Residential Central AC Systems

[Rainman]

Can anyone recommend some companies that can provide an estimate on a whole-house central air conditioning system.

[ronsin1]

Not really economical to install a central AC system in a residential house
It best to use individual split unless you have an open floor plan in which you need a 5 ton or bigger

[STORM1234]

you could check abel building solutions boidan.

[pete]

Clamens and Associates

[RBphoto]

Not really economical to install a central AC system in a residential house
It best to use individual split unless you have an open floor plan in which you need a 5 ton or bigger

Depending on house layout. For a house with a lot of rooms with no access to an outside wall, it may be more practical to install ducting for AC than individual compressors and run copper tubing for 20ft for each closed off room. Will provide fresher air too instead of stagnating recirculating in closed rooms. Will have to be a big house too, as a central AC will be cycling too frequently for a small house. That is one unit you don't want to over engineer/ oversize.

[alex jj]

house doesn't necessarily have to be large..there are different sizes starting with 5ton...wen i used to do ac work i hated central units...i rather multi-splits or splits because if a unit stops working the entire building doesn't go without ac...

op u cudd call climate control..can't remember who else..

[RBphoto]

Peaks? There are a few other contractors I cant remember right now. Nice feature is that you can get central filtration and fresh air. Just make sure the person installing know about condensation and the locations to install duct heaters etc to prevent smelly units.

[Rainman]

Thanks for the responses folks.

[AllTrac]

Not really economical to install a central AC system in a residential house

economical is for peasants, de man ha ah morney dan, just tell him how much and who to make de check to.

[Rainman]

Not really economical to install a central AC system in a residential house

economical is for peasants, de man ha ah morney dan, just tell him how much and who to make de check to.

[ronsin1]

Not really economical to install a central AC system in a residential house

economical is for peasants, de man ha ah morney dan, just tell him how much and who to make de check to.

one melllllion dollars

Make the check out to OARS AC and General Contracting Limited

on a serious note send me the layout and I can see what can be worked out.

[francis1979]

Precision air control
624-5039

It has been over 10 years since I have not dealt with a/c units so I may be incorrect

1) any thing over 5 tons requires 3 phase current. It is very unlikely a residence will have 3 phase

2) if you have rooms that require large units (e.g. 36000 btu), some people rather a central unit because the evaporator are big and commercial looking .

3) so people rather central ac because it is only one condenser . Compared to many units around the house.

I personally rather multiple splits.

[alex jj]

3 ton evaporators are coming quite small looking nowadays...air flow might not be as high as the bigger ones...but dey wokkin...jus make sure if u goin central to run the ducting b4 u do ceiling work...op how about looking at a chill water system?

[Rainman]

I may eventually have to revert to the splits as many companies i called don't offer residential central air systems due to the building not being three phase.

I really hate how splits look though.

[j.o.e]

I may eventually have to revert to the splits as many companies i called don't offer residential central air systems due to the building not being three phase.

I really hate how splits look though.

Feel ya bro...hate the look of splits also

[RBphoto]

I may eventually have to revert to the splits as many companies i called don't offer residential central air systems due to the building not being three phase.

I really hate how splits look though.

You can get an inverter to run three phase loads off of single phase. My estimate about $1,000.00 USD for one to run a central AC for a house. Not that efficient, kinda costly, but the alternative is getting a commercial connection for the direct 3 phase and that is going to be a pain and monthly costs.

[alex jj]

I may eventually have to revert to the splits as many companies i called don't offer residential central air systems due to the building not being three phase.

I really hate how splits look though.

u cudd place all the condensers on the ground in one hidden spot...all the copper and electrical would be run down in trunkings in on place....did a work like that already...it was a real pain in the a##...some units had like 250 ft copper, cuz we had to put trunking above ceiling on the walls and curve around the rooms and house....

[RBphoto]

250 ft? That is madness!!

[Sumana.00]

Climate Control did ours but he did one cassette unit that's the one in the ceiling and the other was the tall unit

[alex jj]

yea it kinda iz madness..but it was a really big house and the man wanted all the condensers in one spot behind the house....copper should hold up for a good many years i would think...he said whenever he changes units he will change all the copper at the same time.

[pugboy]

install a chilled water unit as money is no problem

[francis1979]

I may eventually have to revert to the splits as many companies i called don't offer residential central air systems due to the building not being three phase.

I really hate how splits look though.

What is your cooling load

[RBphoto]

install a chilled water unit as money is no problem

People still doing this? Have not seen one local contractor that can still install one. I see them on older commercial and residential buildings in POS. Some of the compressors are still gas driven. Good option for long term installation, but that copper piping will be much more expensive than copper tubing but with a good coolant should last longer.. Still does not bring in fresh air like a central AC.

[airuma]

Not really economical to install a central AC system in a residential house
It best to use individual split unless you have an open floor plan in which you need a 5 ton or bigger

Please enlighten us with your economic analysis. As with most things, there is no best here. It depends on your needs and budget. As someone said before, large open floor plan, mini split just would not cut it. If you are going mini split, placement of the evaporator would be important and in many cases the placement of the condenser and length of copper determines the placement of the evaporator. With mini split, think about it, all of the cold air comes from one point and the rest is up to natural convection. To get efficient cooling you will need to introduce forced convection which will send up your cost and electricity usage.
IMHO, the 3 phase limitation is about the biggest single factor to consider but you should be able to get at least a 36,000 btu that operates on single phase.

[airuma]

house doesn't necessarily have to be large..there are different sizes starting with 5ton...wen i used to do ac work i hated central units...i rather multi-splits or splits because if a unit stops working the entire building doesn't go without ac...

op u cudd call climate control..can't remember who else..

So if the mini split in your bedroom stops working..... just sleep in the living room right! What about when it starts spitting ice or dripping water??? Just put a bucket if you can or mop up before you go to work!!!

[RBphoto]

airuma, this is the ole talk section, but we have lots of people here with industry experience in many different fields. AC systems is one of them. Can you tell us where you can get a "36,000 btu that operates on single phase" and is that for the AHU and the chiller sections?

As with all trades, some craftsmen have different experiences and preferences. I would assume that alex jj meant that one unit could be put out of commission and leave the other working while the compressor is running rather than letting one just run properly while the other one makes ice and sweating water.

[alex jj]

they cudd sleep wherever they want...if it's icing up or spitting water it's time for a service...my point was that with a central unit the entire house would be without cooling in the event of a breakdown whereas with multiple units one units failure would not affect the rest of the house

[RBphoto]

they cudd sleep wherever they want...if it's icing up or spitting water it's time for a service...my point was that with a central unit the entire house would be without cooling in the event of a breakdown whereas with multiple units one units failure would not affect the rest of the house

Which makes perfect sense, but I think the other reference was about two units connected to one compressor. If one indoor unit fails, it will ice up while the other runs normally.

[wheelbarrow]

Sorry to hijack ur ched Rainy...
But as all the AC experts here, have any of you locally connected a Nest Thermostat to a split AC unit?

[RBphoto]

I believe that this would only work if you have a wired wall thermostat already or a split system with one. Think you need the expertise of a specific manufacturer AC tech if you want to wire it into a split that does not have external thermostat.