Posted: 6/14/2006 3:57:04 AM EDT
|
Issue: -20 year old Trane System. -80000 BTU Gas Furnace (Working) -7.5 SEER 3 ton AC unit (Compressor shot) -Warm House -Plan to stay in the house only a few more years. I am getting quotes in yesterday and today and OUCH. Options: -Replace whole system through a company end-to-end -Replace just the AC unit for now and get furnace/coil later through a company -So far I have been given options of Carrier, Trane, Ruud, and Goodman/Amana. High end is $5000 Low end is $4000. This is shit. New Option I found: ACdirect.com sells units for MUCH less, can finance, and ships for free. A replacement unit with the Goodman/Amana brand with the following features: -13 SEER 3.5 ton AC unit -90000 BTU 80% Furnace/handler -Pre-charged $2437 shipped. If I get charged $70/hr for labor and the guy is here for 8 hours (and I will help to try and shorten the time): $3000 Plus or minus a couple hundred. Viable solution? Any experience with ACdirect.com??? HELP!!! ETA: As I get more quotes today I will update! |
|
I looked at AC direct also. You might want to contact Goodman and see if they will honor their warranty if you order it direct from the internet. I read some where that they would not. Its the internet so it could be BS. I updated my AC to a 13 seer TempStar, which from what I have been told is basically a Kenmore. I had the gas furnace upgrade from 60,000 btu to 100,000 btu. The furnace is only 80% efficient. I really wished I had gone with a higher efficency furnace. Consider going higher efficency if possible. If you know for sure your leaving in 2 years then just fix whats broken. Mine cost me $3800 installed. Sorry I can spell for shit. |
Study the drawings of the unit and compare it to your installation. That eight hours could easily be anywhere from 1/4 that amount of time to ten times that long. At my great-nephew's house I watched a pair of guys install a new heat pump in less than an hour. They didn't have to run new lines and since they were replacing a two year old unit (which was a complete piece of junk) so everything just fit. At my boss's house, it took four guys about 80 total man hours to install his new system. They were replacing a 20 year-old system. The new efficient systems are much larger so they can often require a lot of carpentry. They had to demolish part of a his shop and cut down a bush to give the new unit clearance. They had to run new tubing which required some jack hammer work in his slab and cutting through several walls. That necessitated replacing some floor tiles, paneling, and sheetrock. They also had to redo a lot of his duct work since the new unit required mounting in a different section of his attic since it's taller than the old one. Measure everything carefully before you start to get a better idea of how long everything will take. Also, as I understand it you have to run new copper tubing for the new high SEER units. That can make the installation a nightmare depending on the layout of your house. A 128 unit townhouse complex I manage needs new heat pumps. Before the new high SEER units were required we were quoted $3k each for 128. I could only find one place within 100 miles that would quote installation of the new legally required high SEER units because the tubing travels over 30' under the slab around and through water pipes, sewage lines, and power conduits under every townhouse. That quote was over $25k per unit with $19k of it just for running the tubing. We have absolutely no clue what we're going to do since the townhouses are only worth about $35k each.z |
Jeez, someones panties are in a wad. A: I did not put my name or address for one. Plus this is the internet, do you believe everything you read on it? B: At the very least the "known defective" part is going to be replaced. Do you thing that my wife and I are going to live in a house until we sell it in a few YEARS when it is 95 degrees inside? C: I am actually going to have to go ahead and replace the WHOLE system. D: I am not a dickhead and know that there is something called "disclosure" when selling a house. The fact that you think that I would not fix something before selling my house and you don't know me from Adam, leads me to believe, either you are capable of doing it, or have had someone do it to you. ETA: Oh and E: Where in my initial post did I say I was not going to fix the problem? JeezSUS...... |
|
Supposed known deficient equipment aside. If you do plan on selling your home it will be a better selling point showing a new, higher efficient heating and air system. It may also help you get more out of the house as well. Just a thought. Pretty much any half assed home inspector or potential buyer would spot your old system right up front anyway and either want something off of the house or have you replace it. And, on top of that, you may be there longer than you think. I thought I was going to be out of my house about 2 years ago and due to "unforseen" circumstances, am still there. 
|
It's all in who you know. Through an acquaintance I can get a Goodman 65K BTU 93% eff with 2.5 ton air delivered at cost + $100 and materials installed. The total price was $780.  Of course you know how life goes. When it came time the funds were not available. But I can get going on it when I do have the money. |