Q. We live in an old 1950's house and currently have central heating, which my husband installed in our home a few years ago. Is it possible to add air conditioning, as well. Can anyone help out with advice or how it would work and what the cost would be? Real answers, please...no trolls!

A. You want to start with what you have that is very familiar to you but you haven't described it enough. Is it a forced hot air system with duct work and is the duct work insulated? If this is the case then the process is to install an "A" coil above the furnace and below the plenum that distributes air to the various ducts. This is connected to a condensate drain, and two refrigeration lines that are also insulated. The refrigeration lines connect to an outside unit called a condenser. The condenser has to have electrical power attached to it. The refrigeration lines must be vacuumed out with a vacuum pump and then the refrigerant has to be transferred to the appropriate levels in the now closed system. The cost for this work will vary depending upon where it is done and the going rate in that location. The cost of the equipment will be more static but depend upon the capacity of the unit and this depends upon the size of the house.

Q. Please anyone know the estimate? I have no idea and interested in getting central air conditioning system for my home...tks!

A. Trane and Carrier=You pay for advertising. I just bought a 3 ton Goodman for $1200 installed, outside unit only. Entire central air system with inside ducts, etc.: who knows.

A. I use a guy named Tanner , Bill Tanner . I think its Tanner Air conditioning . He has always done a great job for us and never tried to charge for something that wasn't needed. Good Luck

Q. Water sometimes backs up and my unit turns off. I have to shoot water into the PVC pipe outside and suck it out to get it going again. Are you supposed to put bleach or something else in the PVC pipe?

A. I used to have this problem but when I got a new unit install they put a clean out opening in the condensate pipe up in the attic. I just poor a little bleach down the pipe a couple of times each season. No more problems.

Q. My wife and I purchased this used house about a month ago. Before the purchase the home inspector alerted me to a leak had been repaired hours before his inspection. The repair was at the elbow of a drainpipe coming from the bottom of the air handler, going through the crawl space, and exiting into an adjoining wall. After moving into the home, I began to smell a damp smell coming through the air duct when the air conditioner was in operation. In addition, all three of us have quite sensitive noses and began to show signs that something was amiss,. I began to inspect, looked into the crawl space and found no evidence of a current leak but there was a lot of dust, dead cockroaches, and a similar damp smell. I also took the panels off the air handler and noticed mold all over a motor, which I suspect, is the blower and one side of the evaporation coils. Since this is a 3-ton system (the a/c is a fifteen year old Ruud and the air handler is an old Tempstar) in a roughly 2,100 sq/ft home in Mississippi, I was seriously considering replacing this system in a couple months. The system is cooling but does not cycle as often as I think it should. I have been all over YAHOO! asking questions so I know many of you are tired of reading my posts. I had planned to order a system from an online company called Alpine and getting a contractor to install it. Now I am assuming that my air conditioning ducts may need cleaning too and it may be more prudent to pay retail with a local company that not only installs systems but also cleans air ducts. In an effort to improve the air quality a bit, I was thinking about getting a mask, shop vacuum, gloves, bleach and water solution, sponge, and evaporator coil cleaner and cleaning the coils, blower, and crawlspace until we are ready to replace the system. Am I correct in my assumptions can anyone give me prudent advice?

A. You will receive the best answer from a HVAC (heat ventilation and air conditioning) contractor.

Q. I just moved into a new home that had never had the ducts cleaned. The house is a ranch with gas forced air heat on one zone with about 9 vents. I found this company on a coupon for $45 which included unlimited vents and a couple access holes. When the company began their work they found mold and the price skyrocketed from $45 to $1400. Does this sound like a screw job or is that price accurate for mold removal and duct cleaning?

A. Mold removal/remediation is entirely different from air duct cleaning. However, it is not uncommon to find mold in your air ducts. That is why we recommend the Electro Breeze Duct Mount UV kit at http://www.allergy-relief-air-purifier.com/air-conditioning-filters.html. This unit will eliminate mold and bacteria from your indoor air and keep your air conditioning coils clean from mold. You must consider that to remove the mold from your air ducts, the air duct cleaning company is entering into a potentially dangerous situation for their employees. This requires expensive equipment and a person with the skills to do the remediation properly. Now that they have knocked the mold loose, you will need the high efficiency filtration and ultra-violet light of the Electro Breeze DMUV kit to kill and capture the mold spores in your indoor air. I hope this helps.

Q. Thinking about having one installed. Thoughts on cost to install, operating costs vs using the air conditioning? What about leaks around the installation site...hear that from a lot of people that have had them. Thanks for the help!

A. If you need an attic fan and have a vent at one end of a peaked roof, you can have a fan installed there. I did something else too. One fan in the attic blows air down into the house. Another at the other end of the house blows air into the attic. On a cool day, but with a warm attic because of sun load, I circulate air from the attic through the house. Thermostats in the attic and in the house circulate air only when the house is 70 degrees or less AND the attic is at 75 degrees or more. Also I can switch off the one that blows air into the house. On hot days, after sundown, I can blow air out of the house, sucking it in from the cooler air outside.

Q. My car is getting older and I've noticed the air coming from the air conditioning ducts and air vents smells musty, dusty, and dirty. Is there a way I can clean the ducts and vents? Also, is this something I can get done at an auto detailer?

A. The answer to your 2nd question first. Maybe?! Some detailers will only clean/restore what they can reach, although there are some who might go the extra mile. The problem is, they don't want to be responsible for destroying your dash vents to get at the ducts. When I worked in a body shop, we simply used compressed air through the vents to blow out the dust and dirt accumulated while the car sat inside being worked on.......some people even put pieces of air freshner directly in the vents to sweeten the smell afterwards.