Central Air Conditioners for homes in Costa Rica

Hi Frannie and welcome to Expat.com!

Hope that you'll soon be given some tips.

Harmonie.

Air Conditioning Post

Maybe Humberto can help you if you live in his area or maybe he has some pointers to other folks.

Pura vida,

Casey  -  A Dull Roar - Moving to, Retiring in, and Living with Costa Rica

My builder who does speak English got the only guys willing to come out to this area One of the guys had limited English, but since my architect will talk to my builder (who is really great), language is not a problem for me.  My biggest problem is getting a central a/c unit.  They want to bring in a brand I've never heard of and at a really high price (in my opinion) and I was wondering where you are getting your unit from?  I've tried to find prices of different brands on the internet, but all I get are places that will install and I don't need that. 

We are in the construction phase that I need to get this stuff put in.  So, if you hear anything, please let me know.  I am past Tres Equis, in the middle of the jungle and no man's land.  I do love the isolation and we go to town at least once a week (town being Turrialba).

Most A/Cs used here are individual units rather than central unit. Do you think you really need one in Turrialba? Many in that are using dehumidifiers due to the high humidity in the area. A/C's are very expensive to run here, hence the individual units. EPA sells A/C's.  I know that the ones we have used, were all purchased and installed by the same company else your warranty will not be covered as well as it should be.

If you need AC in that location you obviously didn't build an Eco home.  With the high cost of electrical power these days I had no idea that anyone wanted central air, you must be a rich guy... LOL  Be sure to heavily insulate all of your duct work, or you will be paying through the nose to keep a home cool with central air.

Edward1958 wrote:

If you need AC in that location you obviously didn't build an Eco home.  With the high cost of electrical power these days I had no idea that anyone wanted central air, you must be a rich guy... LOL  Be sure to heavily insulate all of your duct work, or you will be paying through the nose to keep a home cool with central air.

I was just about to say the same thing.
With electricity as costly as it is, good solid insulation is going to be of paramount importance.
Also if you could use just room air conditioners for, say, the livingroom, kitchen and bedroom and use them only as needed I would think you'd save a lot of money.
And as Edward said in another thread you could probably save money by buying them in Golfito and having them shipped to you.