Air conditioning unit

Hi, would be greatly appreciated if someone could provide some advice on the AC options for our brownstone. It is a 4 family home – owner’s duplex and 3 rental units. We plan to install an AC system that could be used by all units, each with its own thermostat. A central system is not an option (I believe) as we are not planning to gut renovate the house and hence it would be difficult to put a duct system in place. Hence, I believe we only have 2 options, heat pumps or split systems.  Any advice on whether we have other options?
Any advice on the pros and cons of each option? Thank you in advance.

brooklyn72

in Heating and Cooling 11 years and 11 months ago

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steam_man | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Oh yeah. And DON’T install Heat Pumps! They will break the bank as soon as your tenant figures out they can walk around in their shorts in February. Unless of course they have their own electric meter.

steam_man | 11 years and 11 months ago

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I figured the OP has separate meters. On the other hand if they know what the yearly AC contribution to the electric bill is, and they have already priced this intot he rent calc then they would be doing much better if upgrading from window units to ductless. Not to mention heating bills might be marginally cheaper if they used to leave window units in the windows all year round. The LL should realize that there is a big upfront cost to the installation of ductless and figure out how to mitigate that.

brucef | 11 years and 11 months ago

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The gist of previous threads on this topic revolved around the greatly variable expense that can quickly be run up by a rental tenant. Individual heat, for example, is moderately expensive, depending on the fuel source and efficiency of your boiler. One tenant could decide that he/she likes their apt 85 degrees. Somewhat expensive to you as a landlord, but greatly convenient to the non-abusing tenant, and possibly highly efficient. The math works out quite differently for cooling, as a tenant’s whim can quickly cost you a fortune.  So it makes much more sense to power the cooling hvac from their meter, not yours. If they want to set  their tstat to 66 – it’s on them. Making tenants pay for their own heat can be viewed as chintzy. AC they don’t expect a free ride.

brokelin | 11 years and 11 months ago

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I think putting in central air in the rentals would not only ensure they would always rent quickly, but that they would also rent for more money.  Yes, most renters in Brooklyn haven’t had, so don’t expect, CA.  But renters from elsewhere have come to expect it.  And once you’ve had it, in Brooklyn or elsewhere, it is a pain to go back to window AC.

boredatwork | 11 years and 11 months ago

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My advice is not to ac the rental units.  I cant imagine that the minimal upside on the rental will outweigh the additional cost of installation and electical work required to pull this off. Have you discussed with a broker? I dont think many renting in a brownstone expect central air; window units are fine.

energyefficiencygrantsguru | 11 years and 11 months ago

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My advice would be to start out with an energy assesment. This would help you identify problem areas within your home. You can also use this as an opportunity to get professional advice on proper sizing of the AC, and also figure out which system would work best for your home. I would also check to see what incentives are available from the state. NYSERDA typically offers incentives for energy efficiency upgrades. Smaller projects also typically qualify for a free energy assesment.

steam_man | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Although ducted split systems can often be installed in places where you would think they could not, it sounds like a mini-split ductless system is right for you in this case. If you are seriously thinking about making this investment, feel free to give us a call to discuss options. Contact info can be found by clicking my screen name.

Augustiner | 11 years and 11 months ago

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Ductless split and heat pump ductless split is just the same for install.
You still need to run lines from the roof and open some walls and ceilings.
Probably the least impact would be to have only one blower on each floor, but that requires an open floor plan. If you have many rooms you need some ducting or multiple units.
You can opt to have one condenser for each unit to be able to do individual accounting, or you get one more efficient big one and supply all.
You could also mount individual condensers on the back wall for each unit and just run a short refrigerant line through the wall.

brucef | 11 years and 11 months ago

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To set the record straight, your dichotomy is incorrect. Condensers that basically make the cold come conventional cool only, or heat pump. So the method in the condenser is somewhat unrelated to the method of delivery of that cold to dwelling units. To oversimplify greatly, you can evaporate the compressed refrigerant in one location, and transport the chilled air to various locations via a duct of some sort, or you can locate evaporators in different locations driven by multiple condensers. The complexities of either approach are considerable, but made more complicated by your desire for zoning (separate controls). Code regulations regarding the placement of the condensers and the refrigerant limitations on distance add another level of complexity. For instance you could have a literal row of condensers in the back yard, but they would require line sets (tubing) to all the various locations that had evaporators. This woud be the minisplit approach. Or conversely you could have some condensers in the back yard, and others on ironwork on the roof, spanning masonry to masonry. Mitsubishi City units can drive more locations from fewer condensers, but there still need to be line sets. i would ball park that solution approaching 100K (not for the faint of heart) Research similar threads from earlier this spring for much more information.