Central air in an old house w/ radiators?

[SnuggleBuggles]

Has anyone gotten central air when starting from a non forced air, radiator set up? It used to be that they would have to install big ducts but now there are lots of other choices, it seems. We probably want to keep the radiators but I'd be interested to hear from anyone who has added on central air. So, if you have upgraded to central air, how did you configure it, rough cost estimate, and any other used tidbits would be appreciated! I don't think I can hold off another year!

Beth

[bnme]

We put ca in our previous home. It was a 3 bedroom ranch on a slab, which makes it a little harder (well it is less efficient because the air comes from the top). We had radiators for heat.

There is only one large return (vent) in the hallway. And ceiling and wall vents for each room. The ducts are in the attic. In 2002 this cost about $7k.

HTH

[nicoleandjackson]

Beth,

We have baseboard hot-water radiant heat in our old split-level home and absolutely NO attic to speak of. We took half of DS's double closet and made that the home for the A/C unit and were able to get regular-sized duct work run to the ceiling of each of the three bedrooms, the upstairs bathroom, and dining room. We have a return in the living room to draw air across the main level, and a return in the family room (lowest level of the split) to draw air downstairs. There wasn't enough room to run ductwork all the way to the front of the house where the kitchen is so it gets REALLY warm in there. If it got really unbearable, we would put the portable A/C unit in there. The whole shebang runs on a completely different thermostat from the heat.

I think the best thing our contractor did was to really engineer the placement of the returns to maximize circulation. We did this in 2007 for about $8K.

Good luck!

[marge234]

We had something called space pak put in our 1920s era radiator heated home before we moved in a 2 years ago. The condenser is in the attic and their are flexible tubes that snake down into ceilings. There are holes, the openings look like CDs, in each room. Some rooms have one some have four.

Then there's a huge unit in the back of the house, it looks like we're cooling a commercial building. Ours works MUCH better upstairs than downstairs--this may have more to do with the contractor we chose than the system. It's $$$, I'll have to check our file to see how much because I blocked it out.

We did not want to give up the radiator heat, I hate forced air, and our space isn't condusive to adding ducts anyway. So for us it was worth it.

[GvilleGirl]

My parents did a few years back. I want to say it cost about 15K. The house was 3,000+sq ft, 3 stories plus basement. After growing up without air conditioning I was pretty used to it, but it was sure nice to have. It is amazing how well those tiny holes can cool a room.

[SnuggleBuggles]

Thanks, all! That's about what I was expecting cost wise. I would love to hear any other experiences and options. Marge, I'd be interested in the cost if you have a chance to check. Of course, if it so bad that you blocked it out maybe I don't want to know. :)

Beth

[kransden]

It was cheaper for us in the long run to remove our radiators and put in forced heat/ac. Which was too bad because I like radiators.

[marge234]

Ours was about $12K. 2 floors, approx 1900 sq feet.

[vludmilla]

I haven't done but am planning on adding high velocity central a/c to a home we are in the process of buying. I've seen it in other older homes and it is fantastic...discreet, doesn't eat up closets with ductwork, and some say it is more efficient at removing humidity from the air. I think you can also add a heat pump to the system to use in the spring and fall when firing up the furnace may not be necessary.

[ThreeofUs]

adding high velocity central a/c to a home

We were going to do this, but really we only need ac for about a week in any given summer.

It's great, though, and lots of friends have done it. Minimal intrusion, no ducts, works well. Drawbacks are cost and the need to have the unit high.

[bnme]

I think what we have is the same type marge described (space pac - the flexible ducts. we have some sort of small unit in the attic and then the compressor outside. The ones they make today are alot smaller then the ones even from 2003).

Just wanted to add we also have this in our current home. When we moved in they had the forcered air a/c and radiant heat with baseboards. We convereted the heat to forced-air because we were having problems with the pipes in the slab. We also got an estimate for upgrading the whole system and it was about $15k (but for heating & cooling) for a more energy efficient system. If you have high ceilings the efficiency of this type of system is worse (ask me how I know...).

[SnuggleBuggles]

My head is spinning from choices. I need to find some local people to come and give me a run down for our house. Last time I was really inspired to do this, the guy came then said he would be in touch with the estimate...and never was. I kind of lost my oomph after that because they had come as the most recommended group around. I'm glad I waited though b/c I think they have made some good improvements recently, like the high velocity units.

Thank you!!!!

Beth

[nicoleandjackson]

My head is spinning from choices. I need to find some local people to come and give me a run down for our house. Last time I was really inspired to do this, the guy came then said he would be in touch with the estimate...and never was. I kind of lost my oomph after that because they had come as the most recommended group around. I'm glad I waited though b/c I think they have made some good improvements recently, like the high velocity units.

Thank you!!!!

Beth

Beth--if you don't mind shelling out the $20, a year subscription to Angie's List might help you find someone. We have also had VERY good luck with servicemagic.com for lots of home improvement projects (A/C, window cleaning, deck refurbishing, boiler replacement, etc.) and they are free.

Good luck!

[tiapam]

When we bought this house, the 2nd floor had forced central air and heat but our first floor was radiators and baseboards. We added Spacepak for the first floor in 2008. The ducts and the unit are in the basement. The outlets are mostly in the floor. We were told it does remove more humidity from the air and is more efficient. We noticed no change in our electric bills, so we do feel it is more energy efficient, but it might also be because we only had the A/C upstairs before and of course all the hot air from the first floor was rising. Anyway, we are *very* happy overall. I think it was about 12K and our 1st floor is about 1000 SQF. Our house is about 80 years old and may have presented some additional problems. In the kitchen they had to go up through a wall and come out near the ceiling as we didn't think there was anywhere suitable on the floor for the vents. As long as you can get a good installer, I doubt you will regret it. I would not give up radiant heat, I much prefer it to forced air heat with the dryness and dust issues.

[truly scrumptious]

We put ca in our previous home. It was a 3 bedroom ranch on a slab, which makes it a little harder (well it is less efficient because the air comes from the top). We had radiators for heat.

There is only one large return (vent) in the hallway. And ceiling and wall vents for each room. The ducts are in the attic. In 2002 this cost about $7k.

HTH

We have almost exactly the same situation - 3 BR ranch on slab, radiator heat, single return in the hallway, etc. We also found it less efficient in some rooms until we learned to regulate the vents, and now it is pretty even.

In 2006 we paid $7500.

ETA - we also have flexible ducts and the unit in the attic and the compressor outside in a shady spot.

[bnme]

[QUOTE=truly scrumptious;2714049]We have almost exactly the same situation - 3 BR ranch on slab, radiator heat, single return in the hallway, etc. We also found it less efficient in some rooms until we learned to regulate the vents, and now it is pretty even.
QUOTE]
Sorry for the min-hijack, but what do you do to regulate the vents?

Although I think my problem may be that it is a large room with no ceiling vents (the vents are along the top of the wall bordering one side of the room (the room has a vaulted ceiling). The room also gets ALOT of sun that is not blocked enough. Skylights have dark shades but there are three 8 foot sliders with only light colored curtains (I know I really need to do something about that but I am not a fan of verticals and do not want heavy drapery).

[tiapam]

QUOTE]
Sorry for the min-hijack, but what do you do to regulate the vents?

Although I think my problem may be that it is a large room with no ceiling vents (the vents are along the top of the wall bordering one side of the room (the room has a vaulted ceiling). The room also gets ALOT of sun that is not blocked enough. Skylights have dark shades but there are three 8 foot sliders with only light colored curtains (I know I really need to do something about that but I am not a fan of verticals and do not want heavy drapery).[/QUOTE]

Not the poster you quoted, but with our system (Spacepak) the vents have some kind of valve on them that the installers can adjust but we cannot. They came back when the weather got hotter to tweak them. Only one room felt too warm to me (though not to DH) and that vent was already open all the way. It's not a big problem, I think I can fix it with cooler lighting and a new cellular blind.

FYI, some of our rooms have multiple vents. Our installer stressed the importance of measuring (room size and also heat from window openings, doors, etc.) and they got it just about right. We don't have any vaulted ceilings though, just an open staircase. And our floorplan is not very open.

[DrSally]

We bought an old house (1930's) with rads. The previous owner was an HVAC person. He installed central air at the request of his wife. It wasn't everywhere, but enought paces to count. I have no idea how much work it was or how much it costs, but boy were we gratful for it.

[truly scrumptious]

Sorry for the min-hijack, but what do you do to regulate the vents?

Although I think my problem may be that it is a large room with no ceiling vents (the vents are along the top of the wall bordering one side of the room (the room has a vaulted ceiling). The room also gets ALOT of sun that is not blocked enough. Skylights have dark shades but there are three 8 foot sliders with only light colored curtains (I know I really need to do something about that but I am not a fan of verticals and do not want heavy drapery).

We used the little tabs on the ceiling vents themselves to open and close them. Since our thermostat happens to be in the coolest room in the house (so our sunny rooms get super hot), we closed the vents as much as possible in the cool room(s) and opened them up on the warm ones. (Sorry I don't have anything more scientific than that! But it worked for us.)

BTW, we bought natural (woven) shades for the sunny room and that helped a LOT.
Something like these:
http://www.blinds.com/control/product/productID,8648?gtse=froogle8648&width=16.00&height=20.00
They are really effective at keeping the heat out, but ours have enough gaps that you can still see out, so they don't feel overwhelmingly dark or claustrophobic - they actually look light and airy with light shining through.