Cost of Installing Central A/C

[ghuber]

Originally Posted by yanks2009

Hi everyone,

For those of you who have had central a/c installed in their homes, I'd be grateful if you could give me an idea of whether the following quote sounds reasonable:

Installation of a Carrier Performance system in a 2,000 SF home in Northern NJ, one zone, no existing ductwork, registers placed on first floor, second floor and in attic.

After federal, state, utility and manufacturer rebates, the cost would be $12,500.

Thanks in advance.

That doesn't sound too bad. For a replacement system (no duct work necessary) I was recently quoted $9,800 for Trane 16 seer system with an Aprilaire cleaner. That doesn't not include the $1500 tax credit, so if you were to include that it would be $8300 less taxes.

I think depending on how your house is setup it can be quite labor intensive to install the ducts.

[yanks2009]

Thanks. I think the price is in the ballpark. I will probably get another estimate or two just to have a basis for comparison.

[NY'er lost in MA]

Not looking to hijack the thread but would anyone care to comment on ductless vs. conventional forced air systems vs. high velocity systems?

I was surprised to find out ductless systems are actually the most expensive (for multiple units to cool the entire house). That was our original idea to avoid ductwork.

Now we are leaning towards a high velocity systems: spacepak or unico but does anyone know how expensive they are compared to a conventional system?

We have a 1700 sq. ft modular cape with hardly any room for ductwork. It's possible but seems like high velocity would make the install so much easier.

Just concerned about cost....

thx!

[jaems]

Originally Posted by NY'er lost in MA

Not looking to hijack the thread but would anyone care to comment on ductless vs. conventional forced air systems vs. high velocity systems?

I was surprised to find out ductless systems are actually the most expensive (for multiple units to cool the entire house). That was our original idea to avoid ductwork.

Now we are leaning towards a high velocity systems: spacepak or unico but does anyone know how expensive they are compared to a conventional system?

We have a 1700 sq. ft modular cape with hardly any room for ductwork. It's possible but seems like high velocity would make the install so much easier.

Just concerned about cost....

thx!

What system did you end up going with? Thx.

[DefiantNJ]

Does this price include electrical changes? I think AC systems run on 220 volts.


I think this is an OK price if it includes everything. We paid $8,500 for a replacement Trane system in a 1800 sq foot house. The installation included all new horizontal duct work in the attic. The rest of the duct work and the 220 volts electrical outlet already existed. They AC company still called in the electrician that was included in the price of installation. He installed/wired one more outside outlet next to the AC unit and added more lights in the attic. Not sure if he did anything else. I didn't really want to follow his every step.