What do I need to install A/C in a two story home?

What's up guys. I'm going to be moving into my first home here in the near future. It has hot water heat and no ductwork or A/C which is why I'm here. I'm an electrician by trade so I have some mechanical skill but am lacking knowledge of the HVAC world. I have looked into the mini-split systems but am more interested in central air.

So my main question is, is this something I should even try tackling on my own.

Second I would figure the simplest and most economic route for me is if I can do this...have the conditioning unit outside, take two sets of lines, one to my basement, and one to my attic, and put an evaporator and blower in each and bring my ducts up through the floor and down through the attic or is this an expensive and even possible route to take?

 

Being an electrician by trade...... haven't you met any HVAC guys ? That's the way to go.
Even if you do your own ductwork you'll need someone to supply and connect the equipment and who won't use your ducts.

 

Congrat's on the new house. I really wouldn't consider this a DIY project. If you do units in the basement and attic, you will need two condensing units outside. I don't like units in the attic, I would put one unit in the basement. It sounds like this a older house if there is no duct work. How old is the heating unit?

 

I'm union so I usually never see any HVAC guys for more than a month or two at a time but maybe I could make buddies with one in the near future lol. I didn't plan on doing it 100% on my own but maybe what I could. The heating unit is a natural gas boiler which was just installed in January.

Why don't you like attic units because they're already combatting heat up there? The attic is actually ventilated very well. I was just up there Saturday and it was about 85 out with high humidity and I bet the attic was honestly only 90-95 degrees. The roof was also redone this spring, the previous owners seem like they didn't go cheap on their updates so I don't think an attic unit will waste a terrible amount on energy. Not as much as window units anyways.

I saw Trane has a dual compressor unit but I bet the price tag on it would scare me off. And from reading that may not even be how the dual compressors work I'm not completely sure.

 

Mini splits are a very attractive solution as you can run several inside units on one outside compressor. You could do your own installation. No ductwork to mess with either.