Sometimes You Just Don't Need Central Heat and Air

When I bought my house in November1998 the air conditioning system consisted of an ancient grilleless 5000 BTU 110v window unit which was fed by a 20' long power cord, since there was no outlet nearby.

Pine Lake is in Georgia, and although the climate is temperate for the South, I knew I had to come up with a plan to keep my house cool, and it would need to be in place by May.

My first thought was of course central air, but since I had just bought the house that was out of the picture for financial reasons. Soon, I thought, but I need a short-term fix.

A friend told me she knew someone who had a 25,000 BTU  220-volt window unit for sale for (as I remember) $150. I checked my fuse box and there was space for a new 220-volt circuit, so we drove to Jonesboro and I bought it.


I don't remember how we got the air conditioner into my living room, but when I tried to lift it the next day it wouldn't budge.

Lon Cotton, who lived in the yellow cottage across the street, came to the rescue. He carried the unit up the stairs with no effort and amounted it in one of the big windows at the top of the stairs. He even ran a 220-volt line, since the electrical contractor I had hired had failed. Lon wouldn't take a penny for his hard work.

Lon Cotton

Since then the house has been blessedly cool-- frigid, even, when I want it so. Cold air flows across the open stairwell, cooling the top floor, and gravity causes the cold air in the room to flow down the stairs, cooling the first floor. Happily, the unit is in exactly the right place, for even on the hottest days there's not a single warm spot in the house.

I put the 5000 BTU unit that was in my house in a window in the kitchen, and when I got tired of looking at it bought a new 8000 BTU unit, but it's for backup only.I turn it on mainly to keep it lubricated.

You might think having an air conditioner at the top of the stairs would be inconvenient, but I control the unit via X10. I keep the unit turned on with a fan speed and temperature setting appropriate for the second, and X10 controllers switch it on and off. I can control the unit from anywhere in the house.

X10, for those who might not know, is an inexpensive system for home automation. It works by sending electrical signals through a home's wiring. Any electrical device-- lamps, heaters, fans, televisions-- can be switched on and off manually by pressing a button (and the system can be set to any schedule with a freestanding control unit or via PC.

With X-10 I was able to automate my little home for less than $200. I can turn any light in the system on or off or dim or brighten it from any room in the house. By using a little hand controller that dangles from the rear-view mirror of my car I can even turn on the floodlights when I arrive home after dark.

X10 Components

It didn't take me long to realize my house didn't need central air. If the desired result was comfort, convenience, and economy (and it was), I had it. Other than washing off the filter two or three times a year, there was no maintenance, and if the unit ever failed I could replace it for less than $600. The only drawback was sound, and the unit wasn't loud and was almost silent when set to low.

Happily, the same stairwell helped with heating. The heat source for my house is an ancient 63,000 BTU Duo-Therm floor-standing gas furnace that must date to the 1940s. When I first saw it I was dubious, but I soon discovered it worked perfectly and put out a huge a amount of heat. The warm air flows upward, cooling the second floor, and the living room stays toasty. The back room can be chilly on cold winter mornings, so I installed gas logs in the back fireplace. More often I use an electric heater to take the edge off. If I were to buy one of those fans that mount in the doorway it would probably direct more than enough air to the back of the house.

The heater is efficient; it's also nearly maintenance-free. Combustion takes place in a sealed chamber and exhaust gases pass through a pipe and go up the chimney. I keep a carbon monoxide detector on the mantle, but it has never read anything other than zero. Occasionally the thermocouple requires replacement, but they cost less than ten bucks at Handy Hardware in Tucker and takes less than five minutes to replace.

I've done only one small repair of the heater. When I moved in two squares of the heat-treated gas in the view window were cracked. I tracked down a company that sold the special glass and had them cut to size. They were easy to install, and I've had no further problems.

Since I initially considered the heater suspect, I tracked down the Duo-Therm company to ask them about it. Their product line now consists of A/C units for motor homes, but the receptionist said there was an employee who was more-or-less the company historian, and she had him call me. He vaguely remembered the unit, and thought highly of it.

I visited a store that sells fireplace inserts and gas stoves, but when they told me the new stoves are no more efficient than my 70-year-old furnace and would save me no money on gas, that was that. The Duo-Therm stayed.

And so I have stayed warm in the winters and cool in the summers and I've been very happy.

But ruh-roh!

Last week I noticed the house wasn't as cool as it should have been. When I checked the A/C I discovered it was barely moving air. What there was of it was cold, which meant the compressor was still working, but there was just a trickle of air.

I turned the unit off. When I tried it a few hours later it worked fine. that meant it had most likely frozen due to dirt or low coolant levels.

Which means maybe I won't have to replace my 14-year-old unit with a new one-- if I can find someone to clean it and top it up with coolant, that is.

So far the companies I've called want to work only on central units.

Figures.