Question : I wish to install air con on the first floor of my two story home. I have casement style windows that swing out so I cannot install a window unit. I could install central air, but I do not use the following floor of the house. The windows are ten yr old Anderson. Should I replace one window with a double hung window so I’ll slot in an air conditioner or go for central air?

Answer : My first choice for energy potency, as well overall comfort, is usually to install a central air-con system. These systems can be “sectioned” so they can only cool one floor of the home and not both. But you actually should plan on both and debate that with your contractor as it could be less pricey to install some of the channeling to “prepare” for cooling the second floor at some specific point in times to come.

An alternative choice could be to install a through-the-wall air-conditioning unit. Plenty of the bigger units are available with wall mounted sleeves. To install, you’d need to chop a hole in the exterior wall and frame it out the same way you’d frame an opening for a window or door. It is exceedingly important to do that properly, as you’ll be impacting the structural integrity of the house. Also, this sort of system will highly likely set off a heat loss in winter as it is very tough to seal it to stop cold air trickling in.

A better choice, which cost-wise will be between the price of a central system and a through-the-wall mounted conveyable, could be ductless air-conditioning. I have Fujitsu ductless aircon system like this in my office and the ductless air-conditioning system works amazingly well as a supplement to my central system, which doesn’t absolutely extend into the office space. With ductless air-con, you’ve a wall blower that hangs on the inside wall of your house. This is connected through a refrigerant line to a tiny compressor which sits outside, just like a central system. The compressor supplies chilled refrigerant to the blower within, which circulates the cooled air.

Given the above, my choice would be ( one ) central ; ( two ) ductless ; ( three ) through-the-wall.

Regardless of what you ultimately decide, you should be certain to choose the most energy efficient air conditioning unit possible. Energy Star has an excellent new program called Cool Your World With Energy Star @ Home that can help you understand cooling efficiency and options.

Tom Kraeutler is the Host, Founder and Chief Home Improvement Evangelist of The Money Pit. He is a hands-on home improvement broadcast journalist and the kind of guy homeowners want to call at midnight when their basement floods. He first earned his home improvement stripes as a professional home inspector, amassing over 20 years experience learning how houses are put together, and how they fall apart!

Lawrence Influxseo is a marketing agent for Vista Air Conditioning and San Diego Air Conditioning. The professional HVAC contractor provides air conditioning services for residential, commercial, and industrial requirements. Check out our website for further information.

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