The house where I grew up in Las Vegas was built this way (1963) and my dad
put an Amana heat pump on it. The existing ductwork was fine to the rooms
(he built the ductwork for the builder) so the unit was hoisted up on the
roof, with appopriate mounting stand, ductwork dropped thru the roof,
connected to the original plenum, return vent put in the ceiling of the
hallway, wiring installed for the unit and new Tstat wire dropped..Worked
great and was still pumping away when my mom and I sold the house in '79.
He also moved the old swamper over and dropped it down into the garage..Made
a neat workshop!
(note: He managed a mechanical shop so knew what he was doing, I would not
recommend DIY here)


"James "Cubby" Culbertson" wrote in message
...
Hiya,
I live in the desert southwest where swamp coolers are prevalent.
Lately, more and more homes are being built with
refrigerated air (due to water concerns, efficiency, etc...) and I'm
wondering just how hard would it be to retrofit
my house with a refrigerated air unit? There are probably a million
details to be understood but I'm really looking
for any advice on this. Most companies are charging a fortune for the
unit and install labor so I was thinking that maybe
I could do the install myself and save some $$. I assume it would tie
into the existing ductwork but I'm wondering if these
things require return air or do they just pull from their location
outdoors? Any other gotcha's with this project?
Thanks much,
jlc