Air Conditioning in an older home
I’m considering buying a new, old home. It has radiators for heat, but window units for AC, and I’m going through the costs for renovation in my mind. I searched a little bit in the forum and I get the impression that the cost of installing high velocity ac ducts is comparable to adding conventional forced air. This is a 2000sqft house, two levels, plus a finished basement.
Am I right in my impression that costs are similar between these systems? HV is more expensive equipment, but less obtrusive in installation; FA is less expensive equipment, but requires more work for ducting, soffets/drywall. I was SWAG-ing a cost of $10-15k. Is that in the ballpark? This is in the DC metro area, by the way.
Edited 1/9/2006 2:18 am ET by KenL
Replies
If the renovation involves significant tear-up of walls and floors, conventional FA may make more sense.
If you do HV, make sure you select a contractor with experience in HV systems. It requires specific experience and expertise. A badly specified, designed or installed HV system can be very noisy and ineffective.
The cost depends on the equipment selection: efficiency, features, zoning, 1 ot 2 systems, etc. But yes you can get it done in you price range.
DG/Builder
I got a quote a couple of years ago to put new furnaces and AC in an older 2 story home. They said it would be between 10 and 12 grand.
But this is in a small rural town in the midwest. I'm sure your labor costs are MUCH higher. I would tend to guess no less than $15,000. Especially if you include the cost of boxing in new ductwork and matching up old trim and such.
I'm with the Boss. With all the work going on in Arlingtoon and Fairfax I'd bet a company that will do a good job and stand behind it is 15-20k
an upgrade to window units would be ductless... you could do 4, 1 ton units and spend less than 4k... have 4 "zones" so only put the air where u need it
p
Re: "an upgrade to window units" ...Makes a lot of sense IMO. I have heard from customers who have had dedicated circuit/s run for window units that they see some pretty impressive savings. If the home is occupied by a small number of people who don't go from room to room a lot. A person with discipline enough to keep doors closed between rooms and tending to stay in one room for long periods do well. A house full of children see less in savings as they run around and leave doors open. Worse if the door goes to the outside.
damn, at $20k, maybe I'll instead just get one of those pith helmets from Brookstone with the fan in the brim...How would you compare the cost of doing high velocity to forced air? Are they even?
I'm not sure if anyone retrofits metal duct, usually it's flex duct and usually poorly installed. If you're lucky, they do manual/j and manual/d calculations. The air handler and ductwork usually goes in the attic, then you either insulate the roof deck (a *lot* of issues there) or live with condensation and energy loss out the whazoo.The split systems make sense energy-wise but I have concerns about condensation due to temperature differentials in the house. I'd say making the house real tight insulation-wise should be first, second and third orders of business, then it wouldn't take much to keep the house cool.