The only thing that is copper is the line set. Pretty much everyone has gone to aluminum coils for evaporator and condensers.
Replacement cost for central A/C
- Thread starter PWMDMD
- Start date
I don't work on residential and or newer equipment much anymore.
Take care of a couple newer Lieberts...(2016) the rest are mid 80's.
Have a ton of late 80's Trane and Carrier equipment.
I know micro channel condenser's are popular.
Didn't realize they went to aluminum evaporators.
Hopefully they learned from past mistakes.
At least the pressures are lower there.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
A 4 ton unit in MA? You must live in a mansion!
Do you have a Costco membership? Go through them to get a quote from an installer.
Do you have a Costco membership? Go through them to get a quote from an installer.
To be honest I don't think Manual J is "necessary" for cookie cutter replacement. I mean if your neighborhood typically use this seer number and you are using the same seer number with the same tons and you are feeling great, and your system die a sudden death instead of getting worse over the years, they know what works.
This is like replacing your car's AC, you know what to expect already.
Manual J likely would be great if you are designing a new house and need to figure out some unknown. This is like designing a new car and try to calculate what size you need.
This is like replacing your car's AC, you know what to expect already.
Manual J likely would be great if you are designing a new house and need to figure out some unknown. This is like designing a new car and try to calculate what size you need.
3000sqft with an average home build quality. As I said the current unit must run nearly 100% of the time whenever it gets above 85F but it still can maintain 68F at the temp. By 90F the best it can do is 70-71F and by 95F it’s 72-74F inside.
I believe I read somewhere that a 20F difference between outside and inside is ideal and the current unit seems to do just that.
Yes, I would like to add Heil to the list. We have two units. Main floor just AC, second floor heat pump.
Builder installed when the house was built in 2006, 15 years later, still rock solid performance in our 3000 sq ft home, in an area that has a solid 5 months of summer and most of it never below daytime highs of 90 to 100 degrees.
Only thing that needed replacement was the Condenser fan on the second floor unit.
To me, modern day appliances, if people decide to go name brand that is fine if it makes them happy, no different then motor oil.
But if one does so they should look into the company because many of these companies are one of the same, different names, same parts, different marketing.
Example, Heil markets to home builders and such. But little do many people know, its a Carrier company.
Anyway, at some point in the next five years, once we get to around 20 years old I will get them replaced and I am actually going to make sure Heil equipment is one of the quotes. Nothing special about a compressor, gas used for cooling and fans with name brand companies and their subs like Heil even though marketing will try to convince you otherwise.
The exception is if you want state of the art energy saving equipment, to me, savings are not worth it for the extra expense, we are taking nickels in energy savings never mind the added headaches of a complicated system which will not be as reliable and one many techs will be clueless to fix and todays state of the art equipment is outdated in 5 years or less, by ten years, some parts no longer exist, never mind someone who can fix it.
Standard equipment will always be standard and reliable and repairable.
Just my preference and dont get me wrong I LOVE technology, love it but to heat and cool my home? Nope because even the most basic equipment is energy efficient and most likely more reliable then more expensive and complicated equipment, yet the result is I will never know the difference becasue both will keep my home at the temperature I set it.
You are comparing apples to oranges. You're situation is totally different from his and that was from four years ago. Labor and especially materials have gone up since then. Now, that 50k probably would be a bargain now.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
20 degree difference should be what comes out of the vents, so if it’s 72 inside, the air out of the vents should be around 52.
Here in AZ it’s 115 degrees outside and we keep the house in the low 70s, so a 40+ degree difference.
Your A/C must not be running very well.
You could have an energy rater perform an accurate load calculation and then shop based upon that. I suspect a 4-ton is oversized.
No don't do that. Costco overcharges where the final price is essentially a wash vs competitors.
You could pay an energy rater to perform a highly accurate load calculation and that way you'll nail down capacity. Labor is higher in MA so I suspect there's where you'll find most of the price difference.
It's been a few years so I may not remember this correctly but I believe when I did the A/C in CT multiple installers simply said a well designed A/C should be able to maintain the house 20F cooler than the outside air - none of them spoke about the actual temperature of the air coming out of the vents. Maybe that was just for the NE? I agree, in Arizona if it's 115F I would not be happy that it was 95F inside.
If it hit's 97 or 98F here one or twice every few years that would be a lot.
Nick1994
$100 site donor 2024
We had an A/C installed last year through Costco. Price was the same as another installer but warranty is longer and the equipment isn’t bottom of the barrel like the other company I called.
Excellent point. The difference should be 15 to 20°. I’m about 18. When I say the difference, that is the temperature difference of the air going into the intake and coming out of the vents. More or less the temperature of the house not the temperature of the outside air. During the summer I actually put a remote temperature gauge right inside one of the vents to check the system.
That should be step number one for anybody who wants to check their system.
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Second quote is essentially the Bryant same equipment for $8135 for the 4-ton. He did mention I may want to consider a 3.5 ton to dehumidify better.
I asked him about variable speeds fans and 2-stage condensers and he said the quoted air handler is 5-speed and he said if I really wanted variable speed then he'd recommend a Bosch heat pump system that is currently giving a rebate of $1,000 per ton and because they only come in 1-2 and 3-5 ton even if it's setup as 3.5 or 4 ton you get the $5K rebate which pays for the upgrade. He's putting that together for me now. He claimed he just put two of these is his house.
Anyone know anything about Bosch A/C or heat pumps?
I asked him about variable speeds fans and 2-stage condensers and he said the quoted air handler is 5-speed and he said if I really wanted variable speed then he'd recommend a Bosch heat pump system that is currently giving a rebate of $1,000 per ton and because they only come in 1-2 and 3-5 ton even if it's setup as 3.5 or 4 ton you get the $5K rebate which pays for the upgrade. He's putting that together for me now. He claimed he just put two of these is his house.
Anyone know anything about Bosch A/C or heat pumps?
https://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/qa A lot of people who frequent this board are located in New England. You'll get an answer fast.
Ive put a lot of the Bosch units in. Actually have one installed in my own house.
First, whatever brand you buy, pay the extra money for a variable speed air handler, which is critical for making sure the unit dehumidifies properly before the cooling cycle is done. Cold and clammy is no good. It's apples and oranges, NC vs. MA and heat pump vs. straight AC, but two years ago I had a 4.5 ton Trane heat pump and variable speed air handler (rated 16.5 seer) installed using an existing Honeywell zone controller for $7,000. No additional ductwork or copper line set was needed. Even if MA prices are wicked high, your first contractor is pimping you. Try to get recommendations from local friends.
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Ive installed one, they use the same inverter technology as ductless units (mini splits). Haven't heard much about them besides that, the unit i put in worked fine, the quality of the air handler cabinet and condenser cage and panels looked basic, i was expecting better quality for it being 20 seer i guess. Unfortunately I don't have any input as far as durability and performance yet, maybe someone else here does.
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