Installing Central Air using existing heat ducts

lvlacic

Hello all,

I have an existing forced hot air heating system with furnace in basement. I'd like to install a central air system in my small 3-bedroom ranch house(I have full attic too). My question: I was thinking of using the existing heating ducts for the central air system, but the ducts are about 8 inches off the floor on the walls. Is this going to be a problem. Isn't cool air suppose to come from top, and heat from bottom? Is it better to install new ductwork for central air on the cealing from my attic? Any pros, cons, ideas?

Thank you,
Lino.

singforsupper

That the finals or "registers" on your ducts are on the floor is ok. It's the same in my house. All of the registers are in the baseboard and my house cools just fine. Sure it's prolly best if they are int he ceiling, but if it's a question of central air with floor registers or window units, DEFINITELY go with the central air. It does work from the baseboards.

I have a York Diamond 80 furnace and the installers put the central heat in in such a way that the coils could be added above the furnace easily. I hope yours is the same. Are you thinking of installing it yourself or getting professionals? I looked into both and got it installed. I'm glad I did because the sheet metal work of putting the cooling coils in can be tricky and mean a lot of trips to a air conditioner supply and the risk of a sloppy problematic installation if you're not experienced. Secondly, while connecting the condeser unit to the indoor coils is not that hard, you need to be able to properly prime/charge the gass line. I just know, that what I saw the pros use to install my unit was far beyond the things that come in a do it yourself kit you get online. Plus, I question the effectiveness of warranty for do it yourself installation. Just my two cents.

murray

the only thing I can add is,that if you system is older than say 12-14 yrs old you should buck up and install a new furn with your system .this will help you compensate for existing duct conditions ie fan speed vs sizing