Central Air Conditioning

debodun

debodun

SF VIP
Location
way upstate in New York, USA
I was talking to a woman at the local senior's meeting and the talk drifted around to the recent heat wave. I told her my uninsulated brick house was like a sweatbox in warm weather. She said that I ought to have central air installed. I replied that it wouldn't be cost effective since I virtually live in two rooms upstairs and central air would be working to cool all the rooms. She said that central air only cools the lower floor of a house anyway. This surprised me. Is it true that central air will only cool the lowest floor of a house?
 

My upstairs in my 80's condo doesn't cool very well at all. One bedroom is "okay", the other is pretty bad.

Heat rises and cool air sinks. The downstairs rooms are cooled wonderfully- the vents are in the ceiling. But upstairs, the vents are in the floors. That my be the problem.

They would have to install ductwork inside the walls throughout. You might bet an estimate and compare it to the cost of 2 window a/c's that have enough BTU's to cool the area you want. You'll need to measure the spaces.

A standing fan can help move the cool area from a good window unit around a corner to some degree.
 
Deb, you have a valid point there. Do you use window AC or fans? I have a double wide mobile home. When I bought it they offered me central AC at a reduced proce. I said no, like a damn fool. Now I wish I had gotten it. Oh well.
 
debodun said:
THat's about what I figured. Central air wouldn't be cost efficient for such a large house with 80% being unused.
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Yup, Central Air in such an older house would be a huge expense, just to have it installed, and then, most of the cooler air would migrate to the lower levels. A far better option is just to get one or two window units, and install them in upstairs windows where you spend most of your time.
 
Camper6 said:
One room where you can get relief when you need it is all that is required.
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When I was a kid in the early 60s, my parents had a window AC unit in our rather large family room. During hot days, that room was HEAVEN!

I have a one story house with two zones of AC - bedrooms on one unit and common areas on the other. We virtually never have both units going at the same time. Hubby keeps the vents closed in the bedrooms we don't use.

God bless Mr. Carrier.
Carrier.jpg
 
StarSong said:
It was such a treat. When we were really lucky there were popsicles and fudgesicles in the freezer!
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We did not have them in the freezer but the ice cream man came by every afternoon and somehow mama always had the money for us to chase his truck down. We would listen for that music every afternoon!!
 
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