So you're replacing your HVAC system?

This is my advice after 20yrs in the trade as a HVAC business owner, installer, technician, and now a master journeyman....

Before you have your contractor out to look at your system... When shopping for a contractor to check your system ask one simple question on the phone... "Does your company use flat rate pricing" If they answer "yes" hang up the phone, you have just avoided the first pit fall in getting your system fixed or replaced. Flat rate pricing is a system used by many contractors in place of hourly pricing. They pay companies to compile the average (for your area) time and cost to make any given repair to your HVAC equipment, then take that average and make it into a cost they pass off to you. That cost is usually very high ($200/hr) compared to the hourly rate, and the time allotted to make that repair is very generous... in the contractors favor. An honest contractor will bill your hourly for the exact time spent making your repair, picking up parts, writing paperwork, traveling, etc... Honest contractors don't use the flat rate system.

First confirm your system is dead... Of course that tech wants you to buy a new system, he most likely gets a spiff or commission from up selling you, so he tells you the heat exchanger in the furnace is cracked or the compressor in your A/C unit is fried. Don't take his word, don't set up a sales appointment, don't sign any sort of contracts. Politely thank him and pay him his diagnostic fee (usually under $100) and let him leave. Next call up another contractor and have them diagnose the same system with no knowledge of the previous dealings. Compare your notes, if they mach you most likely have a dead system and you are only out another diagnostic fee, if they don't match then you know what the other company was up to and the ball is now in your court to potentially save those thousands of dollars that new, unneeded, system would have cost.

If the system has been confirmed toasted you have options... A fried compressor can be replaced, that cracked heat exchanger is also easily replaced but you will need to shop around. It is a 4hr job to do either job at a steady pace if you know what you are doing. So when they tell you it will cost more to replace the compressor than the entire unit they are lying, it will cost a fraction of the cost of a new system and they want to again "up sell" you.

Weigh your options... Would you put a new engine in a car with 300k miles? Why put a compressor in an A/C unit that is 15yrs old? Your money may be better spent putting that hard earned cash towards a new system that is more efficient, under warranty, and properly sized for your home. I would not recommend making a large repair on an older system. What is an older system you ask? Glad to answer... In Ohio where we use our heat half the year and our A/C half the year (approximately) I see an average life of around 15yrs, now in places like Arizona where you use A/C for 10mo out of the year you could conceivably get 8yrs out of your A/C and 25yrs out of a furnace, in Alaska just the opposite. It's all based on usage, the environment the equipment works in (sea side houses are bad for A/C, the salt eats them up), and of course maintenance provided to the unit.

What to ask from your salesman... OK, so you have come to the conclusion that it's time to bury that coal burner in the basement, it's dead Jim. You will need to shop around... I repeat, YOU WILL NEED TO SHOP AROUND. But here are the basics on what to look for and what you should be asking:

1) You want a heat loss/heat gain survey done on your house (AKA: Manual J). This is a survey done that tell us what size equipment your home requires. It takes into account things like windows, insulation, doors, how many people reside in the home, exposure to sunlight, etc... Without this information the contractor is farting in the wind guessing what sizes you need. Oversized and undersized equipment is one of the largest problems I find in this field of work and it leads to A LOT of issues down the road, especially early failures. So if that salesman tells you that it's not required make that an instant disqualifier. You will find 75% of the salesmen will look at your current equipment and size the new equipment based off that, who says the original equipment was sized properly? What about that 1000sq/ft you added on five years ago? A properly done survey takes about an hour and he will be all over your home measuring walls and windows. That said please understand something... I don't share my sizing numbers with a potential customer for one simple reason, I have had more customers take my numbers and give them to their "cousins friend who is a school maintenance man and dabbles in HVAC on the side" only to have him severely undercut my bid. If I do the legwork for free I consider that information to be proprietary, but just because I don't give them to you doesn't mean I haven't done my job properly.

2) Warranty, warranty, warranty. I don't push one brand of equipment over another although I have my preferences, to me it's all about the warranty, both the labor and the manufactures parts warranty. The longer the warranties are the longer you won't pay out of pocket for repairs. Now they can be tricky. The industry standard manufactures parts warranty these days is 10yrs (longer on compressors and heat exchangers on pricier equipment) with a one year labor warranty which is granted by the contractor. You can purchase longer labor warranties if the contractor offers them and they are a good idea if you can afford them. Read the fine print though, some require you have yearly maintenance done (at an additional cost) or it voids the warranty, while others don't cover certain things like brown outs, acts of god (flooding, lightening, etc...), or refrigerant costs.

3) Upgrades. They will try and sell you on things like variable speed blowers, high efficiency filters, humidifiers, UV lighting systems, wireless communicating thermostats, and a host of other stuff. These things do serve a purpose and they do make your home more comfortable but they come with a cost both up front and on the tail end. The more bells and whistles that you have, the more bells and whistles that will break down the road. Pick and choose wisely, if you have allergies or asthma then a high efficiency filter will fit your needs, if you are a techo geek a communicating thermostat you can control on your iPhone is right up your alley... Just remember, they will break and you will need to pay me to fix them.


Pricing... That 300 pound gorilla no one wants to talk about. I don't have a magic number for you, there are just too many variables for me to give you any idea of what it will cost, this is why it's important to shop around and keep things on the same page. You can't compare prices when salesman #1 quoted you a deluxe model furnace with 10yr parts/10yr labor warranty, humidifier, and UV lighting system and salesman #2 quoted you a builders grade furnace, standard warranty, and no extras. Figure out what exactly you want before you start shopping and tell each salesman the same thing. Only then can you compare apples to apples. Without knowing what size equipment you need, where it needs to be located (open basements are easier to work in than hot cramped attics), and what sort of extras you want I cannot even begin to guess what your cost will be. This is why an on site inspection is REQUIRED to give a proper estimate (and to have that heat loss/heat gain survey done).

The cheapest doesn't always mean the best... And I cannot stress this enough. I now work for one of the most expensive contractors in my area but do you know what that buys you as the customer? That gets you a technician that has been to all the schooling he can obtain, a tech with all the right tools in his truck to do the job properly, and the time needed for me to do my job without cutting corners, but most of all it usually buys a guy that gives a shit and takes pride in his work, if the tech is making good money he is happy and that carries over in his craftsmanship. That other contractor that was a few grand less, you can bet your lunch money he is slamming in systems as fast as possible, cutting corners to help his bottom line, with overworked and underpaid helpers that couldn't care less about your install/repair because the heat or A/C works at their house and they just want to get done and smoke a joint while playing X-Box. My van holds around $15k in specialty tools, the best of the best and the most cutting edge technology to assist me in doing a better job for you, those tools don't come cheap. HVAC is not a trade you want corners cut, they longevity (and safety) of that system I installed really does depend on how well I just installed it, if I cut corners and use crap tools it will ultimately cost you down the road, this I promise.

Quoted:
If the upstairs unit ain't broke, I wouldn't fix it.  It could run another 10+ years.  

You can buy the equipment on Ebay.  If you don't buy it on Ebay, those prices will indicate how much your local AC company is paying.  
http://www.ebay.com/itm/Rheem-2-Ton-15-5-SEER-R410A-X-13-Complete-Split-System-AC-Only-/151721782578

I like to buy units that are SLIGHTLY larger that the calcs.  Rather than a 1.5 ton unit, I'd put a 2.0 ton unit in the basement.  
- If I am away, I can turn the unit off.  Larger units can catch up quickly.  
- If the equipment isn't running so much (hours), I think it will last longer.