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ruddydog52

Advice on high presure central airconditioning retrofit.

Ruddydog52
11 years ago

Hello, I need advice on retro fitting high pressure central air into my apartment.

I have forced hot water baseboard heat.

I am sandwich in the middle of two apartments one below me and one above me, accept over my bedroom and back hall area which is attic space.

I am lowering my 10 foot ceiling down to 9 feet. So I am assuming the air company will have room to run there ducts around the apartment. Now I also have insulated my new ceilings with R38 Owens Corning to help keep the apartment warm.

1) Will the condensation coming off the ducts in the ceiling dampen the insulation and render it useless?

2) I am looking at the UNICO high pressure system because I like how there ducts are solid and small (main line 7" )with trunks running off that are 2 inches?

3) Do you know if the

Ultraviolet Air Cleaners are worth the money.

4) The will be putting the air handler right over my bedroom in the attic. Are these things noisy?

5) Has anyone had any problems with these systems, and if so what were your problems?

Any information anyone has on these systems would be helpful.

Thank you

Ruddydog

Comments (6)

  • ionized_gw
    11 years ago

    Just to try to throw you off balance, have you considered mini-splits?

    Why do you think you want UV air cleaners?

  • Ruddydog52
    Original Author
    11 years ago

    Hi I have considered the mini splits, I don't like the way they look inside the house.
    To answer your question on the ultraviolet light, I think it goes in the air handler to kill the bacteria.

    I'm still looking for someone who has used the high pressure Unico system or one similar.

  • ionized_gw
    11 years ago

    "To answer your question on the ultraviolet light, I think it goes in the air handler to kill the bacteria."

    I have never seen any independent data that indicates that this is effective in residential systems. If I were asked to invest in it, I would be looking for such data. It is not necessarily true just because sounds good. I would be more worried about fungus than bacteria.

    "Hi I have considered the mini splits, I don't like the way they look inside the house. "

    Make sure you are looking at the big picture. There are several alternatives to the most often seen high-wall-mounted air handlers for mini-splits. You can have both small air handlers in both high and low static pressure versions, and ceiling cassettes. You can use a combination. You might save your ceiling space by incorporating some smaller fur-downs in some rooms. Multi-height ceilings can be very pleasing.

    "1) Will the condensation coming off the ducts in the ceiling dampen the insulation and render it useless? "

    Your ducts should be inside the home's envelope so condensation should not occur. I would ask the contractor to wall-off the attic space that contains the AHU if you end up installing one for either high velo or mini-split. If at all practical, all of your ducts and equipment should be inside the home rather than in a vented attic.

    I have no experience with high velo systems. Others here do so I hope that they will chime in. It might help if you gave a little more information about the apartment. How many rooms do you have? What is the total square footage?

  • brickeyee
    11 years ago

    High velocity systems work fine if designed and installed correctly.

    I have put them in numerous houses with hot water heat without any real problems.

  • zerodegreeac
    11 years ago

    You can use a floor standing unit if you dont like the look of the Wall mounted split air conditioning.

  • SpecialtyAirInc
    10 years ago

    Due to the unprecedented growth of technology these days Specialty Air Inc has flooded in US market, provides awesome tips for HVAC system with certified technicians at a reasonable rate.

    This post was edited by SpecialtyAirInc on Fri, Feb 7, 14 at 5:44

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