In ,
SBH typed:
I currently have radiant heating in our home and have been
quoting prices for a separate AC unit (space pack)
installed. At the recent received quotes of $6000 to $8000,
it got me thinking about the cost of removing the boiler
system and installing a forced air system (furnace). The
boiler removal can be done my me as well as the
installation of duct work for the forced air.

How about the cost of getting rid of the debris afterwards? That's likely a
couple hundred for a box rental and something for the dump. Can be quite a
bit higher in a large city.

That will save you a bundle doing it yourself. Sounds like the only part
you'd have to pay labor for would be connecting to the outside compressor &
lines to it, plus mounting the ac part inside the furnace. It'll require a
different thermostat too, most likely - one for heating AND cooling, but
that's a minor detal; no worse than wiring for a doorbell and reading the
instructions if it's new to you.

If you do the ducting yourself, be darned sure you get the cold air returns,
qty and locations, right the first time! And use the kinds of ducts that
give you shut-off dampers next to the furnace in case you have to adjust a
hot room or get more heat into a room.

Since the
cost of adding an AC unit to a furnace system is roughly
$1000, That would leave roughly $5000 to $7000 difference
for the installation of the rest of the furnace system and
I can't believe it would cost that much....or....am I
wrong?

I'd say cost of the furnace "system" itself will be more like 1200 - 1500
dollars when equipped for air, but it depends on the size of the furnace,
too; btu output I mean. It sounds like you got the $1000 from a realiable
source?
Make sure the blower system can handle the load. It gets more important
if the house is large and if there is a second or half-floor and ?basement?
in addition to the main floor to heat/cool.

What would the pros and cons be of each?

Just personal opinions, of course: ymmv like all get out I imagine.

I have only peripheral experience with three different kinds of radiant
heat, and IMO they are all downs compared to forced air. Here's why I think
that:

- Forced air can heat the place quickly. An air temp rise can be as little
as about ten minutes to get a 25° heat rise. 40° probably 20 minutes to near
a half hour in an unheated home, depending on lots of things. That's for the
Ambient AIR temp. Furniture, applance surfaces, etc. of course take longer
to suck up that heat.

- Forced air warms YOU all around. Some types of Radiant heating only warms
the side of you it can radate to; the other side remains cold.

- Radiant heat can take hours before the air in a room becomes comfortable.
It's slow but it's steady when radiated.

- Forced air has air filters and more can be added, to filter the air in the
entire house. They cut down on a LOT of dust, especially if you live in an
area that's dusty like close to the road or factories/farms around you. You
still get the dust & dirt even when the house is closed up well in most, not
all, cases. Not to mention that a dehumidifier is part and parcel to the way
an AC operates; Forced air dries the air faster and consistantly where
radiated does little for it. One more; you can also humidify in the winter's
cold days. Any heat source in cold weather dries the air and is hard on
furniture joints, metals, etc..

- One complaint you often hear with forced air is the noise and feel of the
hot air when the furnace is on. A properly installed funace/plenum system
that is designed for the house won't have those problems. It's usually
caused by having to have too much pressure in too few outlets in the room/s
for the amount of heat that needs to be delvered. You might want to ask a
code engineer some questions about the recommended # of vents and cold air
registers you need and where they are best placed.
Today's newer furnaces are much quieter too than they used to be. They
even come with staged blowers that run at different speeds depending on how
much heat is being asked for. Ours seldom ever hits the highest speed unless
the temps outside get down to zero F and below. So if they way you should
have such and such thermostat, check into it before you say no or you could
miss the mult-speed blower features.
We've typcally gotten just about 15 years out of our furnaces but the
winters here can be really cruelg. 40 below + wind chill isn't unheard of
at all around he Far upstate New York.

Please post to newsgroups in Plain Text. Because you used HTML, some people
won't be able to read your message, though not a huge number.

HTH,

Twayne`

Thanks