HVAC & Air Conditioning Contractors in Philadelphia, PA

Air Conditioning Options in Philadelphia

Philadelphia is no stranger to cold weather, and its population is well prepared for those midwinter freezes. In the summer, however, Philadelphians are often left with few options when it comes to cooling off. Since so many of the city's residences were built before central air was the standard, it's not uncommon for many people to park themselves under a single window unit (or make several unnecessary trips to the Wawa) just to get cool for a while.

Drawbacks of Central Air Conditioners in Philadelphia
In many cases, the older the architecture, the more difficult it is to upgrade. Older homes were not designed for the massive amount of ductwork that comes with traditional central air conditioning; Philadelphia houses, though classic and charming, are likely to be ill-suited to a conventional system.

Though in newer sections of town and in the suburbs it's quite common to see central air conditioning, Philadelphia's more urban residents are usually out of luck. In part, this is due to how the house was originally designed, but there is another reason, too. In the city, space is an incredibly valuable commodity. In the suburbs (or the country, or anywhere that central air conditioning is put into almost every home), the attic of a house is either mostly or completely filled to the brim with ductwork and can't be used for anything else. Filling an attic in central Philadelphia with air conditioning equipment would be less like gaining an AC unit and more like losing a floor of your house!

Other Philadelphia Air Conditioning Options
Certainly, outfitting several rooms in a house with window-mounted air conditioners is a solution. The problem is that it is not always an efficient or effective one. Window units are generally made to cool only one room; to successfully chill an entire multi-story residence would take an awful lot of them. The energy costs of this kind of set-up would likely be pretty uncool.

Ductless air conditioners are fairly Philly friendly. They provide more cooling power than most window units and require very little alteration to the structure of the house they're installed in. The down side is that they don't work as well as regular central air, and the indoor units are very visible. Ductless air conditioners are not well suited to cooling more than 3 or 4 rooms at a time and are also a bit on the expensive side.

Just when it starts to look bleak and it seems like you're out of options, however, new technology comes along. When it comes to air conditioning, Philadelphia homes are often well suited to mini-duct systems.

What Is a Mini-Duct Air Conditioner?
A mini-duct air conditioner is a system that cools an entire home, but requires very little space or carpentry to install. Instead of the wide ducts that traditional systems use, mini-ducts use piping that is small enough to fit almost anywhere; instead of large vents, they use discreet openings that are barely noticeable (some are as small as 2 inches in diameter).

Some homeowners that were told that their historic home couldn't be fitted with central air should ask again, now that this technology is available. Thanks to mini-duct air conditioners, Philadelphia's classic architecture can now get cooler by the day (in the summertime, anyway).