Air Conditioning Installation in Jenkintown and Cheltenham, PA
A large share of the housing in Jenkintown, Cheltenham and the older parts of Abington was built with radiators and no ductwork whatsoever. Adding cooling to a house like that is not a swap, it is a small construction project, and the decisions taken at the start govern how the system behaves for the next fifteen years.
PJ MAC installs and replaces cooling systems from the Greenwood Avenue office, covering Flourtown, Wyncote, Glenside, Elkins Park and the townships around them. Estimates for installation and replacement are free.
Three ways to get air into a house that has none
The building usually chooses. An air handler in the attic with insulated branches dropping into ceilings suits a house with a full attic and a top floor worth serving. A small-duct high-velocity system threads much narrower tubing through existing chases, and is often the least invasive option where the plaster is worth keeping. Ductless heads sidestep the problem altogether and zone naturally, which suits additions, sunrooms and converted third floors.
Sizing is a humidity decision
The most common error in this housing stock is equipment that is simply too large. An oversized system reaches the thermostat setting quickly, shuts off before it has pulled much moisture out of the air, and leaves a house that reads seventy-two degrees and still feels clammy. Correctly sized equipment runs longer at lower capacity and dehumidifies while it cools. That is why a proper load calculation matters more here than the efficiency number on the nameplate.
Water, plaster and the attic air handler
An air handler in the attic sits directly above finished ceilings, and everything it condenses has to drain somewhere. What we want is a primary drain with real fall on it, a secondary pan beneath the unit with its own outlet, and a float switch that stops the system before water reaches the plaster below. Old plaster and lath does not forgive a slow leak. That protection is a small part of the job and the most common cause of expensive damage when it is left out.
Three floors and one thermostat
Tall houses stack heat, and one system reading a single sensor on the second floor will always leave the top floor warm and the ground floor cold. Two smaller systems, a properly dampered zoned system, or a dedicated ductless head upstairs will each resolve it. Which one is right depends on where duct can physically go, and it is much better settled before equipment is ordered than afterwards.
The electrical side of it
Houses of this age frequently have panel capacity sized for a very different set of appliances. A condenser needs a dedicated circuit and a disconnect, and a second one needs the same again. Far better to find at the estimate stage that the panel is full than on installation day, so we look at that during the walk-through.
Replacing an existing retrofit
Where a system fitted in the nineties or early two-thousands is coming out, the ductwork is usually staying, and it deserves a look before anything is quoted. If the existing distribution is already strangling airflow, new equipment inherits that problem and the household concludes the replacement was no better than what it replaced.
Jenkintown AC Installation — Questions We Get
My house has radiators and no ducts at all. What are the options?
Three, broadly: a conventional ducted system with the air handler in the attic or basement and branches run through chases, a high-velocity system using much narrower tubing, or ductless heads. In all three the boiler and radiators stay where they are and carry on doing the heating. Which one fits is a question about your building rather than about our preference.
Why would a bigger system be worse?
Because cooling does two jobs and only one of them is temperature. Moisture comes out of the air while the coil is cold and air is moving across it, so a unit that hits the setpoint in ten minutes and stops has done half the work. In a large older house that shows up as a cold, damp feeling rather than a comfortable one.
Will installing air conditioning cost me closet space?
Sometimes, and it is worth asking early. A conventional ducted retrofit needs vertical chase space on every floor it serves, which in practice means a closet corner or a boxed-out chase. High-velocity tubing and refrigerant lines need far less room. We will walk the likely routes with you before you commit to anything.
Can a converted third floor be properly cooled?
Usually, but rarely by extending whatever serves the rest of the house. That floor sits under the roof and is at the end of the longest possible run, so it needs capacity of its own. A dedicated ductless head or a small second system is generally the answer, and it costs less than oversizing the main system in the hope that some of it arrives up there.
Do you charge for an installation estimate?
No. Estimates for installation and replacement are free. Diagnosing a system that has already broken down is different work and is quoted separately, so a service call and a sales visit never get confused with one another.
Which equipment do you install?
All the major residential brands, Lennox, Carrier, Trane and Goodman among them. For most households the installation matters more than the badge on the cabinet: correct sizing, distribution that can actually carry the airflow, and a charge set by measurement rather than by feel.
Who serves Jenkintown
Jenkintown calls are handled out of our Jenkintown office at 814 Greenwood Ave #101, Jenkintown, PA 19046. Call (610) 672-3045 — we answer 24 hours a day.