Cost of Installing Central A/C (Washington: house, heat pump, construction) - New Jersey (NJ) - City-Data Forum

yanks2009 · 03-07-2010, 08:53 PM

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.

billb7581 · 03-07-2010, 08:56 PM

I spent about 5 grand doing a direct replacement in a similarly sized house. I had ductwork.

frankgn87 · 03-08-2010, 05:27 AM

I am assuming your home does not have ac now and the whole system will have to be installed including electrical, etc. I would say that a fair price considerng that the lador involved installing ducteork in a finished home is very costly as compared to doing it at the rough in stage of home construction.

echinela · 03-08-2010, 08:56 AM

yanks2009, may I ask where in Northern NJ you are located? Is it for central A/c only and not heat?

We have trouble getting heat to our second floor bedroom and our HVAC guy recommended installing a second furnace and heat up in the attic to heat/cool the 3 bedrooms only. I was quoted $7800 for a 2 ton Carrier system and we will reuse the existing ductwork for 1 bedroom and put in new ducts for the remaining bedrooms. I too question if this is a fair price since it includes electrical, gas line, permit cost. It sounds like your price is better than mine since you are doing it for 3 floors.

mingus · 03-08-2010, 10:33 AM

In a house without ductwork, check out www.unicosystem.com

I had this system installed in my house several years ago and it was several thousand dollars less expensive than a ducted system.

Best money I ever spent.

yanks2009 · 03-08-2010, 12:20 PM

Thank you for your responses. The house is located in Essex County and does not have any ductwork. The quote is for a/c only...I will keep the existing steam heat.

I will look into the Unico system...I've heard that they can be noisy...is that true?

frankgn87 · 03-08-2010, 12:23 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by yanks2009

Thank you for your responses. The house is located in Essex County and does not have any ductwork. The quote is for a/c only...I will keep the existing steam heat.

I will look into the Unico system...I've heard that they can be noisy...is that true?

Yes they are generally louder then a standard ducted system due to the higher velocity of the air coming out., But they are cheaper by far and work well.

mingus · 03-08-2010, 03:00 PM

I have one vent that because of the angle of the roof is a little "noisy" but nothing that is unbearable.

Just watch the angles of the flexible ducts and keep them "soft" (45 deg or less before it enters the ceiling).

Hope this helps

knoxgarden · 03-08-2010, 03:59 PM

Have you looked at the Misubishi Mr. Slim system? I've seen this on HGTV shows. It doesn't use ductwork but puts the compressor outside and can use a heat pump type system.
Mitsubishi Electric - HVAC Advanced Products Division: Products: Homeowner
I used to live in Washington, D.C. in a house without ductwork and this looks like it would have been a good solution to that.

frankgn87 · 03-08-2010, 04:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by knoxgarden

Have you looked at the Misubishi Mr. Slim system? I've seen this on HGTV shows. It doesn't use ductwork but puts the compressor outside and can use a heat pump type system.
Mitsubishi Electric - HVAC Advanced Products Division: Products: Homeowner
I used to live in Washington, D.C. in a house without ductwork and this looks like it would have been a good solution to that.

the problem with these are you would need multiple ones for the entire house and they are very expensive... but work well