Cost of a new central air system

[John105]

My upstairs GE window ac cost 270 bucks. I could by TEN of them for $2700.00

that's 60,000 btu total. Ten compresors, ten evaporators, ten condensers.

See the ridiculous overpricing of the whole house AC equipment? And it is usually LESS reliable.

then most contractors are charging over 500 bucks an hour for labour. What blue collar working stiff makes that?

Just a rant. Now I return you to the regular channel.

Imho window units fail to get the space comfortable, inefficient, and frankly are unsightly with the accordion plastic sealing the window (hence the u shape). Noisy to boot. I think again the I could buy 10 logic doesn’t pass muster. Would you do that in a new home?

I can’t speak for the 2020 central AC we have but the last one the prev owner installed a bottom of the line SEER 10 and it lasted 20 years. Furnace was 78% and still good, but woulda been foolish to reuse since the blower was not up to snuff (could no longer use an $8 filter had to be the $1-$3 ones).

Because marginal cost was not > marginal benefit we got the 94% furnace and it was 16.5 SEER not the greatest. Both AC but especially heating costs plummeted in 2020-21. Gonna be rough this summer with the cost of electricity and natural gas last winter was expensive. Glad it dropped in time for the summer lol

My .02 ymmv

 

[tcp71]

[QUOTE="I Dang 96% furnace, wassah playa
[/QUOTE]
96% is the minimum allowed by law here in Alberta (Canada?). The other option was a 99% unit, but that adds even more complexity. I get an "energy report" from Enmax, the utility here, and even with the old furnace we were always average or better than houses with high efficiency units. We kept the old furnace as long as possible, but started to get uncomfortable thinking about a breakdown when it's -30 and colder outside.

 

[thastinger]

Crazy times. When I bought my present house, back in 93, it had window units and oil fired space heaters. I took those out and installed 2 zone NG heat and AC central units, Carrier units. Those still run today, for 7500 total.
FFW to today, 53K for Trane 15 SEER split heat pumps (propane aux heat downstairs and electric aux upstairs) and associated duct work in the retirement house under construction.

 

[supton]

Imho window units fail to get the space comfortable, inefficient, and frankly are unsightly with the accordion plastic sealing the window (hence the u shape). Noisy to boot. I think again the I could buy 10 logic doesn’t pass muster. Would you do that in a new home?

Yes, but good enough for the 3 months of the year that its needed for?

 

[I<3oil]

96% is the minimum allowed by law here in Alberta (Canada?). The other option was a 99% unit, but that adds even more complexity. I get an "energy report" from Enmax, the utility here, and even with the old furnace we were always average or better than houses with high efficiency units. We kept the old furnace as long as possible, but started to get uncomfortable thinking about a breakdown when it's -30 and colder outside.

oh

that's not as much fun then

 

[Fla]

FWIW

I just fixed my central AC this morning! Phew! It's about time, the temperature is expected to officially reach 90 degrees today, which means that it will actually be closer to about 93 or 94.

Just like my cars, I'm VERY hesitant to allow anyone else to work on my AC. I've seen too many people get burned by crooked repairmen. One of my neighbors is a very crooked AC repair guy (now retired) and he's told me a lot of stories about the tricks that he used to pull.

It took me about a week to figure out how the system worked and what was wrong and to get the tools, etc that I needed. But eventually it turned out that the inside blower motor was the only thing that was bad and had to be replaced. (it took me four days to get the squirrel cage fan off of the $^##^& motor!) I ordered new motor from a dealer on Ebay and he shipped it FAST and I had it two days later. The Ebay seller was "c-music" and he was very responsive to E-mails and very cooperative. I do recommend him if any needs a motor. The total cost for the motor with shipping and taxes was roughly $282. One AC guy that I know told me that his company uses exactly the same replacement motor but they charge their customers $868 for it, not including installation or taxes! So I'm quite happy with the results. I did a lot of electrical testing of the control circuits and the motor inputs and wrote a bunch of notes. So now I'm going to go type those up and save them for the next time that I need to do this. I'm also going to go make some labels for the cables and some of the individual wires in the system and that should save me a lot of time the next time that I need to work on this system.

Cooling it in Florida.

 

[John105]

Crazy times. When I bought my present house, back in 93, it had window units and oil fired space heaters. I took those out and installed 2 zone NG heat and AC central units, Carrier units. Those still run today, for 7500 total.
FFW to today, 53K for Trane 15 SEER split heat pumps (propane aux heat downstairs and electric aux upstairs) and associated duct work in the retirement house under construction.

What a dose of reality….I wanted variable and to one of my points. 1 contractor would not sell it to me (it’s more money why not).

He said you said you’ve got a 5F differential upstairs downstairs. If you put in a variable unit your downstairs will be perfect, but your upstairs will have an even larger differential and you’re gonna be calling and we’ll set it up as a single stage to make it work. Those variable units are great with multi zone dwellings as now the condensers operate independently. I did appreciate the honesty but disappointed I couldn’t get thr XV20i

 

[John105]

FWIW

I just fixed my central AC this morning! Phew! It's about time, the temperature is expected to officially reach 90 degrees today, which means that it will actually be closer to about 93 or 94.

Just like my cars, I'm VERY hesitant to allow anyone else to work on my AC. I've seen too many people get burned by crooked repairmen. One of my neighbors is a very crooked AC repair guy (now retired) and he's told me a lot of stories about the tricks that he used to pull.

It took me about a week to figure out how the system worked and what was wrong and to get the tools, etc that I needed. But eventually it turned out that the inside blower motor was the only thing that was bad and had to be replaced. (it took me four days to get the squirrel cage fan off of the $^##^& motor!) I ordered new motor from a dealer on Ebay and he shipped it FAST and I had it two days later. The Ebay seller was "c-music" and he was very responsive to E-mails and very cooperative. I do recommend him if any needs a motor. The total cost for the motor with shipping and taxes was roughly $282. One AC guy that I know told me that his company uses exactly the same replacement motor but they charge their customers $868 for it, not including installation or taxes! So I'm quite happy with the results. I did a lot of electrical testing of the control circuits and the motor inputs and wrote a bunch of notes. So now I'm going to go type those up and save them for the next time that I need to do this. I'm also going to go make some labels for the cables and some of the individual wires in the system and that should save me a lot of time the next time that I need to work on this system.

Cooling it in Florida.

This dawned on me. The condenser is charged from the factory for a standard line set. The first time a tech connects to it to read his gauges it’s no longer pure. What if his gauges were hooked up to a system that failed, or had refrigerant that was mixed. (an old system that was supposed to but not cleaned or flushed) At any rate these are beyond our control. My TRANE has the fancy top which gives me the ultimate status but for real? It costs 0.5 SEER. Well, I’m just glad that I have the status

This looks fake as it should say TRANE where it says weather guard. Imagine spending $600 by adding this to your non “i” condenser! (I actually was fine with a XR I’m just busting on the really weird aspect of human nature)

Air Conditioner Cover - WeatherGuard™ Top Accessory - Trane®

See how you can protect your Trane air conditioner from the outside elements with the WeatherGuard™ Top Accessory air conditioner cover.

www.trane.com

 

[John105]

Yes, but good enough for the 3 months of the year that its needed for?

Well, food for thought. I grew up in the 70s and my parents had central AC, AND THEY NEVER USED IT.

I personally never had any kind of AC, until 1998, at which time, my new Maxima brought AC into my life.

I cannot explain to you, why, today, I can't seem to do without AC. How did I do so, through 1997?

So, with all of the above, being used to central AC since 2002, window units just don't do the job. I'd be more curious about the mini splits.

Literally, window units would be far far better than none, but, they are just so different than having central AC. For example, how would a person be able to work from home, and jump on meetings? Noise/comfort....I know. First world problems...

 

[supton]

Literally, window units would be far far better than none, but, they are just so different than having central AC. For example, how would a person be able to work from home, and jump on meetings? Noise/comfort....I know. First world problems...

I’m sure its nice, but looking at the quotes here, no thanks.

Home office is in the basement, so no noise problems.

 

[thastinger]

What a dose of reality….I wanted variable and to one of my points. 1 contractor would not sell it to me (it’s more money why not).

He said you said you’ve got a 5F differential upstairs downstairs. If you put in a variable unit your downstairs will be perfect, but your upstairs will have an even larger differential and you’re gonna be calling and we’ll set it up as a single stage to make it work. Those variable units are great with multi zone dwellings as now the condensers operate independently. I did appreciate the honesty but disappointed I couldn’t get thr XV20i

I'm getting XL15i units, X2. They install a balancer damper in every air vent feeder tube so they can balance the system out.
I'm just going single stage, dual stage never pays for itself at .13/Kwh, neither do the higher SEER units.

 

[ARCOgraphite]

Imho window units fail to get the space comfortable, inefficient, and frankly are unsightly with the accordion plastic sealing the window (hence the u shape). Noisy to boot. I think again the I could buy 10 logic doesn’t pass muster. Would you do that in a new home?

... ... ...

My .02 ymmv

I don't like AC in general or window units, but I have one upstairs as the weather has been getting worse with more and longer heat waves than I recall 30 years ago. I chill the upstairs, leave the door open (with a fan assist) and let the cool air cascade downstairs - and the hot go up.
I am in a semi open two story Log cabin - no attic space and few hollow walls.

My observation was about how the whole house systems appear overpriced when you look at the total "amount" of equipment you get with 10 window units vs 1 air handler/evap + 1 compressor condenser unit. My old man griping wont change the cost.
A central AC install or mini spiit is the way to go for high demand systems, absolutely. - Ken

 

[doublebase]

Well, the estimate is said to arrive on Monday. I will update when I hear something.

Out of curiosity I asked around what to expect - new 2.5 ton unit outside, and A coil in the attic, reusing old line set. One guy said $11,000, another guy said between $7,000-$10,000. We’ll see.

I wasn’t able to get anyone else to come out for an estimate - the earliest estimate I could get was three weeks from now, so I’m pretty much stuck with whatever this guy tells me. But he seems honest. And he answered the phone.

 

[PWMDMD]

Also, consider a heat pump. I have replaced the central AC in two houses with a range of estimates for a single 4-ton unit ranging from $4k to $16K and everything in between. The last system I installed is a Bosch IDS 2.0 heat pump that at the time had CRAZY rebates/incentives. It's a SEER 20.5 4-ton system that had $6500 in rebates. My town has a municipal electric company and electricity is pretty cheap here and so I use the heat pump down to 15F for heating too and it saved a ton on much more expensive oil this winter. We keep the AC on 68F all summer and between electricity saved in the summer being a SEER 20.5 and oil saved in the winter and the $6500 rebate this system will have paid for itself in less than 3 years.

Over the entire winter, I used $1200 less in oil and I paid $400 more in electricity. In the heat of the summer, I was paying roughly $450 per month in electricity with a 25-year-old AC system and now my bill is <$300 per month during the same months with the new heat pump.

 

[John105]

Also, consider a heat pump. I have replaced the central AC in two houses with a range of estimates for a single 4-ton unit ranging from $4k to $16K and everything in between. The last system I installed is a Bosch IDS 2.0 heat pump that at the time had CRAZY rebates/incentives. It's a SEER 20.5 4-ton system that had $6500 in rebates. My town has a municipal electric company and electricity is pretty cheap here and so I use the heat pump down to 15F for heating too and it saved a ton on much more expensive oil this winter. We keep the AC on 68F all summer and between electricity saved in the summer being a SEER 20.5 and oil saved in the winter and the $6500 rebate this system will have paid for itself in less than 3 years.

Over the entire winter, I used $1200 less in oil and I paid $400 more in electricity. In the heat of the summer, I was paying roughly $450 per month in electricity with a 25-year-old AC system and now my bill is

I don't think I explicitly said what we paid for our XL16i and S9V2 July 2020, it was $15,000, 3 ton. The combo was 16.5 SEER and I got the one time FED credit and then a local utility rebate (anyone know I don't remember how much, but I want to say $500 FED, and $300 plus $250 PECO Energy, for $1050). I can't fathom why if I were to move, and do it again, why the IRS is once in a lifetime?

I paid $15,000, 0% for 60 mos equal payments, they wanted $21k.
,
From what I had read online, you want the best contractor (sometimes it's the most thorough quote spelling out everything), and they might be the most expensive.

I'll reveal what I did because it's reasonable I guess.

"I'd do it for $15k or I'll go with Luigi's."

"Did Luigi put that in writing?"

"No, his brother Mario did."

"Can I see it?"

"Nope."

So, now we're at a tipping point. The contractor had to make a decision. I said 21, he's willing to do 15. He's not showing me the Super Mario Bros. quote.

The guy got on his cell with his boss and there's nowhere to hide it's a small house. I heard the boss say he wants that??!! Then the sales guy said I looked it up, XL16i, S9V2, then went into code: "Blue horseshoe loves Anacott Steel."

His boss says, OK, but he has to sign it today, before you leave, and get onto the schedule. So that was the deal.

Super Mario Bros. actually gave me a quote for $13,700, but it was not the same. It was an XR, and an 80% furnace. They didn't offer 0% for 60 mos, only 24. Their quote didn't have any extended warranty (that was extra), and with an 80% furnace no chimney liner.

So I figured if the $13,700 was legit, then for an extra $1,300, I got a 94% furnace, a chimney liner, a better condenser, 0%, and the better contractor (Yale grad and was in the 2002 yellow pages that I found, only they and 1 other survived).

I tell my price to homeowners who know someone, and they say I got robbed. But how is this different than when the same guy takes his car to Ford or Honda and pays $700 for complete brakes? They are unable to DIY, as I am unable to. And, if something goes wrong, even on a system under warranty, it can be $2k+.

So that's my story. I still owe $6,500 as I pay $250/mo.

 

[doublebase]

Estimate came in at $6,995. 2.5 ton unit.

Thought that was very fair. He was the only person that answered the phone, came out and got back to me. I’ve also talked to a few people that have used him in the last, said he does very good work and is very fair. I’m going to do it.

I have two units with this house, I am replacing the upstairs unit that failed. The other unit is now 24 years old...he offered to change out that unit too for the same exact price. I’m going to do that too. I wasn’t going to, he said there’s no pressure to do it, he’d order it and if I didn’t want it, he’d just return it. Then he said, but it is 24 years old and these things tend to fail when they’re being worked hard in the summer, it’s up to you, no pressure. Thought it over for a couple days. I’m going to replace it.

 

[Lubener]

Any idea what a new ac system goes for today? My 22 year old unit died. I have two units, the upstairs unit has not been able to keep up with keeping temp when very hot. The shutoff box just melted. Figure the compressor failed or something, either way, it was on borrowed time.

My upstairs square footage is pretty big 2,000 feet or so. I imagine I’d need an entire new setup, as the old refrigerant is obsolete now. I’m hoping to use my existing ductwork. I’m in the New England area.

Have THREE HVAC contractors quote you for it. Keep trying till you can get someone to come out.Going with only one quote is not a good idea..

 

[John105]

Estimate came in at $6,995. 2.5 ton unit.

Thought that was very fair. He was the only person that answered the phone, came out and got back to me. I’ve also talked to a few people that have used him in the last, said he does very good work and is very fair. I’m going to do it.

I have two units with this house, I am replacing the upstairs unit that failed. The other unit is now 24 years old...he offered to change out that unit too for the same exact price. I’m going to do that too. I wasn’t going to, he said there’s no pressure to do it, he’d order it and if I didn’t want it, he’d just return it. Then he said, but it is 24 years old and these things tend to fail when they’re being worked hard in the summer, it’s up to you, no pressure. Thought it over for a couple days. I’m going to replace it.

Was there a furnace included (or maybe you live where you don’t have a furnace)? I agree with the next poster as inconvenient as it sounds, one should not go with only one estimate as it’s not just price. For example, all contractors love money. So how come the other ones don’t love your money?

And from my experience in 2020, only 2 cos still existed then, when I found a 2002 yellow pages and went to the hvac section. I found in my research that under warranty, it can be $1000 if a machine breaks down. Many roll the extended warranty into the price such that there is no price offered without. And they means if co gone, extended warranty gone. In this case maybe better when they have a fleet of vans that you see in the area.

And me I think I’ll take my chances with a 24 yo unit that’s independent of the other, since there’s no financial benefit to replacing it…my .02

Ps what make was quoted? In my case one comtractor offered Goodman that was 1/2 the price of what I ended up with….

 

[JustChuck]

Just had a 4 ton Goodman AC and Furnace installed yesterday $9600 including the big 5" thick filter in the attic.

 

[John105]

Just randomly googled and this came back.

I make a mental note when I see old homes gutted and rebuilt for sale. The hvac is often Goodman and Bryant.

Goodman VS Trane AC Units | Direct Air

Picking out a replacement air conditioner when your old one reaches the end of its lifespan is always a challenge. After all, most homeowners want to invest their money in an AC unit that will last for many years to come. It’s hard to see through the hype and advertising to pick out the best

www.directac123.com