Central Air in Brownstone
We are renovating a 4-story B-stone in brklyn, adding central air, ducts & all. Because of the big temperature difference between the floors- should we ZONE each floor or get a separate condenser for each floor (so we can turn off A/C in bedrooms during the day, keep it on in the rest of the…
We are renovating a 4-story B-stone in brklyn, adding central air, ducts & all. Because of the big temperature difference between the floors- should we ZONE each floor or get a separate condenser for each floor (so we can turn off A/C in bedrooms during the day, keep it on in the rest of the house, and do the reverse at night)?
Thanks,
RG
Architect in Brooklyn, can you please give me the name of the A/C contractor you used on your project. I have a 5 story house with a similar lay out. I want separate zones on each floor. I want your guy to price it. If he did it as efficiently as you say, he has the job, assuming he want it.
Thank you very much
an excited homeowner
It’s all about price. Of course it’s preferable to have each floor zoned separately, but if the price difference is astronomical, it’s not worth it. Sure, it can get pretty hot in NYC in the summer, but remember it only stays hot for three months out of the year.
I had a spacepac system with just one zone installed in a small one family townhouse for about 15k last year. This included all the ductwork, condensor, blower, and other stuff. It was a total renovation so it was easy for them to do the installation.
We are in the middle of a Mitsubishi split system being installed by Iceberg Mechanical.
It’s a two story brownstone with two air handlers going on the parlor floor – a 24000 and 9000 BTU – and three going in on the second floor – a 12000 and two 9000 BTU – and the two compressors going on the roof. They are also heat pumps so we can spot heat a given room in the winter and keep the whole house at a lower temp. It’s going to be 25K. 5K less than the quote from All HVAC and Iceberg was more sensitive to the architectural integrity of our home.
35K included other ductwork (bathroom (x2) / kitchen (x2) / dryer (x2) ventings), running condensate to the cellar, some fussy ducting and non-standard machines, a humidifier, multiple thermostats, steel on the roof and upscale grilles. The walls were all open, however, so the number did not include surgery to existing walls. The filing and (my) architect fee were not included in this (and not specifically broken out).
we did for about 20k .. 3 zone split system.
gets quotes from palone and allhvac
Was 35k just the “system”, or all of the costs (ductwork, steel on roof, filing, engineer, etc.). We are thinking about doing the same thing and warned that total costs to have central air that way could exceed $100,000. It seems like there are lots of hidden costs by the time the system is really in place.
About 35K.
How much did that system cost?
A recent job I worked on did just that: one zone for each floor. In this case, the ground floor is a rental and got its own zone (with the air handler in the cellar); the parlor floor and second floor had the air handler in the ceiling of the 1/2 bath and a closet respectively, and the 3rd floor had the air handler ganged with the compressor on the roof. The other three compressors were also on the roof, on steel dunnage.
In this layout floors 2 and 3 have bedrooms: in retrospect it might have made more sense to make those two floors one zone, but the owner likes the degree of control offered by the extra zone. The system works well.