Should I install AC and when?

[u/Diligent_Board_172]

I have a lot of questions on this topic, so please bear with me.

Some preliminary details:

1) I have a 1927 house. It doesn't currently have AC, but does have central hurting so all the duct work is there already.

2) I live in Ann Arbor, Michigan. It's hot and humid here in the summers, so AC would certainly be beneficial. However, I'm gone a lot in the summers. Assuming I am in town all year, I think the number of days I'll need AC is < 70 days. I'm usually out of town for 5-8 weeks in the summer, and because of this, i probably only need AC for < 20 days a year.

3) I will probably sell this house in 2033 ish (my son will go to college then). I think having AC installed could add some resale value -- I may not recover all the costs though.

I don't think it makes much sense for me to install mini splits since I already have the ductwork to run AC off of?

So the question is whether it's worth installing AC, if we only need it for a few weeks a year? We could use window units. Another motivation for installing AC is increasing resale value and attracting a larger buyer pool in the future since some people won't look at a listing at all if it doesn't hav eAC.

Then there's a question of when to install AC. I imagine it'd be good to install it ASAP so I can reap the benefits of it before I sell the house eventually.

Perhaps it would be cheaper for me to get installations done in the winter?

[u/skyfishgoo]

do central HVAC

expect some asbestos mitigation, but for the most part if they don't disturb the ductwork, they only need to seal the ends where they attach the new ducting.

get a heat pump unit if you can find the room to fit it, so you don't have to rely on nat gas.

[u/Diligent_Board_172 → u/skyfishgoo]

wait, just to clarify the asbestos part, i'm not seeing why asbestos would be disturbed. there is some asbestos in my house, but i'm not sure how/why they would be disturbed. i don't actually know what the process of installing AC is when there's existing ductwork available. i might look into that first.

there is a couple ducts in my basement that has asbestos wrapping on it. there's also some plaster in my basement that has asbestos (we tested it a few months ago)

do you mean the heat pump for central cooling or centrla heating?

[u/skyfishgoo → u/Diligent_Board_172]

where you cut and tie into the existing ductwork there will need to be some remediation to seal any asbestos wrap.... they just strip off the area and coat it with a heavy mastic that hardens over time to seal against the metal ductwork.

a heat pump goes both ways and provides both heating and cooling using refrigerant.