UNICO HVAC System

Hello – My wife and I are starting a renovation on a 2 family townhouse we recently purchased. While we will be taking some walls out, this will not be a gut renovation. Looking at HVAC systems, we narrowed our options to 2 – a split system and a UNICO HVAC system. Our house is a 2 family – 2 floors plus a full basement (building dimensions are 19 x 53). The quote that we received from one company recommended to us by Venco sales came out to around $50,000\. Does this number sound reasonable to others who have either received quotes for a UNICO HVAC system or have one installed in a house? Thanks in advance and happy to provide additional information if necessary. Sam

samtsegaye

in Heating and Cooling 10 years and 4 months ago

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samtsegaye | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Understood and thanks. We have a GC as well and I will ask to see if our GC doing the cutting, prep work and framing will impact the price. Meeting with a Gary from L&M Air who said that if the job is too small for his company, he could possibly take it up on his own. Thanks again.

slopefarm | 10 years and 4 months ago

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I should add to my earlier comment that, since we had a GC on the job, GC could do a lot of the cutting and prep work and then framing around whatever spaces we needed for the air handlers etc. Your price could reflect HVAC people doing it all. And yes, push for real candor about how much space they need for the main trunks before the mini ducts split off. Three’s always a big elephant trunk coming off the air handler that needs a little running room before the mini ducts split off.

samtsegaye | 10 years and 4 months ago

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steam_man, I narrowed it down to the 2 (unico and mini-split) because the space for the duct work needed for your standard HVAC system is pretty much non-existent in our house unless we drop some ceilings or open everything up. Since we are not doing a full gut renovation, the fear/cost of opening up ceilings/walls just for the standard HVAC system as well as an attempt to maintain some of the historical elements of the house stirred us away from the full duct approach. I haven’t nailed down a price yet for the split system but from what I gather, it will be the more economical choice (although less appealing aesthetically) over the unico system. To be clear, i have learned that the Unico system does take up some space and it is still a duct system so the ducts have to go somewhere but will be less intrusive than the big ducts. Hope this helps.

steam_man | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Sam, I’m curious and if you aren’t opposed can you give me some insight? What was the difference in price between the Unico and mini-split systems? Why did you lean toward Unico vs mini-split? Thanks.

samtsegaye | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Dave, You were actually the first one to enlighten me about the UNICO system through your comments on the House of the Day (re 22 Arlington and the split system that was used). What’s interesting is that a few of the HVAC companies I spoke with had no idea about the UNICO system and tried to push the split system. I had to call UNICO directly and have them connect me with one of their representatives in NY who recommended 3 contractors in my area. I am meeting with one other person who installs UNICO systems next week and if the price remains out of reach for me, I will end up going with the split system. Thank you and every one else who replied to my question. Very educational. Sam

daveinbedstuy | 10 years and 4 months ago

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I had a UNICO system installed in my house (two storey, about 1,600 sq ft) in Bucks County about two years ago…$16k including a feed from the boiler to supplement my baseboard heat when needed. A good UNICO installer will be very respectful of a historic house. I had a lot of closets and existing spaces there ducts could be run from the attic handler down to the first floor so I think it was a lot cheaper because of that (besides being in rural PA and not NYC). A good UNICO installer will right size the condensor to the number of ducts and “points” so you don’t get any noise whatsoever. I LOVE it.

samtsegaye | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Bruce, Thanks for this. Really helpful. May end up going with the mini-split systems. As for HVAC techs not being the best fit to work on historic homes, if not them, do you have any suggestions as to who may be the best? It also looks like (and I need to look into this more) Unico doesn’t just sell their system to anyone and has a sales team somewhere that only sells to certified Unico HVAC installers. Thanks again.

brucef | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Whether your quote is reasonable depends on your home and its fit and finish. I would estimate that in NYC cooling a space the size of yours if it was two empty boxes. would cost 25K. While the trunk duct for Unico is 1/4 the cross section, it still exists and must be routed somewhere out of the way, or boxed out, not an option in an historic home with details. While technically possible to “pull” flexible duct through framed walls, it is for practical purposes in older construction difficult. SO if you have a crawl space or basement across which the trunk can traverse front to back, and maybe a closet to go up and down, then you could end up 35K. HVAC techs are the wrong fellows to work in historic homes. New construction, gutted spaces, attics, basements, yes they are used to that. 50K is possible if they are attempting “pulling” drops. Mini-split may be more economical.

samtsegaye | 10 years and 4 months ago

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Thanks Slopefarm. L&M Air was actually one of the companies recommended to me but they told me that they have shifted their focus to commercial buildings and don’t think my job is big enough for them. That said they will be coming to look at our place and see if they can help me out. Thanks again.

slopefarm | 10 years and 4 months ago

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We had L&M Air install Unico hi velocity miniduct 2-zone AC in 3 stories of a 4 story house. Total with change orders ended up at about $28-29k. that was 2006\. Lots of walls were open as we doing a major renovation. Your bid might be high or your job more difficult.