High Velocity AC Adds High-Value Cooling to Glenside, PA Rental Property
Our property owner wanted to make the most out of his rehab project for a rental property in Glenside, Pa. Part of that meant adding air conditioning; but there was a bit of a problem.
The house didn't have ductwork, which meant he couldn’t add central air. Putting in ducts would skyrocket his costs and would look, well, ugly.
So, he called ECI, even though he thought what he wanted couldn’t possibly exist: a way to cool an entire home without ductwork, while also being comfortable and energy-efficient.
Then he found out about Unico high velocity cooling.
In this case study, we’ll explain how this system works. We’ll also look at the benefits it offers and we’ll see it in action in this Glenside home.
High Velocity Cooling in an Older Home
How high velocity works
High velocity cooling is a system that circulated air through very small, flexible tubes throughout the house. The treated air comes out of small round vents. They’re less than six inches in diameter and come in a variety of colors.
The vents also circulate the air much better than traditional ones.
Installing the tubing
The small setup needed for high velocity cooling is especially appealing for older homes. Even in this case, where the owner was rehabbing, he wanted to keep as much living space as possible. Adding ductwork would ruin that.
Instead, this system stays out of the way. Since the tubing is so narrow, we can run it through walls and in the corners of closets.
In this home, we only needed to use one supply trunk. Since the owner was in the midst of renovating, he opted to work this into his design for one of the rooms, rather than run extra tubing to keep it tucked away completely.
On the left is a picture before he built out the soffit that goes around the trunk to conceal it. On the right, you can see where we used up a tiny bit of space in a closet to move the tubing between floors. This way, the homeowners won't see it in the room and won't lose any storage space.
Placing the vents
Next, the vents do a great job of circulating air. Since there’s much more pressure than traditional systems, we don’t need to place these in an exact spot in every room.
So, we often put them in corners, behind doors, or any out-the-way spot we can find. It doesn’t matter — they can still keep the room cool.
The vents also come in a variety of colors. This makes it easy to blend them in with the floor or color of the walls or ceiling.
Whisper-quiet cooling
The next benefit of these systems is how amazingly quiet they are. If you have central air or window ACs, you know when they’re on -- you can hear them loud and clear.
That’s not the case with Unico systems. Instead, they use sound attenuators inside the tubing to drastically reduce their noise. If you’re talking, watching TV, or making virtually any sound, you won’t hear it at all.
At most, our homeowners have said they’ll hear a very soft “whoosh” every so often if the room’s completely silent.
Even temperatures for superior comfort
Since this house never had central air, anything would be an improvement. But the system our property manager chose will make it far more comfortable than most people are used to with traditional cooling.
A common complaint about central is drafts, or cold spots, within a room. These setups push a lot of forced air into the room at once. As a result, the cooling is uneven and causes you to notice differences in temperature.
On the contrary, the Unico system uses suction to produce a gentle stream of air that permeates the entire room. That’s how it’s so quiet — and why the room feels so good no matter where you are in it.
If you’re interested in adding high velocity cooling to your home or property, click the button below or give us a call at 215 - 245 - 3200. As industry leaders in the Delaware Valley, we’ll meet you for a free consultation and then get to work designing a system customized for your needs.
