Central Air for Apartment

Rehabbing, Fix and Flip, Rental Properties
1

Can anyone here give me an idea of what it would cost to add central air to an apartment building? I have two 8-plexes that I am considering adding central heat/air to, but I have no idea what the cost may be. I like the ductless units, but I hear they are much more expensive. Does anyone here have any insight? Thanks in advance…

2 
 I once considered buying a house that needed central HVAC.  Costs were about $6,000.00 for materials if memory serves me.  Labor could vary widely based upon whether there is attic space, what kind of units you want (furnace: natural gas, oil, forced air).  You should contact at least 10 contractors, and look at the median price.  Throw out the bottom couple of quotes and the top couple of quotes, and look hard at the guys in between.  Get references and try to see examples of their work.
 Another factor which could contribute to price variation would be the overall engineering of the system.  Will there be sheet metal ducts or aluminum tubing?
 Another consideration would be whether your local utility company will offer rebates or financing for a high efficiency model.

Good luck, have fun…

3

I just had one put in. The price has to do with:

  1. Size of the unit (tonage).
  2. Brand
  3. Number of registers (air inlets)

My place is 1000 sq ft, 1bd that required 7 registers (a 2.5 ton system). I had prices ranging from $7000 to $3500. The prices of air conditioning coils (condenser…these are the outside units) have gone up a lot in recent years due to the increased price of copper. I’m sure you’ve heard about people stealing condensers. As suggested, you should get several estimates. I discovered that a good place to get referals is Heating/Airconditioning distributerships. Although they may have a cozy relationship with some of the intsallers, they generally would refer you to reasonable installers that do a good job. Mine finally cost about $3850 and I’m happy with the installation. One last thing…I’m told that anymore there are a lot of common components used in all systems. The difference in quality is usually in the manufacturing of the unit.

Good luck.