Comfort Components Alternatively, if the home has existing forced-air heating, the central A/C system may be grafted onto the heating system by installing the evaporator coil in the furnace plenum and utilizing the furnace blower for air circulation or replacing it with a more suitable model.

The short answer to this is, “yes.” Yes, you can add an air conditioner to a forced-air heating system. It is, however, a complex process and we never recommend it be attempted by a homeowner.

Costs Vary As of publication time, expect to pay from $3,000 to $3,500 at the low end and from $4,000 to $6,000 at the high end to add central air conditioning to the forced air heating system in a 2,000-square-foot house that has existing ductwork.

Installing central air in a house with existing ductwork If your home already has a functioning air duct system, adding central air can be fairly easy and less costly. The technicians will inspect the existing ductwork to make sure it’s sound and sealed well enough to move the air through your home efficiently.

To be fair, you can choose to only turn on the window units in certain rooms instead of cooling the whole house, but on a square-footage-cooled basis, central air is the more efficient option. The largest portion of the average homeowner’s electricity cost is for cooling, so this is certainly worth considering.

32 kWh x $.12 = $3.84 Your air conditioner costs about $3.84 per day to run. Multiply that by 30, and you’ll find that you’re spending about $115.20 per month.

If you’re thinking about upgrading to central air, be prepared to spend between $6,000 and $15,000, depending on the size and complexity of the job. Installation usually takes several days, and the new system will increase your property value by as much as 10%, according to Twin Cities appraiser Alan Hummel.

A window unit comes in at a way cheaper price of around $300-$1,500 with monthly running costs of about $30-$80 depending on its usage. However, if you’re planning to cool more than 5 rooms, then one central air conditioner will be cheaper in the long run.

More than 2500 square feet requires a 4 ton or larger AC. Prices range from $2000–$4700….Central Air Conditioner Prices.

While any form of installing central air in a house without ducts will require some cutting and modifications, using a high-velocity or mini-split system can provide a much less intrusive, more economical solution in many cases.

Fortunately, it is still possible to cool your home. One very common method of bringing air conditioning comfort to a home with a boiler heating system is to simply install a ductless mini split cooling system.

How Much Does it Cost to Install Central Air? When added to an existing forced-air heating system, central air for a 2,000-square-foot home costs $3,500 to $4,000 and can be done by two technicians in two to three days, often with little or no change to the ducting.

The cost to install new ductwork can range from $1,500 to $7,000, depending on the size and layout of your home and the material used for the ducts, Carson says.

To answer the question of whether or not you can replace or install your own ductwork, I’d say it is possible but that I highly recommend enlisting the help of a heating, cooling, and ductwork expert. Ductwork runs all throughout your house, which makes doing DIY repairs yourself a heavy contracting lift.

While 87 percent of U.S. households use some type of air conditioning, central AC systems are the most sought-after for both convenience and accessibility. If flipping a switch for whole-house cooling is what you’re after, you may wonder whether it’s possible to install your own. And the answer is, you definitely can.

In other words, your central air conditioning system is independent of your furnace. The outdoor unit isn’t connected to the furnace at all—but they both utilize the same distribution system (vents, plenums, and ducts) to cycle cool air into your home.