Air Conditioner Part II

Next up was the duct installation. We were only able to find one contractor who was willing to retrofit our old house for air conditioning. We were a little concerned that if only one guy was willing to take on our project then it was either impossible or too expensive. However, it turns out that we were wrong on both. They were very creative with getting the ducts throughout the house and most importantly, they were within our budget. It took them a week to get everything ran through the house, but they did a great job.



It was really hard to get a picture of the basement ductwork, because it covers the entire basement. The basement was already shallow, but now it’s much worse forcing us to duck anytime we walk around in that area of the room. On a side note, this is one of the reasons we want a new garage, because the basement has become a glorified crawl space and now is only good for storage and laundry.



















From the basement the ducts ran through the floor into the downstairs bathroom and then continued up to the second floor into the third bedroom. We were able to run the ducts through the third bedroom, because we don’t really have any other use for the room due to its size. Currently we are using it to display photos and our Runner’s House Sign, but eventually part of this room will be another bathroom and part of the hallway leading to additional bedrooms. At that time we’ll build a wall and enclose the ducts so that they’re not exposed. In order to add the ducts we shifted the Runner's House sign and bookcase to the south wall, since the ducts took up most of the east wall.








Downstairs Bathroom: Before







Downstairs Bathroom: After











Before: 3rd Bedroom (east wall)









3rd Bedroom: After (east wall)









3rd Bedroom: After (south wall)






The final step in the process was hooking the geothermal lines to the heat pump. This only took a few hours and then the whole project was complete. When I came home Friday afternoon the house felt amazing. The completion of the project couldn't have come at a better time as we experienced triple digit highs over the weekend.








Geothermal lines running from exterior of house.









Geothermal lines running from exterior of house with new connection to heat pump.









Geothermal connection to heat pump.




After the full transition to the geothermal system took place, we were able to completely remove the old air conditioner and put it on Craigslist. A young couple from Iowa who are also remodeling an old house came and bought it. I like knowing that it we didn't have to throw it away and that finding it on Craiglist made another old house homeowner very happy.








Our old AC outside, waiting to be picked up by its new owner.