Technical > Home Improvement > Quote for replacement AC condenser

reply to supernac

Re: Quote for replacement AC condenser

reply to supernac
Well I went ahead and got another quote, came out to be $3600 for a york 13 seer 2.5 tons and a york 80% furnace installed. Pretty sure I'm going with this deal.

If that includes new refrigerant lines and the evaporator coil, that's a pretty good deal.

reply to supernac
Probably doesn't hurt to ask as new R22 units are still available. You are not getting quotes on R22 units are you?

I certainly hope not.

reply to supernac
Its the newer refrigerant according to the brochures, he said they would replace the coil, but reuse the lines unless they couldn't for some reason. For another $350 I can get an addition 10 year labor warranty, is it worth it?

I would wager that the quote is for not replacing the lines and if they need to replace them it will cost more.

I got the impression that it would be included in that price if they had to replace it. Its a crawl space house, so replacing it should be easy, there is maybe 20 foot of line. I'll double check though before I pull the trigger.

If it's being changed from R-22 to R-410A the lines have to be changed. I just upgraded my system and the lines were changed.

reply to supernac
Sounds very high to me. I paid $1400 installed for a commercial gas furnace/AC unit for my home, when I needed to replace my old furnace under a very small crawl space. The new one sits outside like a heat pump. I used servicemagic.com, who refers several local independent contractors who they have already vetted for being licensed and insured. Previous customers also post reviews of their experience like feedback on e-bay. I've had very good luck using them for several projects.

HVAC and home improvement salesmen (especially Sears) are like car salesmen. They try to get as much as possible, and if you don't call them on it, you'll pay way too much. Most people have no idea what things really cost and fall victim.

I had a salesman waste 3 hours of my time to quote me a price of $18,000 for new gutters on my 1500 sq foot house! By time he did the "call my manager" routine to lower the cost, and asking if they could but a sign in my yard for a month, the price came down by $9000. I told him if the price could drop by that much in a 3 hour visit, he was a f*^%$ crook! I paid someone $800 for new seamless aluminum gutters.

Perhaps a bit OT (my apologies to the OP), but what if your line set is not easily accessible?

I'm contemplating a system upgrade myself, but my line set is routed between the first and second floors of my home. It travels up underneath the outdoor siding for about 8 feet, makes a 90 degree turn into a chase, then makes another 90 degree turn (horizontally) about half way through the run. The line set is about 35 feet long.

How do you replace something like that without some serious "carpentry" work?


Thanks.

Unless its leaking or the wrong size you don't have to replace them. The lines can be cleaned and reused, its a standard practice that is done all the time according to google.

reply to KachiWachi
They run it on the outside of the house and cover it with a lineset cover which looks a hell of a lot better than the lines snaking their way up the side of the house. There is a way around everything, granted it doesn't look as good as a hidden lineset but it gets the job done.

reply to supernac

Having worked in this industry and seeing how many corners get cut in order to maximize profit, i'd insist on new lines.. Reason being is they will either not clean them right or, simply not do it at all. You won't notice any problems immediately, but you will and it will cost a ton to find the leaks and to eventually come to the conclusion to replace the ENTIRE system.. For split units thats gonna really hurt if its labor intensive.. Spend the extra dollars, or find someone willing to include the line replacement for the bid..

Hate me now, thank me later

reply to supernac

reply to robbin

Not true, Working for a wholesaler we don't have any more charged R22 units only dry units.