HVAC in City Park & West Fort Collins

The Westside's defining HVAC problem is two eras on one street. The 1900s–1920s homes — a 1919 Prairie Style house and a 1921 cottage on West Oak Street, the 1906 Wisely/Willard Residence at 1114 West Mountain Avenue, a Fort Collins Landmark designated in 2011 — follow the Old Town retrofit pattern: ductless mini-splits where there is no ductwork, careful placement where the design guidelines apply. Beside them sit 1960s–70s split-levels and ranches whose original ductwork is undersized for modern high-SEER equipment and whose furnaces are on second or third replacement [INFERENCE]. Mature trees are the third factor: shade that cuts summer load, and leaves and debris that load outdoor condensers. Larger lots than the Old Town core make line-set runs and condenser placement easier here than downtown.

Area status: OFFICIAL — Old Town Neighborhoods Plan, Westside. “City Park” is a park, not a plan area; “West Fort Collins” is COMMONLY USED. This page does not claim “City Park” is a City-designated neighbourhood. It covers the Westside plan area anchored by City Park, with a Mulberry Hill subsection — and it says so, rather than presenting the park as a neighbourhood.

Mulberry Hill

Mulberry Hill sits three miles west of downtown, just west of City Park. Its split-levels, bi-levels and brick ranches along Briarwood Road were built in the late 1960s to early 1970s, and the bungalows and farmhouses on South Taft Hill Road date to the 1940s. The median year built is 1969 — which makes Mulberry Hill the cleanest “furnace and AC both at end of life” cohort in the west [INFERENCE]. The 1960s–70s homes here have original ductwork that is undersized for modern high-SEER equipment, and their furnaces are on second or third replacement. Mature trees shade these lots and cut summer load, but they also drop leaves and debris into outdoor condensers.