Buying A Home Without Central Air

On a hot and humid day I figured home air conditioning would be a good topic to talk about on the BLOG. Many homes across America do not have the luxury of central air conditioning installed. Many of you right now are saying… Luxury? Yes… Is central air really a luxury or is it a must have for most people? I have personally been on both sides of this coin. Up until my current house I have never owned a house with central air conditioning. Now after enjoying the benefits of central air I have to admit it would be hard going back to a home without central air. Sure… I’ve gotten by with window units or open windows and a fan, but it’s not the same as central air!

I started thinking about the question of air conditioning from a home buyers perspective. So after months of home shopping you find that perfect home at a bargain price, in the right neighborhood, but it doesn’t have central air. Is this the deal breaker… Do you walk away from your perfect home because it doesn’t have central air? NO of course not! Lets approach this from a problem solving approach. Can we add air conditioning if we want to update the furnace in the future? In most cases this is a viable solution. As long as you are not dealing with radiant heat you can add air conditioning when you replace the furnace or possible to the existing furnace. Can I get by using window air conditioners in the home? The answer is again… Yeah probably. Check out some of the modern floor model air conditioners now available. These floor models are much easier to handle compared to hauling a window mount unit in and out of the window every summer.

Living in the Northern Climates of Muskegon Michigan there are many years that I rarely run the air conditioner in the summer. Unfortunately the summer of 2020 ain’t one of those years! There have been weeks that we’ve been running the air conditioner for days on end. So this is another factor to consider when buying a home. Can I get buy without air conditioning for a few hot ans humid days a year? This is a personal question that you have to ask yourself.

There are many other factors that go into buying a home, but don’t let lack of central air conditioning be a deal breaker on the perfect house!

What are your thoughts? Is lack of central air conditioning a deal breaker?