Adding AC to a house... cost?

Question

David Zheng · Answer

I bought a really old 3 unit (each unit about 1300 sqft) and had radiator heat and window units. I added a separate HVAC system on each floor along with ductwork and soffiting. All in it was about 10k per unit.

Clint E. · Answer

Where is the house?  Is this for a flip or a rental?  What were the electric bills before on baseboard heat?  What class neighborhood is it in?

I ask all this because they dictate the expectations of buyers and renters in your area.

Jarrod B. · Answer

@David Sanford - No, that just was them replacing the unit.  The Duct work was already in place.  I'm not sure what the duct work would run...

Bernie Neyer · Answer

The cost for a totally new installation will run as stated $8K to $10K. This would include the electrical and plumbing for gas or fuel oil.

You have to decide what you want though. Do you want a combined unit or dual unit. The combined unit sets outside with the ducting and return going through the foundation some place. A dual unit has the heater someplace inside with the AC unit setting outside. I haven't checked in a while, but the combined units topped out at 80% efficiency. This isn't bad really. I bought a 99% efficient unit for my house, and it wasn't worth the costs over a 90% unit.

If you want to add AC to an existing system, it is almost as cheap to simply update your heater too, as they have to remove it to add the A-coil. If you have an old unit and the AC goes out, you may simply need to replace it for about $1,300. Sometimes you need to replace the A-coil for the new unit though.

Avoid heat pumps unless your cold temperature doesn't get below 30%. There are what they call geothermal units, which consists of burying runs or drilling what is called a well, and running a fluid through it to raise its temperature above 40% so it can extract the heat for the heat pump. It does the opposite when it wants to cool. Geothermal units are expensive.

Devin Burris · Answer

I have a 900sq ft 3bd ranch and a 1.5 ton ac unit plus new furnace and some duct work modifications was 5500 for me. And that was a quote through Lowe's.

Dell Schlabach · Answer

My price would be about 3600 for Furnace and AC and about 1,500 for the duct work.

If you get some quotes I suspect they will range from 5,000-8,000

Jarrod B. · Answer

I just replaced my AC with a 2.5 ton 14 SEER Ameristar and spent 3k for the replacement.  This is for a 1200 sq ft condo in Jupiter, FL.