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Electrical / AC planning questions
Our home has one 5 ton A/C unit and it is really too small for our 3400 sq ft. I want to add a two or three ton package unit to cool the north side of the house and split the house cooling to two units instead of one large. The existing unit would cool the bedrooms, and the new unit the living areas.
The electric meter is on the north end of the house, and feeds the electrical panels that are located on the south end of the house, about 80 feet away, which are in the same room as the air handler for our split 5 ton unit.
I want to split the existing A/C trunk in the ceiling that runs the same 80 feet of the electric supply and cool the living room, dining room , kitchen and family rooms with the new unit ( about 1400 sq ft ). To do this I need electric supply to the package unit. Design wise I would use a side by side, run the return and output duct up the north wall and into the attic via the gable end of the roof, cut a return in the ceiling and duct the output into the existing trunk.
I have a couple of questions:
1. Is possible and or practical to split power off the meter and create an outdoor electrical sub panel that would feed the package unit? They would be within 10 feet of each other. The alternative would be to run an approximate 100 ft conduit from the existing panel back to where the package unit would be set.
2. What size would you use for a 1400 sq ft area? It has minimal exposure, good insulation but the doors and windows are leaky. I am guessing 3 ton.
3. If you were going to install a unit like this, what would you install in this situation?
4. Would I need two permits? An electrical and mechanical? Would the duct work be construction and require a third?
5. Finally, would any of you have a ballpark figure for this type of work?
I am budgeting and planning for this fall.
Thank you in advance.
D
The electric meter is on the north end of the house, and feeds the electrical panels that are located on the south end of the house, about 80 feet away, which are in the same room as the air handler for our split 5 ton unit.
I want to split the existing A/C trunk in the ceiling that runs the same 80 feet of the electric supply and cool the living room, dining room , kitchen and family rooms with the new unit ( about 1400 sq ft ). To do this I need electric supply to the package unit. Design wise I would use a side by side, run the return and output duct up the north wall and into the attic via the gable end of the roof, cut a return in the ceiling and duct the output into the existing trunk.
I have a couple of questions:
1. Is possible and or practical to split power off the meter and create an outdoor electrical sub panel that would feed the package unit? They would be within 10 feet of each other. The alternative would be to run an approximate 100 ft conduit from the existing panel back to where the package unit would be set.
2. What size would you use for a 1400 sq ft area? It has minimal exposure, good insulation but the doors and windows are leaky. I am guessing 3 ton.
3. If you were going to install a unit like this, what would you install in this situation?
4. Would I need two permits? An electrical and mechanical? Would the duct work be construction and require a third?
5. Finally, would any of you have a ballpark figure for this type of work?
I am budgeting and planning for this fall.
Thank you in advance.
D
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Replies
We do it all for business and home
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Save $125 on your first service call
"The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters."
Thank you! So I should budget about $4500 - $5000. That actually seems reasonable.
D
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http://www.camteq.net
Save $125 on your first service call
Keep in mind, those are prices I pay. The average guy on the street usually gets Rheemed(see what I did there?).
"The greatest pleasure is to vanquish your enemies and chase them before you, to rob them of their wealth and see those dear to them bathed in tears, to ride their horses and clasp to your bosom their wives and daughters."
Apparently better than getting Traned!
D
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The price GA said is correct for equipment and electric, but there may be way more to it than just the equipment and electric. Trust me, you don't want a package unit.
Fair enough. Rest assured, mine are not among them. I am recognized annually by Dr. Sam Rashkin, the head of the DOE, for advancing efficiencies in construction and design. My point was, if you go beyond the requirements of the code with your envelope, 1 ton/700 sqft can be more than enough. Still, I would work with an HVAC design consultant and run a load calc to be certain.
1. Package unit - we need to go with a package unit because on the north end of the house there is no place to put an air handler. I would prefer a split, but we are limited.
2. Insulation vs. splitting the house - We are fortunate to have some mahogany windows and doors that look great but are just not air tight and there are 36 linear feet of them in French doors and 20 linear feet x six feet in windows.. Replacing them would be a $20,000. The attic is very well insulated.
3. Splitting the A/C trunk - The A/C trunk is very large and runs the center of the house. It would be ideal to reduct. but tearing out the old duct would be easily 1500 of work and debris. Splitting the trunk and tying new supply in from the opposite side would be the simplest way.
4. Square footage - Total under A/C is about 3250 today. I would split the house into 1400 sq ft / 1850 sq ft, with the 1850 sq ft being the sleeping side with the existing 5 ton unit. It is a variable speed American Standard and is about 9 years old. I might point a duct into the 600 sq ft of garage off the 5 ton unit that can be cut off for the summer time work I do in there.
I know it would be ideal to start over. However the package unit plan would be about $5000.00 and provide a second unit in case the primary fails. Re-ducting could add $2500, and replacing the existing unit would be another $3500, taking a $5000 project to $11,000.
D
We do it all for business and home
http://www.camteq.net
Save $125 on your first service call
D
We do it all for business and home
http://www.camteq.net
Save $125 on your first service call
South Miami / Pinecrest.
D
We do it all for business and home
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Since when?
Sorry, didn't mean to steal your thread.
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