridge, VA, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: This Old House Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning: A Guide to the Invisible Comforts of Your Home (Hardcover)

Richard Trethewey, a long-standing regular on the "This Old House" PBS Television Seriwes, provides clear, concise information on heating, ventilation, and air conditioning. He presents the material in a way that makes it understandable to the average homeowner and provides the information the homeownder needs to make informed decisions about the type of system he or she wants.