Switch forced air to hot water heating?

I just had a bid accepted on a 4-story brownstone in Bed Stuy with an old forced air heating system with ducts about 6″ x 6″ running external to the walls in the corners of the rooms, and possibly through the old chimneys (should have more info after the inspection). I plan on living in the house mostly as is for now (no major gut renovation), but I suspect the heating system will need replacing sooner rather than later. What are the best options and approximate costs? I’ve always been partial to the old water or steam radiators. How much would installation of a system like that cost? If you anticipate wanting A/C at some point in the future, would another option be better? Thanks for any thoughts. I won’t have a ton of cash on hand after downpayment/closing costs and want to have an idea of what costs are ahead…

britinbkln

in Heating 11 years and 1 month ago

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no-permits | 11 years and 1 month ago

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wait till you get a contract signed before thinking too far ahead. and personally, i think forced air is great.

Augustiner | 11 years and 1 month ago

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Replacing just the heating system does not sound like the best idea. Better save your money until you can do a couple of upgrades at once. Use the ducts that are already there, maybe replace oil with gas. and for cooling consider window units.

ellenlourie | 11 years and 1 month ago

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With the all construction involved, new radiators and so on 60k is starting number. Forget steam system, there probably few companies around capable to design and install steam systems. Do not fall for pex tubing. Usually it is offered as a cheap way out, but to install it properly will cost more than running copper piping. On the AC side you can get residential chiller and install system utilizing chilled water, sharing same piping and unit ventilators. It can save space, labor and materials. Check out this site http://www.multiaqua.com/ and there are some similar systems too.

eman134 | 11 years and 1 month ago

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if you are going to gut renovate, you can keep the costs down, since everything will be wide open…otherwise around 60,000 on a good day

brokelin | 11 years and 1 month ago

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I haven’t any advice on costs, just writing to say that like you, I far prefer radiators to forced air heat. I suspect that it will be prohibitively costly to replace the heating system with water or steam radiators. It would feel better to have radiators, and would be nice to remove the added ducts detracting from your walls. I suspect the cost effective method would be to keep the forced air heat and add a AC to that system later of, if possible. Though I’d far prefer to restore a house by having radiators, and having the AC be the high velocity kind that comes through little hoses snaked through the ceilings, with no ducts ruining the views of my ceilings. Restoration is expensive, though … worth it if you can afford it, perhaps over the years…