I live in Texas, and I am currently using A/C window units and gas stoves. I am looking into having central air put in before next summer. I know in Texas, summer in the most expensive time to put central air in. Is there a cheapest time to do it?
Also, would it be wise to do the duct work myself to save some money. I think I will need 6 or 7 registers. Also, do I need a register in my bathroom?
Thanks, Aaron
You cannot just willy nilly install duct work. Each duct must be sized properly to get the correct amount of airflow to each room. Have a professional do this. As far as a duct in your bathroom, that's up to you. I guess it comes down to wether or not you want to freeze your ass of in the winter and roast it off in the summer.
I would GUESS that right after the Christmas season for about 30-60 days would be a good time to approach contractors.
Find a contractor that will do the manual calculations for ya. One calculation is for sizing and the other is for air flow. Installing ductwork is not rocket science and is done wrong or improperly most of the time. Just guessing at the needs of your home might produce poor results, or to much money spent by you.
I would for sure make sure that the bathroom has a register. I tend to put more air into bathrooms than most people. Sure helps cut down on mold and mildew.
This is Turtle.
Cheap time to get something done in Texas or Louisiana is the Winter times as you may call it that. in these two states business slows down a good bit and they can work a deal if they wanted to.
You may do the duct work but depending on your skill as to saying yes or no. Now no matter what you must have a Manual D run on the house to tell the size of each duct that should go to each room. In all cases you must get a manual D to see the sizing.
You must have also a manual J run to tell the amount of heating and cooling you need to install in your home. Without a Manual J calculation run on the house, just forget about the installer that does not do this. these words should be set in stone.
TURTLE
Hi Turtle. Glad to see you're back from the problems down in your part of the country. I have a question about the Manual J. Let's say you have a house that's been built in the last 20 years and already has ductwork and the original heater and AC. Let's also say it still has the original windows and insulation and the same number of registers as when it was built. Given that, how essential is it to still do a Manual J if one is going to just do a direct replacement of the heater and AC with newer, more efficient units? I know it's a big assumption, but if the original builder sized the units properly then is it safe to assume that just doing a calculation to account for the improved efficiencies of the new equipment (and getting the same output as the originals) is okay? Assume also for the heater that the blower capacity will be at least as high as the older unit.
I did a replacement of the HVAC a year ago, and the installer, the one that did the manual J, talked me *OUT* of buying the highest efficiency unit cause it was oversized for my house. (3.5+ tons where I needed 2.5 to 3, so I got a 3 ton 15 seer unit)
So I'll rate it as important. The calculations are not that tough, one has to measure the sizes and locations of windows, and stuff, and enter it into a program that does the actual calculations. So the question is, why not do it?
Do a manual J heat-gain/heat-loss, and then figure where you can reduce the load and thus the Btu/hr sizing of the equipment. That is the proper Energy Conservation way to save big-time on energy and energy usage bills!
Many times the ductwork and the filter areas are sized too small for the requirements of the larger equipment; reducing the load is the wise way to save all the way around.
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