off topic - HVAC design for residential
By
CARMELHILL, in General Q & A
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By CDCDLLC_2014
Hello,
My name is Brent Freeman, I live in Phoenix AZ and would love to do your drafting!
Have job-site experience, start to finish, 40 years-combined family experience.
Whatever the project, I can help!
I can provide structural or civil engineering if required.
Complete sets of plans for residential or small commercial projects ready to submit to the city!
3D and Landscape renderings for HOA's!
Obtaining sub-contractor proposals, creating cost breakdowns and material estimates for your project.
If in the state of Arizona I can also provide contracting!
Have worked with several municipalities to get approved permits.
Email Me at: Brent@cdcillc.com
Call or text me at: 623-432-6312
For More Info!
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By rlackore
Here's a hvac sidewall vent similar to the Trane Bayvent. It can be used to vent many types of equipment including furnaces, water heaters, etc.
SidewallVent.calibz
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By ajrare
Does Chief Architect have an HVAC ductwork tool?
On commercial building plans typically show hvac trunk lines, does Chief have tool for?
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By CARMELHILL
I never tried this, maybe someone else knows....how much of the original manipulation of original Sketchup items remain after they are imported into Chief?
I'll try it at the office on Tuesday, just thought I would post the question here for some Sunday afteroon, below 1degree F, thniking...brrrr.
Yesterday I was looking at Sketchup Pro and saw two extensions that would be tremendously helpful in lite commercial work. They have an HVAC ductwork extension and an Engineering piping extension.
If you import a few symbols made in Sketchup with these extensions do you still think you can manipulate them in Cheif, or would you have to do the whole design in Sketchup and then import the finished piping layout into Chief as an end product? I hate having to switch back and forth for EVERY revision.
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By CARMELHILL
I was using Vectorworks years ago. At the time I was almost 100% residential work. I hated 2 things, I felt they were starting to gear the program more towards commercial work like Archicad or Revit so they could pull in more corporate money. I also hated that the program truly lacked automatic elevations, sections, and details. So I switched to Chief X2 and have since been EXTREMELY happy.
Now my practice is starting to pull in some commercial work, and I find Chief is woefully lacking. I don't want two programs in the office and I must stress I HATE Autocad. I feel Chief has done a tremendous job refining Chief into what it is today, and adding a Mac version was probably a good idea since so many schools have converted to Mac...you have to provide those graduates with a drafting option. But isn't it time Chief starts coming up with a few solutions for some commercial projects?
What do you think could be improved or have you found a work around that you could share?
I might be doing some things wrong, but here are some problems I encounter......
1. Their solution to reflected ceiling plans is absurd. Have you ever watched one of the training videos and tried to make it work? Because it doesn't. I think they are mirror image backwards from what I've done in the past. Vectorworks had a great tool where you drew a 2d polygon, it filled with a 2 x 2 or 2 x 4 pattern and you could adjust the pattern within the polygon. You could then insert lights into the pattern. The pattern self centered in the polygon. Simple but genius. If you could transfer that into a 3d method so it appears correctly with interior renderings and 3d 2' x 4' light fixtures it would be awesome.
2. Input a symbol like a smoke detector or carbon monoxide sensor into a 1/8" scale project and the symbol is tiny on the sheet. Can we get some auto resize instead of having to create a new 1/8" 2d symbol block and reattaching it inside the plan.
3. A basic commercial symbol library would be nice. The restaurant symbol library we have is a good start. A dedicated commercial electrical and HVAC symbol library that auto scales the 2d plan symbol into an 1/8" or 1/4" scale plan would be perfect.
4. More useable macros that we can use to compile complicated site plans for septic designs, parking designs, parking drainage, landscaped area as opposed to paved impermeable areas, etc...
5. A better door and window schedule. X8 looks better so far, but in most commercial projects, each door needs it's own number. I know there is a work around to attach a specific number to each door/window, but it's needlessly time consuming. That needs to be improved. It would also be nice to be able to modify a door or window directly through the schedule and have it update in the plan. Vectorworks had this ability way back in 2010.
I still use Chief for lite commercial but I know it's not the best implementation. Can we get some commercial stuff moving along?
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