Adding central air to house

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  • Brad

    Active Member
    Mar 20, 2013
    363
    Glen Arm
    I did residential install for 5 years and now work for an MEP mechanical engineering firm designing large commercial systems. (just to give you an idea of my background)

    First off I would not reccomend soud lined (internally insulated) ductwork. Although many swear that it does not cause any problems I have seen far to many systems designed improperly and create mold and air quality issues. In alot of cases (not always of course) but sound lined ductwork can be more expensive as well.

    As far as the space pak systems mention above I have personally installed alot of these and the best application for tis system would be in older homes that currently do not have any ductwork. The higher velocity of the system helps cut down on duct sizing by using there essentiall proprietary duct tubing. It works well when "knee walls" are available and the central unit is in an attic. Since you have a gas furnace and ductwork already I wouldnt reccomend the space pak system.

    From the sound of it (depending on the age of your furnace and space limitations) the comment above about adding a coil and condensing unit is probably the cheapest and easiest route.

    Where abouts are you located? I could reccomend the company I used to work for if your looking to go thorugh an actual company of depending on location I know several people that work for contractors that do work on the side. It all depends on what exactly your looking for.
     

    hvymax

    Banned
    BANNED!!!
    Apr 19, 2010
    14,011
    Dentsville District 28
    How could you tell your cut your bill 80%? Assuming if you use fossil fuels you used less and electricity is hard to break out of the bill the portion used for cooling. Honest question.

    As for sound liner that stuff gets nasty quick. If the duct is sized and designed properly it is not needed. It is mostly a bandaid. I've never gotten complaints from noise from people through the ducts. System noise a different story.

    Electrical use. I have a heat pump and went from a 20yr old piece of crap to 21 seer humidity and damper controlled system. I went with soundline because that is what I usually work with. I went exposed TDC/spiral in my basement to show off a bit. I did a split system with biasing damper giving living areas 70% during the day and bedrooms 70% at night. The old duct was uninsulated so noise carried well through it. Controlling the humidity makes a huge difference. At 40% 80 feels 70ish and at 70% 65 feels 75ish.
     

    kohburn

    Resident MacGyver
    MDS Supporter
    Aug 15, 2008
    6,796
    PAX NAS / CP MCAS
    Natural gas furnace with installed ducts (central heat).

    We use a few window AC units right now, but all but one window on the ground floor are casement windows......so we only have one A/C unit for the ground floor and apparently she feels it is no longer enough....

    if your existing ductwork is not sized large enough for the cooling BTU then the cheapest option would be mini-split (or ductless) system instead of central

    however in this region the heating BTU requirement is generally higher than the cooling BTU requirement so you should be good to go. adding another return duct would be the hard part.
     

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