Central Air for Apartment: need Advice

If both worked well and both cost the same amount, I would ask if you had an extra closet to spare. If not, hang them in the hallway. Closet space is always at a premium, and when you go to sell the next purchasers might be a little bummed that they are short a closet.

We moved into an apartment with central air and have the condenser in a closet. The noise issue is very minor -- several degrees of magnitude better than a window air conditioning unit. We can hear the unit go and off, but it's not the type of noise that would disturb you in your sleep or even require you to turn up the volume on your TV.

I hate my window air conditioner unit. People with central air are so lucky.

True central air (not hotel-style) was one of those "beyond my wildest dreams" features that wasn't even on my wishlist because I thought it was too unusual.

I can't tell you how pleasant it is. During the heat wave in early June, I ate soup every night, just because I could. My significant other used to complain constantly about the window air conditioners, both the noise and the "chills" they supposedly created, leading to constant temperature wars. Knock on wood, the central air seems to even out the temperature enough that so far our thermostat negotiations have been peaceful.

Of course, the tradeoff to all of this is that we found what must be the only townhouse in Manhattan with no gas line anywhere in the building. If you're jealous of my central air, ask me how much I like our heat pump in winter. :p I'm barely surviving the electric water heater now. The electric stove doesn't bother me, as soup is about as much as I cook.

Induction stovetops are better than gas, the word just hasn't gotten out yet.

Electric heat may be expensive, but at least you can control it with a thermostat, unlike radiators in pre-war buildings.

When a condenser goes in a closet or overhead structure, what are the options for banishing heat? Is a big outdoor box needed, or is it one of those weird louvered replacements where a window was? Down a drain as hot condensate?

Oops, I misspoke. The *evaporator* is what's in our apartment closet. The compressor/condenser is on the roof.

In a past place in another city, I did have the compressor/condenser in a closet, which had the "weird louvered replacement" thingie (technical term ;)) that you mention. The noise level wasn't any different.

If you install central air, I think you need to have high ceilings. Otherwise your head will hit the ducts.