Changing a Boiler System to Central Air: A Information

Personally, I’m a giant fan of boiler techniques. Nonetheless, I perceive why it’s possible you’ll wish to change your boiler system. 

Possibly you’d like to chill your property extra effectively throughout hotter months. Possibly you’re trying to promote your property quickly. You could possibly even simply favor a furnace and air conditioner!

Irrespective of the rationale, Hearth & Ice is right here to stroll you thru the method. For a giant venture like changing your boiler system, it’s necessary to know what to anticipate earlier than committing.

On this article, we’ll break down the method and price of changing a boiler system to a ducted HVAC system, out of your in-home estimate to the set up of your new system. 

We’ll additionally stroll via any steps it’s possible you’ll want to finish earlier than contacting your HVAC contractor.

Change into An HVAC Professional

Earlier than we dive in, let’s take a second to know a couple of phrases that can be necessary for understanding this text. 

Phrases we’ll cowl:

1. Boiler techniques 

2. Central air techniques 

What Is a Boiler System?

A boiler is a kind of HVAC gear that makes use of scorching water to offer warmth to your property. 

Boilers warmth your property by distributing water via one among three choices:

• Baseboard radiators

• Radiant ground techniques 

• Coils

What Is a Central Air System?

A central air system makes use of gear like furnaces, air conditioners, warmth pumps or air handlers to distribute heated or cooled air all through your property through ductwork.

At this time, central air techniques are the commonest solution to warmth and funky houses within the U.S.

Earlier than Your In-Dwelling Estimate

The excellent news: In case you have a boiler, you seemingly have already got entry to pure gasoline. 

On this case, you don’t must do any legwork earlier than you attain out to your HVAC contractor to arrange an in-home estimate.

Nonetheless, we advocate researching your choices forward of time to make sure you have a extra productive dialog along with your contractor. As we’ll focus on in-depth later on this article, you may have a number of choices on your residence’s HVAC system.

These choices might have an effect on the whole price, scheduling and time it takes to finish the venture.

Though your choices could differ relying on your property, your HVAC contractor can even be capable of focus on your most popular choices throughout your estimate.

Throughout Your In-Dwelling Estimate

Your in-home estimate is a crucial stage in changing any HVAC system. However it’s much more necessary when changing a boiler system to central air.

The steps your HVAC contractor takes throughout your in-home estimate can decide how your new system performs.

Let’s break down three steps that should happen throughout your in-home estimate:

1. Measurements & calculations

2. Value of a brand new HVAC system

3. Ductwork design

4. Understanding your wants & considerations 

RELATED: What to Anticipate at Your In-Dwelling HVAC Estimate

Measurements & Calculations

Your residential gross sales consultant should conduct measurements and calculations throughout your in-home estimate. In any other case, your system could possibly be the wrong measurement on your residence, which might drastically shorten your gear’s lifespan.

Trade organizations like Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA) advocate the Guide J load calculation to accurately measurement HVAC gear.

The Guide J load calculation accounts for a wide range of elements, together with:

• Your house’s whole sq. footage 

• What number of home windows and doorways your property has

• The course these home windows and doorways face

• The peak of your property’s ceilings 

• The age of your property’s insulation

Though these elements may be simple to miss, they have an effect on how a lot warmth your property loses or positive factors all through the day in each hotter and colder seasons. When your gear is correctly sized, it could compensate for this warmth loss and achieve.

In case your gear isn’t correctly sized, it’s possible you’ll discover scorching or chilly spots, irregular runtimes and elevated vitality prices.

RELATED: Sizing Your Air Conditioner, Warmth Pump and Furnace  

Value of a New Central Air System

The full price of your new HVAC system will rely upon the kind of gear you want and the dimensions of the gear.

Study extra about the price of a brand new HVAC system within the articles beneath:

Ductwork Design

As soon as your residential gross sales consultant determines your gear’s measurement, your contractor can start designing the ductwork on your new system.

Do you know that your ductwork also can have an effect on your system’s efficiency and your consolation? The scale and format of your ductwork decide how air strikes all through your property.

Just like the Guide J calculation, ductwork design additionally requires exact calculations and skilled designers. 

At Hearth & Ice, we take the time to test and double-check ductwork design earlier than set up. This helps us be certain that we give our clients the perfect ductwork doable.

To be taught extra, take a look at our article on ductwork design and set up.

Understanding Your Wants & Considerations

You’ll even have the chance to discover your choices and deal with any considerations. Your residential gross sales consultant also needs to take the time to know your consolation considerations.

Should you’re , your residential gross sales consultant also can advocate further gear to keep up or enhance air high quality in your house. 

For instance, when changing from a boiler to a furnace, it’s possible you’ll discover that the air is drier. It’s because furnaces can take away some moisture from the air through the heating course of.

Should you stay in an space like Columbus, Ohio, the place the relative humidity drops through the winter, a humidifier may also help add moisture again into the air.

Nonetheless, your residential gross sales consultant ought to by no means stress you into buying any gear.

What Will It Take to Take away Your Boiler System?

On this case, eradicating your present boiler system could also be non-compulsory. Your HVAC contractor might be able to set up your ducted system with out eradicating your present boiler system.

Nonetheless, if you wish to fully take away your boiler system, right here are some things to contemplate.

Value of Boiler System Demolition 

Demolishing an present boiler system is labor-intensive. Relying on your property and the extent of the elimination, you could possibly probably pay tens of hundreds of {dollars} to demolish your present boiler system.

Since eradicating your present boiler system is non-compulsory, we haven’t included the price of a central air system or the price of reworking your property within the above vary.

Refinishing or Reworking Your Dwelling 

Should you select to fully demolish your boiler system, you’ll seemingly be left with beauty points.

These points can embody:

• Holes within the flooring and partitions the place pipes was once 

• Holes the place gear radiators and pipes have been beforehand bolted 

• Unpainted sections the place radiators as soon as have been

Should you’re planning to rework your property anyway, it’s possible you’ll wish to add this stuff to your listing.

Nonetheless, if you happen to weren’t planning to considerably transform your property, don’t fear. Since these are strictly beauty, you may have full management over when and the way you deal with them. 

Scheduling the Demolition 

Should you’d prefer to take away your present boiler system, we advocate taking over this venture through the hotter months, whenever you don’t must warmth your property. 

Demolishing your boiler and putting in your new HVAC system takes time. And also you wouldn’t have entry to a heating system from the time your boiler is disconnected to the second your new furnace kicks on for the primary time.

However your HVAC contractor will be capable of present additional info on the perfect time to schedule a demolition. It’s necessary to keep in mind that HVAC contractors do have recurring busy seasons. Whereas these can differ primarily based in your space, your contractor could keep away from scheduling a demolition throughout their busiest seasons.

What Will It Take to Set up a Central Air System?

As soon as you establish whether or not you’d prefer to take away your present boiler system, it’s time to consider set up.

Because you seemingly have already got pure gasoline, there are two major components to putting in a brand new central air system:

1. Electrical work

2. Putting in ductwork & your new system

Electrical Work

Your house will want some electrical work earlier than your HVAC contractor can set up your new central air system.

You’ve got two choices right here:

1. you may select your personal electrician

2. enable your HVAC contractor to make use of theirs

In both case, your HVAC contractor might want to decide the position of your central air system, required voltage and different variables earlier than the electrical work can start. 

Your HVAC contractor will work with the electrician to make sure they’ve the data they want.

As soon as they’ve the data, your electrician will set up circuits for each bit of latest HVAC gear. 

Putting in Ductwork & Your Central Air HVAC System

Lastly, your HVAC contractor will start putting in your new ductwork and central air system. The set up course of will seemingly take a number of days, though the whole set up time will rely upon your property. 

Study extra in regards to the full set up course of on your new gear:

As soon as your new system is put in, your HVAC contractor ought to full a course of referred to as commissioning. 

Commissioning is a sequence of exams designed to make sure that your gear is working on the producer’s specs. Though commissioning takes time to finish, it could assist ensure that your new gear begins off on the proper foot.

In the long term, commissioning may also help be certain that your system lasts its full lifespan—as a lot as 15-20 years. Sadly, many HVAC contractors don’t fee.

Study extra about Hearth & Ice’s commissioning course of within the video beneath. 

Selecting the Proper HVAC Contractor for You

When changing a boiler system to a central air system, you want an HVAC contractor that you could belief to do proper by you.

From calculation to set up, your HVAC contractor ought to observe business greatest practices and take the time to do the job proper. In any other case, your consolation and pockets might endure.

Should you stay within the Columbus space, we’d love to debate your wants and aid you customise your new HVAC system!

Click on the button beneath to start out the method to getting your free, no-obligation quote.

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