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Saturday, July 19, 2003

By Gretchen McKay, Post-Gazette Staff Writer

Finding a house with central air conditioning was not a priority when Juliet and Jody Oliver relocated to Pittsburgh two years ago. Having lived in Florida and Texas, where temperatures can soar into the high 90s for weeks at a time, they felt pretty certain Pittsburgh summers would be mild in comparison.

	Sources To find a qualified HVAC contractor, contact the Air Conditioning Contractors of America at www.acca.org or 1-703-575-4477. High-velocity air conditioning THE UNICO SYSTEM: www.unicosystem.com or 1-800-527-0896 SPACE PAK: www.spacepak.com or 1-800-465-8558 Ductless air conditioners Carrier Corp.: www.carrier.com (listed under commercial products) or 1-800-227-7437 Lennox International: www.lennox.com or 1-800-953-6669 Sanyo Fisher (USA) Corp.: www.sanyohvac.com or 1-818-998-7322, ext. 464

Someone should have told them about the humidity. The first July in their Tudor in Ben Avon was far from comfortable, despite the addition of several window fans.

"We sweated our butts off," says Jody, a senior operations manager for FreeMarkets. "We really suffered."

They quickly agreed on a central air-conditioning system. But like many old-house owners, they wondered if they would have to ruin the look of their 85-year-old home with bulky, unattractive ductwork.

"Bulkheads are for ships, not for houses," Juliet says.

They were willing to sacrifice looks for comfort, until Juliet noticed an ad for high-velocity air conditioning while paging through Old House Journal later that summer. While conventional forced-air central air conditioning relies on large ducts to deliver cooled air to individual rooms, high-velocity systems use "mini ducts" -- flexible, 2-inch-wide tubing that can be snaked much like electrical wiring between studs in walls, through closets and in the small spaces below floors and above ceilings.

As a result, installation involves less mess and less disruption of existing walls and ceilings. Better yet, the small disc-shaped air outlets, which are typically located high on the wall or in the ceiling or floor, can be papered or painted to match the existing decor. So unless you know it's there, you might not even notice it.

After talking with several contractors, the Olivers chose the SpacePak system, which contractor WHM Co. of Jeannette, installed on their second and third floors for about $8,000.

"It's great," says Jody. "We're cool and happy."

A growing number of Americans are opting for central air systems. In 2001, close to 58 million households boasted some form of central air conditioning, according to the Energy Information Administration. That's up from just 17.6 million in 1978.

High-velocity air conditioning, however, is still relatively unknown. Even though the technology, which was designed specifically for retro-fitting older buildings, has been available since the '50s, "Hi-V" air conditioning accounts for just about 5 percent of all sales. SpacePak and the Unico System are the two largest manufacturers.

Part of the reason for its low demand is the steep price. A high-velocity system costs anywhere from 30 percent to 40 percent more than a conventional low-velocity system, or about $3,200 a ton (one ton of cooling equals 12,000 Btu/hr.) Most homes require at least two tons and some as many as five.

Another reason is that manufacturers haven't been very good about marketing their product, says Mike Restano, owner of Michael Restano Heating & Cooling, which installed seven high-velocity systems last month. People who have been told their houses aren't candidates for conventional systems haven't known where else to look. But thanks to the Internet and home-improvement shows such as "This Old House," which recently featured a high-velocity AC retrofit in a 1922 Colonial Revival, more consumers are becoming aware that the option exists.

"It's catching on little by little each year," agrees Paul DeHart, owner of Bolster-DeHart, Inc., who expects to install about 15 of the systems this year.

High-velocity air conditioning mainly appeals to people with old or historic houses who are reluctant to cut up their walls or lower the ceilings with metal ductwork. But about 10 percent of Hi-V systems end up in high-end, custom homes, says Terry Huntsberger, regional salesperson for Columbus-based Miller Component Sales, which represents Unico. It is especially popular in new homes with radiant floor heat.

Because high-velocity systems use half the air flow of conventional systems, the air is brought in colder and faster. As long as the ducts are properly located (i.e., not above a desk or bed), there is no draft.

Some homeowners and installers claim that the high-velocity systems are noisier than low-velocity ones, despite special sound-dampening supply tubes. Unico's Huntsberger maintains that any air conditioning installed poorly will be noisy. But correctly installed, a high-velocity system should be almost silent, he says, adding that some people actually put streamers on the outlets so they can tell when the air is coming through.

Huntsberger says another benefit of the newer technology is that it removes 30 percent more moisture from the air than low-velocity air conditioners, meaning you feel cooler at a higher temperature. Allison Garfinkel, who had a Unico system installed in her 75-year-old Colonial in Fox Chapel in April, says her house feels comfortable with the thermostat set at 75 degrees.

"And I love the fact that it doesn't have to constantly run and is really quiet," she says.

Yet, not every old-house owner is a Hi-V fan. Eric Tolchen and his wife, Mary Ann, decided on a conventional system for their 90-year-old Squirrel Hill home after talking to friends and neighbors who had installed high-velocity and then wished they hadn't.

"I just found it to be too intrusive," says Mary Ann. "The air comes out too fast and straight down, and who wants five or six vents in a room?"

Instead, workers from South Hills-based Metro Heating & Cooling snaked ducts down through the backs of closets and were able to locate the air handler in a knee-wall in the attic.

"People either think we can't do it in an old house or that we'll cut the house up," says Bill Wessner, Metro's owner. "But it doesn't have to be."

Homeowners looking to cool a hot spot in their homes have other options, too. A ductless "split system" air conditioner, the cooling system of choice overseas, is an alternative to conventional window units. In these compact air conditioners, refrigerant is pumped via copper tubing from a compressor outside the house to a wall-mounted indoor unit.

Most often used in commercial buildings in the United States, they're growing in popularity among residential users, especially in additions or rooms with baseboard heat, says Mary Ann Stojkovski, a product analyst for Carrier Corp. Other manufacturers include Sanyo Fisher and Lennox.

Not only are ductless models far less expensive than a central air system (they average about $3,000), but they also are fairly easy to install. All that's required is a small hole in the wall for the tubing. An added bonus: The units are typically mounted high up on the wall or even on the ceiling, so they're relatively easy on the eye.

Stojkovski says ductless units make the most sense in rooms that homeowners use only at certain times of the day -- a sunroom perhaps, or maybe a workshop or home office.

"You can program it and only take care of that one area," she says.