Ross Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.

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New Air Conditioning Options for Older Homes

May 15, 2020 by Ross

old home with outdated air conditioning

In Nevada, a home doesn’t have to be very old to not have central air. Because of our super dry, high desert weather, swamp coolers were the popular way to cool a house for decades. However, the summers are getting a little hotter every year. If you have an older home, whether it never had central air conditioning or it has an older system, these are your best options if you want a new AC:

Central Air Conditioners

Central air is the most popular form of whole-house air conditioning. Why? It uses a system of air ducts to circulate cool air throughout your entire house, whether it’s one floor or multiple floors.

In order to install central AC, a technician will first perform what’s called a load calculation. This will help determine the proper AC size your home needs in order to fully and properly cool.

Next, your technician will assess whether you currently have air ducts, and if so, what condition they’re in. A general rule of thumb is that ductwork installed prior to 1960 will need to be replaced.

Ductless Air Conditioners

Ductless air conditioners, or mini-split air conditioners, are a good alternative to central air systems. If you don’t want to alter the structure of a historical home, or you don’t want to invest in upgrading your ductwork, ductless air conditioning may be your ticket.

Ductless air conditioners are pretty easy to install compared to central air. You will still need to create holes in the wall in each room you want it installed in, but only to hook up the conduits to the compressor unit. These are not as big as the holes needed to install new ductwork.

Choosing the Right Air Conditioner for Your Home

There are pros and cons to each type of air conditioner. Consider the following when making your choice:

1. Customization. While central air offers a complete cooling system for your home, the temperatures you’ll find in each room aren’t always the same. A ductless system allows you to customize the temperature in each room — that means no more fighting over the thermostat.

2. Smart control. Unlike ductless, a central air system is fully wired to a thermostat. Older thermostats are manual, but newer ones are programmable or even smart, meaning they can be operated remotely from a smart device. In other words, you can set your home to cool down to the perfect temperature on your way home from the office — or vacation.

3. Add-ons. Unlike ductless, central air allows you to install various HVAC add-ons to your system. These include air purifiers, whole-home humidifiers, and energy-recovery ventilators. Air purifiers are especially helpful right now, when we’re so worried about viruses spreading through our home.

4. Energy. Ductless air conditioners tend to be more energy efficient, since they don’t require ducts (where a lot of air and energy leakage can occur). You can also choose which rooms of your house you want to keep cool, since they all work independently of one another.

5. Maintenance. Ductless systems require regular maintenance — more than central air systems. With central air, you might wash or replace your single air filter monthly. With ductless, on the other hand, you have to wash each unit’s filter monthly. Skipping this maintenance will inevitably cost you money.

6. Appearance. Ductless systems tend to be very obvious, since they’re mounted from the wall or ceiling. Some homeowners don’t like the aesthetics of this option.

7. Location. If your home already has functional ductwork, replacing your central air unit makes more sense than installing a new type of system. However, if there isn’t pre-existing ductwork, ductless may be a better choice. It’s also worth considering if you’re adding a new addition to your home, or you want to limit which rooms you cool.

Need help weighing your options or ready to start talking about a new air conditioner? Give us a call! We’re more than happy to talk you through your options to ensure you get the system that best suits your home and your needs. We’re serving our fellow community members and business owners with the utmost precautions for cleanliness and safety. As your neighbors, we want to help and we’re here to provide you with the best service possible.

Filed Under: Helpful Tips Tagged With: AC replacement, air conditioner, air conditioner replacement, air conditioning, air purifier, cooling, load calculation, new AC, new air conditioner, replace air conditioner

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Ross Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.

1220 E. Greg Street, Ste. #14
Sparks, NV 89431
Phone: (775) 425-2525
Fax: (775) 425-2526
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Testimonials

Ross Heating converted our 3 old nasty oil furnaces into 3 new natural gas, high efficiency furnaces with air conditioning. This was a lot if work as we need gas lines from city, power for AC and ever…
Clayton S.
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Ross Heating and Air Conditioning is a wonderful small business in Northern NV. They are very accommodating with scheduling the 2 times a year check ups on my furnace and air conditioning unit. My sc…
Elizabeth E.
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We have a very old furnace and A/C system and had a lot of problems with it until we found Ross Heating. Damian is very honest and able to fix both the heating and cooling system for us. As our house…
Jean D.
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Wow! Our air conditioner quit right in the middle of a record heat wave. I found Ross Heating and Air on Yelp. They had a good review and were close, so I called. My call was taken by a pleasant woman…
Dan T.
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I can’t recommend Damian Ross and Ross Heating and Air Conditioning enough! Damian came out on a Sunday in the heat of the summer and stayed until the house was cool. Reasonably priced, independent an…
Joell S.
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Very personable and prompt. Discovered AC didn’t work over the weekend and was able to fit a service call in for the next day. Got it fixed and very reasonable parts & labor.
Al L.
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I can’t begin to express the excellent service Ross Heating & Air provided to me. Not only was their service call/routine maintenance half the cost of all the other heating & air conditioning companie…
Raquel B.
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Ross did a heating check up, filter change and AC installation for me. They are honest, friendly, reliable and a pleasure to work with.
Danhui N.
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Had an oil furnace that needed to be switched out to natural gas. Ross Heating gave me a fair estimate on paper of parts and labor. He was very thorough on the work and did the job correctly and to co…
Chris O.
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Ross Heating and Air Conditioning, Inc.


1220 E. Greg Street, Ste. #14
Sparks, NV 89431
Phone: (775) 425-2525
Fax: (775) 425-2526

Recent Updates

  • Smart, Programmable or Manual Thermostats — What’s the Difference?
  • New Air Conditioning Options for Older Homes
  • Last-Minute Summer AC Prep

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Address: 1220 E. Greg Street, Ste. #14, Sparks, NV 89431 | Phone: (775) 425-2525

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