Cost of a new central air system

[doublebase]

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..

Yeah, I agree, but I did call others, no one can physically even come out until the end of the month. Which means no one will be able to install it until the middle of July at the earliest.

So, here’s what I did, I have two friends that do HVAC. One is younger, one is older. One said he’d charge $11,000 for that job. He said he just did a job similar a week ago and he changed the guy $11,000. The other guy when I told him the estimate said, yeah that’s very good. The first guy when I told him what the estimate was said, what? You’re kidding? How’s he doing that? He’s probably only going to make a couple grand. I wouldn’t hire either of them because I know them...plus one would charge me $11,000 plus for the job. The other would probably charge me close to $7,000. But I don’t want to hire anyone I personally know because when something goes wrong, and it ultimately could, then it’ll get awkward. I’ve been there, done that. Something goes wrong, something needs fixing, and because they know you they take a long time to come back. or you find out latter that they charged you the same as anyone else, and gave you subpar service. Something like that. I’ve seen it with other people, and I’ve experienced it myself. You know what I mean?

And I just had a friend that had a unit installed, similar situation. He was quoted $7,000 for the AC. He went with the AC and reverse heat pump setup for $12,000, but with rebates and 0% financing it came to $7,000. He got a good deal. My state doesn’t offer the incentives.

 

[doublebase]

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….

I’m not sure what brand he’s using. He did say he’s using air beer for the filter. When I find out I’ll post back.

 

[Nukeman7]

^^^^^
Did you mean "AprilAire" instead of "air beer" for the filter???

 

[doublebase]

^^^^^
Did you mean "AprilAire" instead of "air beer" for the filter???

Sorry, no I spelled it wrong. It’s Air Bear.

 

[Highboy]

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.

delete

 

[zzyzzx]

The shutoff box just melted.

Please post pictures of this!

I will assume that you are referring to the outdoor disconnect switch.

 

[zzyzzx]

Any idea what a new ac system goes for today?

 

[zzyzzx]

The bed room on the SW corner of our house in Fla was getting very hot during the long hot summer days and the central AC worked fine but just wasn't able to deal with that far corner of the house. We installed a Mitsubishi mini-split in that room and it works great! We can't even see any additional power usage. If I needed to replace a central AC unit today I would seriously considered using a couple of mini-splits instead of a central unit. They are extremely efficient and are very quiet and the temp in that room now varies less than 1 degree in on the hottest days. Our unit costs us about $4200 all in. That was just under 2 years ago.

If you were getting a custom home built today, would you just use min-splits, or would you still get central air and maybe the mini-split in that one room? I'm only asking because if you wanted forced air later, adding ductwork is going to be problematic.

 

[John105]

If you were getting a custom home built today, would you just use min-splits, or would you still get central air and maybe the mini-split in that one room? I'm only asking because if you wanted forced air later, adding ductwork is going to be problematic.

From what I can see, most that I've driven by still have the traditional condensers (more than one). But I do believe that when adding to an existing house, a mini split seems to be the choice.

 

[mr_boring]

Just had a new 2 ton unit installed two days ago. $3700. Carrier outside unit and "A" coil. The furnace was fairly new, so it didn't need to be replaced. Simple single stage, 15 SEER.

Got mine in November. Had I not had to have had ductwork done, I'd have been at 42.
Mine is a 13 though. I found a small little local guy with 4 employees and he made a profit and I didn't have to sell the neighbors kidney. Units themselves aren't crazy expensive if you buy them at the right place. He has a place....

 

[doublebase]

Please post pictures of this!

I will assume that you are referring to the outdoor disconnect switch.

This is the only one I have, it’s since been replaced. The cover melted right off, found it on the ground.

Edit — Found another picture. This is after I found the cover on the ground and tried to place it back on.

 

[PWMDMD]

If you were getting a custom home built today, would you just use min-splits, or would you still get central air and maybe the mini-split in that one room? I'm only asking because if you wanted forced air later, adding ductwork is going to be problematic.

I agree. The AC was added after my house was built. So AC is in the unconditioned attic space (probably 130F there right now) and while running supply and return ducts to the second floor was easy it means running ducts through closets to get get supplies to the first floor. The system cools really well but I can imagine the air handler in the basement in the nice cool basement with more evenly distributed supply and return ducts would be even better.

It's a 3600 sqft house with a 4 ton unit and it can hold 68F all the way to 92-93F outside but I'm sure some capacity is lost to the hot attic.

 

[97prizm]

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.

I'm in Colorado and all of the hvac places are quoting between $5-12,000 which is insanity. My dad finally ordered a unit then had a company come out and do the installation. The only downside is that there isn't a company to "warranty it" so to speak. Stay away from the heil brand. Have a friend who installs hvac systems with his cousin. Heil won't work with the general public to get replacement parts. My dad purchased a goodman in 2019 and so far so good.

 

[doublebase]

I'm in Colorado and all of the hvac places are quoting between $5-12,000 which is insanity. My dad finally ordered a unit then had a company come out and do the installation. The only downside is that there isn't a company to "warranty it" so to speak. Stay away from the heil brand. Have a friend who installs hvac systems with his cousin. Heil won't work with the general public to get replacement parts. My dad purchased a goodman in 2019 and so far so good.

My units were installed two weeks ago. Ducane, which is supposedly a segment from Trane or something.

Not super thrilled with the upstairs performed, feels a lot like my last system (not enough air flow). Talked to the HVAC guy as he was finishing...said, hey, this is not blowing much out of the vents - he was in a rush to get out of there - and he said, it’s probably your duct work, they use a lot flex tubing up in the attic, and you have long runs to each side of your house. Well, that’s great, I just spent $14,000 for the two units (one for the first floor and the other in the attic). The attic uses dampeners - I may remove them to see if the airflow increases, or install a booster fan. Not super thrilled.

 

[97prizm]

My units were installed two weeks ago. Ducane, which is supposedly a segment from Trane or something.

Not super thrilled with the upstairs performed, feels a lot like my last system (not enough air flow). Talked to the HVAC guy as he was finishing...said, hey, this is not blowing much out of the vents - he was in a rush to get out of there - and he said, it’s probably your duct work, they use a lot flex tubing up in the attic, and you have long runs to each side of your house. Well, that’s great, I just spent $14,000 for the two units (one for the first floor and the other in the attic). The attic uses dampeners - I may remove them to see if the airflow increases, or install a booster fan. Not super thrilled.

If it's not cooling definitely have them come back. My parents had this issue years ago. The first ac system installed was undersized. After two weeks with the temperature going up with the ac on they came out and removed the unit.

 

[doublebase]

Well, I’ve now become my own certified HVAC tech. Cant get anyone on the phone right now, so I went in the attic to “diagnose”. There’s two zones up there operated by two separate 14” automatic dampers. Removed both motors - closed one manually and opened the other - air flows great to each side of the house. One damper moves smoothly and returns back to the open position. The other does not. And the one that does not move freely also had its motor feeling HOT while it was connected to the actual damper. So I’ve since removed both actuators, and left both sides open. Which doesn’t help much.

I will be ordering a 14” damper for the side that does not return spring back to the open position, with an actuator - Honeywell makes a 14” damper/motor combo - will give that a try. I’m assuming the control board will work with any “normally open” spring return damper?? It’s just two wires, 24V.

This has been so much fun...learning dampers, motors, normally open, spring return, or motor return. Ensuring circumference and dividing it by 3.14!! searching the internet for parts. It’ll be fun installing it too! I’m hoping it’ll be 4,000 degrees up there so I can sweat off 50 pounds. And when I’m done it probably won’t work and then I’ll have to beg and HVAC guy to come out in the middle of the summer where he can charge me a grand to install a $200 part. And then tell me his work isn’t guaranteed because it’s old duct work or something (I once had a guy tell me that his recharge of a system wasn’t guaranteed because the welds on the unit looked like they were done on a Friday - and this was on a two year old home).

 

[MrStamper]

About $3000- $4000 for a 4 ton unit (Trane) then figure 6 hours installation MAX. How much do you want to pay a master and a apprentice for 6 hours? $1000? 1500?

Anybody paying 10g for a replacement is being taken to the cleaners without the surf and turf dinner and the requisite bottle of Sauvignon Blanc

My buddy had a mini split installed in his garage and he likes it. Can't remember if it's Panasonic or Mitsubishi. More cost there and you may find the evap unit hanging on the wall-ceiling intersection unattractive.

Skilled Trades have been swindling people out of a lot of money post-covid. My company does it everyday. Part of the game. Everyone is doing it.

 

[Jimmy_Russells]

My units were installed two weeks ago. Ducane, which is supposedly a segment from Trane or something.

Not super thrilled with the upstairs performed, feels a lot like my last system (not enough air flow). Talked to the HVAC guy as he was finishing...said, hey, this is not blowing much out of the vents - he was in a rush to get out of there - and he said, it’s probably your duct work, they use a lot flex tubing up in the attic, and you have long runs to each side of your house. Well, that’s great, I just spent $14,000 for the two units (one for the first floor and the other in the attic). The attic uses dampeners - I may remove them to see if the airflow increases, or install a booster fan. Not super thrilled.

Ducane is part of Allied, which is part of Lennox. Ducane, AirEase, Armstrong, and Lennox Merit are all the same thing.

 

[John105]

My units were installed two weeks ago. Ducane, which is supposedly a segment from Trane or something.

Not super thrilled with the upstairs performed, feels a lot like my last system (not enough air flow). Talked to the HVAC guy as he was finishing...said, hey, this is not blowing much out of the vents - he was in a rush to get out of there - and he said, it’s probably your duct work, they use a lot flex tubing up in the attic, and you have long runs to each side of your house. Well, that’s great, I just spent $14,000 for the two units (one for the first floor and the other in the attic). The attic uses dampeners - I may remove them to see if the airflow increases, or install a booster fan. Not super thrilled.

Probably, or is, the ductwork? Imho he should be measuring for the delta. It just rushing out the door. This is why it’s such an unpleasant thing for an ordinary homeowner to deal with.

 

[dumkid]

I don't know how much longer the 2005 model year a/c units will last on my parents house in this phoenix heat, but when they die my dad's just going to diy it. Last time the a/c units were touched by a "professional" was like 2010, and him connecting his gauges to the system caused it to leak from the fill ports, so my dad got him to install new valve cores and leave.

He doesn't trust the a/c repair guys anymore, so he's replaced a few fan capacitors and other little things since then. He's also learned how to repair car a/c.