Air Conditioning Installation & Replacement in Kutztown, PA

Two things drive most cooling replacements around Kutztown. One is an old R-22 system that has finally leaked past the point of sense. The other is a house that never had central cooling at all, whose owner has decided another August upstairs is not happening.

PJ MAC HVAC Service & Repair installs and replaces cooling systems throughout Kutztown, Maxatawny and the surrounding townships from our Kutztown Road office. Installation and replacement estimates are free.

The ductwork was built for heat

Where a duct system was laid out for a furnace, or converted from a gravity system that had no blower at all, the supply side is often workable and the return side badly undersized. Cooling wants considerably more airflow than heating does, and a return that suited a furnace will starve a coil. The symptoms are familiar: an upstairs that never catches up, a coil that ices in humid weather, a new system that disappoints its owner. We measure static pressure before quoting equipment, because a new condenser on ducts that cannot breathe buys a costlier version of the same complaint.

Sized on the house, not on the old nameplate

Matching the tonnage of whatever came out is easy and frequently wrong, because the original was often oversized to begin with and the house may have been insulated, re-windowed or extended since. Oversized cooling satisfies the thermostat quickly, shuts off before removing much moisture, and leaves you cold and clammy with a compressor short-cycling itself into an early grave. We size on the load the building actually presents.

Heat pump, straight air conditioner, or dual fuel

Out here this is a genuine decision rather than a formality, because so many township houses heat on a delivered fuel. A heat pump gives you cooling in summer and electric heat through the milder two thirds of the heating season, with the existing furnace picking up the deep cold. That combination is called dual fuel and it suits an oil or propane house well. A straight air conditioner is simpler, with less to go wrong. Which wins depends on your fuel, your electric rate and how long you intend to stay.

What the estimate visit actually involves

• ✓A load calculation for the building rather than a match to the old nameplate
• ✓Static pressure and return capacity measured on the existing duct system
• ✓Line set condition and length, and whether it can honestly be reused
• ✓Electrical service, disconnect and circuit sizing at both ends
• ✓Condenser placement, clearance on all sides and drainage beneath
• ✓Condensate routing and secondary protection for any attic or upper-floor air handler

Placing a condenser on a rural property

There is usually plenty of room outside, which is its own trap. A unit standing in an open yard collects mowing debris and field dust, gets clipped by a mower deck, and sits in whatever the wind drifts against it. A pad set properly, raised clear of drifting snow if the unit will run through winter as a heat pump, with clearance on every side and a sensible line set route, adds years to the equipment and costs nothing extra at installation.