Central Air Costs? (live, floor, install)

[suzook]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Thanks Zook?

Whod ya use?

Happy?

Crooks

I got a few estimates, but did it myself. i hired a lic hvac tech to turn it up, and make adjustments. It was easy for me to install. I have a hot air system, so i was able to use the existing ducts. Good luck with it, make sure you get good references, it is critical to use a very good hvac company. The install is the most important part. A bad install will ruin the best equipment.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by suzook

I got a few estimates, but did it myself. i hired a lic hvac tech to turn it up, and make adjustments. It was easy for me to install. I have a hot air system, so i was able to use the existing ducts. Good luck with it, make sure you get good references, it is critical to use a very good hvac company. The install is the most important part. A bad install will ruin the best equipment.

Thanks

Anyone know anything about the Mr Slims?

[suzook]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Thanks

Anyone know anything about the Mr Slims?

They are very good, if you dont mind seeing the inside unit hanging on the wall. They are very reliable, and energy efficient.

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by suzook

They are very good, if you dont mind seeing the inside unit hanging on the wall. They are very reliable, and energy efficient.

Costly?

I just need to cool 1100 sf.

My downstairs is cool year round.

[WJFM]

I have a Mr.Slim system, and its very quiet and efficient. But I was told the equipment costs almost 10k for a 3 unit system. ( My units came with the house).

Since you don't have a heated air system, you will need to install ductwork all over the house to get your CAC. This can be expensive, since its labor-intensive. But equipment costs will be lower in the ducted system. I think 4-6k is when you already have the ducts installed.

Mr. Slim uses some kind of thin pipe system which makes it very easy to install, but the technology is expensive ( and probably proprietary to Mitsubishi), so the equipment costs more.

[suzook]

Originally Posted by WJFM

I think 4-6k is when you already have the ducts installed.

No, thats the price with installing ducts. Ducts are fairly easy to install for professionals. Crooks, if it were me, i would go with the conventional unit. The slims are nice, but have there place(ie. if running ducts involved ripping down walls, and ceilings). Give National Grid a call. I beleive they have a promo, no inteterest for a year, my sister used them, and everything went fine. They do use contractors, but they "usually" weed through the hacks.

[rocafeller05]

Crooks your looking around 5500-6500 including the electric. Go with a conventional unit if you have the attic space. We have several guys at the office here who install on saturdays if your interested. Just let me know.

[Peter B]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Thanks

Anyone know anything about the Mr Slims?

They are called mini splits. Very popular in Asia and Europe for many years and starting to catch on here. We have a 2800' sq ft colonial up here with hot water baseboard heating. Two years ago we got prices for installing central A/C. The system with all new ducts installed would've cost around $16k. We opted for the mini split as the final cost was around $6K installed. We have two units outside the house with the controllers hanging in 3 parts of the home, living room, dining room, and master bedroom. The units are attractive and easy on the eyes actually. It only requires 3" holes put into the wall where each unit is. They are versatile and can be custom installed for just about any application. If your home needs ductwork, looking into the mini split system is a no-brainer. Your ranch home will cool off just fine and you'll save a ton of money. I know many folks don't like them but call Slomins and get a price from them and at least two others. Slomins did my house in Smithtown 9 years ago (3000' sq ft ranch) and did it in one day flawlessly. I'd say central w/ductwork would be a waste of money for you. You'll be very happy w/the mini split Here's some info to get the ball rolling. FYI, our units are manufactured by LG.

http://www.ductlessdepot.net/

[totallyfrazzled]

Originally Posted by Crookhaven

Costly?

I just need to cool 1100 sf.

My downstairs is cool year round.

I had a similar sized space in my last house that couldn't be reached by the CAC system and so I put a Mr Slim in there. It did a fantastic job, and in fact, except for the few very hottest/most humid days (talking in the high 90s temps/humidity) I was able to use it on merely the "dehumidify" setting rather than the "cool" setting and the room was perfectly comfortable. The Dehumidify setting uses even less energy so it was very efficient.

And the room unit didn't even have optimal placement! The room itself was a weird shape: Two right angles, like half of a square. Each "arm" was 15' x 2'5'. Due to built-ins, windows, weird roof angles, etc, the only logical place for the wall unit was only about 5 ft up from the floor on a wall that was only 15' from the wall opposite (rather than being on one of the ends where the cold air could blow right down a 25' run). So it surely wasn't the best location performancewise but it STILL did a great job and I was honestly happier with the comfort level in that room than in the rest of the house which was served by the CAC.

To make it even more difficult on the Mr Slim unit, one of the 25' walls faced south, one of the 15' walls also faced south, another 15' wall faced west, AND the ceiling (this was in a dormer) was only a few inches from the roof and so there was very little insulation buffer between the room ceiling and the black-shingled roof. All this added up to a really big heat load for the Mr Slim to handle but it worked like a charm.

Unfortunately I don't know how much the Mr Slim cost becuase it was installed at the same time the CAC system was, in the rest of the house, and thus was included in the overall price for everything.

Mr Slim was the first of the ductless systems to be marketed in the USA but I believe that now there is one available by Fujitsu as well. I'd still go with the Mr Slim which is made by Mitsubishi, by the way.

No jokes about how their cars aren't much larger than their ac units?

[Crookhaven]

Originally Posted by WJFM

I have a Mr.Slim system, and its very quiet and efficient. But I was told the equipment costs almost 10k for a 3 unit system. ( My units came with the house).

Since you don't have a heated air system, you will need to install ductwork all over the house to get your CAC. This can be expensive, since its labor-intensive. But equipment costs will be lower in the ducted system. I think 4-6k is when you already have the ducts installed.

Mr. Slim uses some kind of thin pipe system which makes it very easy to install, but the technology is expensive ( and probably proprietary to Mitsubishi), so the equipment costs more.

Wow thats crazy.

Thanks for the insight all.

Crooks