How well do central A/C's using natural gas for power cool,compared to one using electricity?

Question

I know nothing about these things, Ive' only heard they exist. I'm looking to have central heat and cooling installed into my home to cut down on the light bill, using all window units it gets up around the $600's. I'm guessing it's about a 1500 to 2000 sq.ft. home built back in the 60's or 70's all asbostos exterior!! to cut expences, I plan to install it my self. at least the carpentry work!

Answer 1

Yes they do exist.This design has been around for years.
I've been also doing Hvac/r for 10 years and would put one in my home.They are very safe and no matter what anyone tells you the ammonia is not transferred in the living space.It uses a medium to perform the heat exchange.Now this technology isn't cheep but either is running window a/c's.Another great feature is that no matter how hot or cold it gets this design keeps working.
Gas furnaces go bad and produce carbon monoxide and heat pumps don't work very well in cold weather.

http://www.robur.com/pag_prodotto.jsp?idp=17&idl=2&steps=0

Answer 2

Every A/C that ive ever seen has used electricity to run. The indoor unit whitch is what they call the Forced Air Unit is what forces air through an A/C coil that is connected to the FAU. The FAU is what contains the heat exchanger(gas) or
Heat strips(Electric). A well insulated home, whith central air/heat is your best bet. Youre answer to your question, If you live in a climate that stays above 40F, A outdoor heat pump may be your best bet, Otherwise go with a high efficient or higher seer rating Indoor FAU and Outdoor A/C

Answer 3

Yes, they exist. The gas AC. There is a Company in St. Joe michigan that got a large grant from Dept of Energy to develope these things and they have run tests all over Ohio and Mich.

Problem is this, the gas AC requires an Electric Fan to cool the coils, an electric pump to pump the amonia in a loop inside a house. And yes, people are scared as dickens of amonia leak in this large of a unit needed.

So in the end, not much was saved and lots of electric used anyhow to circulate air pump fluids and so on. I think that St. Joe project went down the tubes but im not dead sure of that. You can check with Dept of Energy they have an 800#

Answer 4

To my knowledge there is no a/c made in this day and age that uses Gas. They all use 220. The furnace would be natural gas, although the cheapest thing to do would be to use an air handler w/ electric back up in it. I'm not sure where you live but from the sounds of what you have I'm assuming that heating is not a large concern. Spend the extra money you save on the cost of the furnace and upgrade the SEER rating of your a/c. Northern climates it does not pay to have higher SEER ratings, but the southern climates have much better payback.

Answer 5

Central air with heating, will use gas only for heating, not cooling.
There used to be gas operated refrigerators, but they were never that efficient, and forget about a freezer!

Answer 6

It largely depends on useage, and possibly individual providers, but Natural Gas is commonly less expensive.

Steven Wolf