Replace old heating/AC in wall units?

I’m considering purchasing a place that uses big in-wall heating/AC units, like what you often see in a hotel. They appear to be decades old — judging just from the font on the operating directions maybe from the 70s or so. The realtor of course says they work great but I have my doubts about their efficiency (will they cost a ton to operate?) and effectiveness. Are these units indeed good for decades+ or should I have in mind to replace them. Any sense of how much it may be to replace with new units? Thank you!

clee321

in Heating and Air Conditioning 11 years and 9 months ago

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cmu | 11 years and 9 months ago

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Surprised no one corrected/added that the unit may have a built-in radiator connected to your water heat. In which case would be OK (aside from the age factor). Maybe your engineering inspector can scope them out.

clee321 | 11 years and 9 months ago

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Thanks so much for the explanation. The odd thing is that the lower level (fully finished with bathroom and bedrooms, not just a rec room) appears to have older radiators (not the traditional, big clunky steam ones — the ones in the wall that go up to the window sill as you may see in post-war apartment buildings) but not on the main level, which has just two of these units.

cmu | 11 years and 9 months ago

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They’re called PTAC units and are not terribly efficient for cooling but won’t break the bank. As heaters – is that the primary source? Unlikely they’re heatpumps if that age, so probably strip heaters and will be horribly expensive, think 3x times gas heat (heatpumps are tolerable and work effectively down to 20-30deg, or lower, depending on how sophisticated/expensive the unit is, then may switch to strip heat also). Also, units that old are probably ready to die. Replacements may be difficult to match to the existing openings. All in all, you have a tiger by the tail.