HI! I am also trying to decide whether to install central heat and air. I live in extreme Southwest Missouri and live in an earth contact home (3 concrete walls built into a hill, 1 conventional wall, conventional roof), which is pretty efficient. I currently heat with a wood burning stove and/or baseboard heaters and have a window unit for air conditioning. I may have to sell the house this summer and am trying to decide what adding central heat and air would do to the bottom line or if I would be better off to just sell as is. Also, if it makes a difference, this house is out in the country on a couple of acres, not in town.
How often do you have to use the window air conditioner? The heating doesn't phase me. But the AC might bother some people. We bought our houes in the mountains and it did not have AC. But it came with 3 window units and there really is only a week during the summer that it gets hot enough to use them.
So it really varies on your area too!
Posts: 114 | Location: Southcentral PA | Registered: May 12, 2007
Don't have a digital camera, so pictures will have to wait till i get to town. As far as the AC usage goes. We don't normally cool the house at all during the weekday. The AC unit usually only runs during the evenings during the hottest part of the summer or on weekends if we are home. We have an attic fan and that combined with the house being earth contact means it doesn't really get that hot and is very easy to cool down once the AC does get turned on.
Is SW Missouri considered the South & does it get as hot as the real South? Never been to SW Missouri, so I don't know. Not having an A/C unit in the South-South would probably be frowned upon. The home would have to be priced accordingly. See what other homes in the area have; this will give you an idea of what buyers will expect.
That depends on the area and the individual. I had central air in Boston, and I used it. I had central air in So California and I used it, and I have central air in Fl. and I use it.
If it gets warm in the summer, for me it would be a necessity. I keep my air at 72 degrees. so anything warmer than that would require central air.
I'm in Georgia and the thought of not having central heat and air is almost unthinkable for me, lol. And I would say doubly so if I was trying to sell a home--in this area. But you're not in Georgia, so that's a moot point.
I will say I just came from Hawaii and in the room I was in, there was no air conditioner, and at first I was taken aback, but realized that the weather did not dictate there had to be one, it was pleasant most of the time and the steady breeze meant the air coming in from the windows was sufficient, sometimes even too much so, lol.
But for your case, though my instinct tells me that you MUST have central heat and air to sell a house these days, I'm inclined instead to tell you to seek a local realtor's advice. He/she can let you know what the competition has and if installing cent.heat and air will be economically advantageous for you. That's my 2 cents...
This message has been edited. Last edited by: PalmGen,
It depends on what other homes in your area have. The house I grew up in my parents had central air put in a few years before I sold it (the house was over 100 years old) it was a big plus for our house when I sold it as not many other homes on our street had it. The second house we had, had central air but so did all the other homes in our development, so it was expected to have it. The house we have now does not have central air (we are having it installed shortly) however, only a handful of people in our development have it. For us it would be a necessity I think for resale. After having lived with central air for 2 years ( the humid summers in Massachusetts, yuck) I hated going back to window units when we bought this house 2 years ago, although the units we have are low profile and are automatic with a thermostat that helps but we still can't stand having them and can't wait until we have the central air installed.
If no other homes in your area have them then it's not a huge deal but would just be a little more enticing to buyers, if other homes have it then you're better off installing it.
Any advice?
