Adding Central A/C

[VisionaryMom]

We are considering purchasing an investment property. Most of what it needs is cosmetic, but we will need to repair/replace the roof over both the porch & patio (probably 100 sq ft total). We also will need to replace the drain spouts on all corners of the house. Since those renovations aren't going to be really expensive, we are considering adding central air to the place to make it more attractive to renters.

For anyone who's had A/C added to a house, would you mind sharing how much it cost? The house is 900 sq ft and currently has one window unit. The layout isn't particularly open. It has a living room in front and then a hallway. Bedroom & bathroom are off one side of the hallway; kitchen is off the other. At the end of the hallway, there's a small utility room that leads to the outside.

[annethcz]

We just had central A/C added to our house last week. Our house is quite a bit bigger- 1400 sq. ft on the main floor, 1400 sq. ft in the soon-to-be-finished basement.

When we had the unit installed, we also opted to get an air source heat pump installed, which increased the price (but will decrease our usage of propane and ultimately lower our utility bills). I believe the quotes we had were about $4300 for the plain A/C unit (including the unit and installation), and $5100 for the combined A/C and air source heat pump. This did NOT include the electric that needed to be run and new outlets that needed to be put in. DH did that work himself, so we only had to pay a couple hundred dollars for the materials and didn't pay for labor on that.

ETA- we already had the ducting run since we have a central furnace. If you have radiator heat and will need to run the ducting in addition to having the A/C unit installed, the cost would be increased quite a bit.

[annethcz]

I also want to add that you may want to look into incentives offered by your electric company. We're going to get a $400 rebate from our electric co-op for installing an energy-efficient unit and for going on their cycled air program.

[SleeplessMommy]

since it is a small house, look into the ductless mini split ac. Lower cost and more efficient. you should call some local hvac companies for pricing...

[Tiffanoodle]

We just had to replace our c/a unit a couple years ago (of course in the 1 year the IRS didn't do a tax credit for it). Our home is between 1800-1900 square feet. The unit and installation cost us just over $3000.