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Central A/C (1 Viewer)

Man In The Box

Man In The Box

Footballguy
I’m about to bite the bullet and get some quotes on putting a central a/c unit in our home. We had central in our first house, and it’s been a tough adjustment going without it. I’m just tired of installing and uninstalling three window air conditioners every year. Plus, they are noisy which makes sleep tougher and it seems we’re constantly turning them off and on to find a decent comfort level. 
 

Our current home doesn’t have, nor has ever had central air. We have all of the ductwork (I think) since we have a furnace with forced air for heat in the winter. 
 

My first call was going to be to our gas and electric provider, since I know they do solid work. We had them replace our hot water heater a couple of years ago and it was a smooth process. Plus, they allow you to pay monthly for the unit without any hassle, which is nice. I do know that they tend to charge on the high side for their equipment/services so I’m wondering if I should maybe try a different avenue first.
 

Any advice? What should I expect as a fair estimate for the entire job? Our house is a small, three bedroom Cape Cod, so a small unit would probably be enough to cool the house. 

 
Man In The Box said:
I’m about to bite the bullet and get some quotes on putting a central a/c unit in our home. We had central in our first house, and it’s been a tough adjustment going without it. I’m just tired of installing and uninstalling three window air conditioners every year. Plus, they are noisy which makes sleep tougher and it seems we’re constantly turning them off and on to find a decent comfort level. 
 

Our current home doesn’t have, nor has ever had central air. We have all of the ductwork (I think) since we have a furnace with forced air for heat in the winter. 
 

My first call was going to be to our gas and electric provider, since I know they do solid work. We had them replace our hot water heater a couple of years ago and it was a smooth process. Plus, they allow you to pay monthly for the unit without any hassle, which is nice. I do know that they tend to charge on the high side for their equipment/services so I’m wondering if I should maybe try a different avenue first.
 

Any advice? What should I expect as a fair estimate for the entire job? Our house is a small, three bedroom Cape Cod, so a small unit would probably be enough to cool the house. 
Click to expand...
If your Cape Cod is like mine, you have crap for  cold air returns upstairs. My house was built in like 1949 so it has crap for insulation too. I still supplement the upstairs bedrooms with window units and my wife needs the white noise, so I put a third window unit in the downstairs bedroom every summer ( nice to make the bedroom a little color at night too without freezing out the rest of the house).

Long story short, don’t throw those window units away after you get central air put in.

 
What city do you live in? I might know of someone in your area.

If you get bids, send them to me and I'll take a look to make sure you aren't getting screwed. Been in the business about 15 years now. 

Make sure your electrical panel can handle another 220 device. You will need space for the breaker. 

 
ChiefD said:
What city do you live in? I might know of someone in your area.

If you get bids, send them to me and I'll take a look to make sure you aren't getting screwed. Been in the business about 15 years now. 

Make sure your electrical panel can handle another 220 device. You will need space for the breaker. 
Click to expand...
Thanks, I’m in Northern NJ. Before I go any further, is there a solution to the reply below? If I still have to put in the two window units in my kids’ bedrooms every year, I probably won’t even bother getting central. Seems like a waste if we’d still be running window units along with the central unit. 

Rustoleum said:
If your Cape Cod is like mine, you have crap for  cold air returns upstairs. My house was built in like 1949 so it has crap for insulation too. I still supplement the upstairs bedrooms with window units and my wife needs the white noise, so I put a third window unit in the downstairs bedroom every summer ( nice to make the bedroom a little color at night too without freezing out the rest of the house).

Long story short, don’t throw those window units away after you get central air put in.
Click to expand...

 
Rustoleum said:
If your Cape Cod is like mine, you have crap for  cold air returns upstairs. My house was built in like 1949 so it has crap for insulation too. I still supplement the upstairs bedrooms with window units and my wife needs the white noise, so I put a third window unit in the downstairs bedroom every summer ( nice to make the bedroom a little color at night too without freezing out the rest of the house).

Long story short, don’t throw those window units away after you get central air put in.
Click to expand...
Hmmm, something I’d have to look into. Our home was built in 1954, so it’s probably similar. These are the type of posts I was hoping for to avoid any pitfalls. Thanks 👍

 
Man In The Box said:
Hmmm, something I’d have to look into. Our home was built in 1954, so it’s probably similar. These are the type of posts I was hoping for to avoid any pitfalls. Thanks 👍
Click to expand...
You might be in better shape duct wise than me. I’m sure the professional guidance you get here will help - I will say that without the central air my house would be miserable and I’d be adding two more bug window units to the mix.

My dad has a Tudor style that has radiator heat. When he got central air (instead of wrangling 5 window units annually) he was able to put the AC in the attic and they added ducts/vents in the ceiling so the cold air drops down from above. Don’t know how that would work with an existing forced air furnace though or if you would consider some of those standalone Mitsubishi -type units to get built in.

My uneducated gut instincts tell me adding to your existing forced air is probably the cheapest option though.

 
Man In The Box said:
Thanks, I’m in Northern NJ. Before I go any further, is there a solution to the reply below? If I still have to put in the two window units in my kids’ bedrooms every year, I probably won’t even bother getting central. Seems like a waste if we’d still be running window units along with the central unit. 
Click to expand...
Maybe. The only way to know will be to have someone come out and check out your ductwork. 

 
Had a buddy of mine swap out my 3-ton earlier this year. Got a call from him a couple days ago commending me for thinking ahead, as three ton, 13-seer are very thin on the ground. Not sure if that's regional or national, but it's a warm summer and a lot of people are spending more time at home. Cost me $2400, which I think was a decent deal, though we didn't replace the lines, just swapped out coolant.

 
Gawain said:
Had a buddy of mine swap out my 3-ton earlier this year. Got a call from him a couple days ago commending me for thinking ahead, as three ton, 13-seer are very thin on the ground. Not sure if that's regional or national, but it's a warm summer and a lot of people are spending more time at home. Cost me $2400, which I think was a decent deal, though we didn't replace the lines, just swapped out coolant.
Click to expand...
Yeah, they are pretty much out here also. 

 
Man In The Box said:
Thanks, I’m in Northern NJ. Before I go any further, is there a solution to the reply below? If I still have to put in the two window units in my kids’ bedrooms every year, I probably won’t even bother getting central. Seems like a waste if we’d still be running window units along with the central unit. 
Click to expand...
My dads house a cape in ct got central air about 10 years ago.  No problems but house built in 1954 with forced hot air.  It will always be a few degrees warmer but works great. 

 
The Z Machine said:
I thought that forced air heat required smaller ducts than AC.  Just trying to educate myself.
Click to expand...
Yeah.

And that's really where the discussion begins and ends with adding central AC. Whoever comes out will check how much air flow and return is available with the current duct system. If there is enough they proceed.

If not enough, modifications may need to be made.

 
Gawain said:
Had a buddy of mine swap out my 3-ton earlier this year. Got a call from him a couple days ago commending me for thinking ahead, as three ton, 13-seer are very thin on the ground. Not sure if that's regional or national, but it's a warm summer and a lot of people are spending more time at home. Cost me $2400, which I think was a decent deal, though we didn't replace the lines, just swapped out coolant.
Click to expand...
Damn! Looks like an awesome deal to me. Just had mine replaced a couple weeks ago. Cost me almost double that for a 3 ton 13 seer Lenox.

 
@ChiefD as luck would have it, I live one town away from Caldwell and I'm also in need of someone for AC. I'll give your buddy a look. Before I do, maybe you might have an idea of what my main issue is.

Our old unit used to work relatively well but it was older and we needed something stronger since we were running ducts to the lower level of the house. So we got a new unit. Problem is, the fan doesn't stay on all the time. I like to have the AC on 67 at night and have the fan run continuously to provide that nice white noise so I sleep like a baby. Problem is, ever since we got the new unit, the fan goes on and off all night. If the temp drops to 67, it shuts off. If it gets back above 67, the fan kicks back on. Basically the unit is acting like I have it switched to "auto" but it's actually switched to "on". Any idea why that might be happening? Just a faulty thermostat? Something else? It's really messing with my sleep patterns these last few summers...

 
Michael Brown said:
@ChiefD as luck would have it, I live one town away from Caldwell and I'm also in need of someone for AC. I'll give your buddy a look. Before I do, maybe you might have an idea of what my main issue is.

Our old unit used to work relatively well but it was older and we needed something stronger since we were running ducts to the lower level of the house. So we got a new unit. Problem is, the fan doesn't stay on all the time. I like to have the AC on 67 at night and have the fan run continuously to provide that nice white noise so I sleep like a baby. Problem is, ever since we got the new unit, the fan goes on and off all night. If the temp drops to 67, it shuts off. If it gets back above 67, the fan kicks back on. Basically the unit is acting like I have it switched to "auto" but it's actually switched to "on". Any idea why that might be happening? Just a faulty thermostat? Something else? It's really messing with my sleep patterns these last few summers...
Click to expand...
Sounds like a bad stat to me. If you have the fan to “on” it should be on all the time.

 
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