New A/C Cost

[tjkubota93]

I replaced our 32 year old carriers 2 1/2 and 3 ton with 14 seer r410a goodmans myself. Kept 10 year old goodman ng furnaces. $2500 in parts and a couple tools I didn't have or wanted to upgrade. New condensors and evaporators.

I don't know if they are as good as others, but the value is better.

Parts are readily available too.

Kinda like a Chevy (Goodman used to be gmc janitrol) vs a volvo

I think the quality of instalation is more important.

Be sure lines are flushed good. Proper weld joints. I used a digital vacuum gauge. You can pull it down to a certain # of microns for a certain time, then let it rest and based on the change, know of you have a leak. Then, charging properly if your lines are longer than the factory charge allows for. There's also your duct work and what not, but most figure if it has been working it is ok.

Keep your filters changed and condensors cleaned.

My old house had a gmc condensor and a Chrysler furnace, how about that!

 

[chim]

Defective unit right out of the gate doesn't inspire much confidence, but I replaced my old Carrier with a Trane and it has quit twice in two years, so much for you can't stop a Trane.

I replaced my 23 YO Heil with a Trane about 5 years ago. The Heil gas heat was still going strong, but the A/C was starting to go. I repaired a split copper line in the condenser to get through the last Summer. So far the Trane (gas heat with A/C) has been doing well. It did need a sip of refrigerant the second cooling season.

My boss replaced his system at the same time (with a Trane heat pump) and had so much trouble with it that he has already replaced it.

 

[Turbys_1700]

I replaced a 2.5 ton Bryant that we had for over 20 years about 4 years ago with a Goodman. My local installer that I attend church with did it for $2800. My sister is getting ready to replace her 3.5 ton unit in her house and the cost is $3800.
These heat and air folks have to make a profit I figure around 100% the cost of the unit. But some of these estimates are too high IMHO. I guess we have a little more competition here in my area to keep prices in line.

 

[Gary Fowler]

Defective unit right out of the gate doesn't inspire much confidence, but I replaced my old Carrier with a Trane and it has quit twice in two years, so much for you can't stop a Trane.

I put in a Trane unit as a replacement in my previous house and it worked fine for the 2-3 years that we lived there. Moved to Arkansas, built a new house along with my wife's sister. They built 1 year before us, had a Trane unit installed. So far it has had 2 breakdowns. My house was built using a Carrier HVAC unit and is not 8 years old. Never had to service it at all. I would say that Trane must not be built like they used to be.

 

[Alan W.]

tjkubota93 I have been racking my feeble brain to remember the other names that Goodman was sold under. When dad got his first Goodman the installer asked him what name he wanted on the thermostat and there were three to choose from.

 

[tjkubota93]

tjkubota93 I have been racking my feeble brain to remember the other names that Goodman was sold under. When dad got his first Goodman the installer asked him what name he wanted on the thermostat and there were three to choose from.

Gmc/janitrol, Amana, ?

 

[MinnesotaEric]

I purchased a single head 18ton Mitsubishi for $2300 about $1000 in tools so I could pull vacuum and fill the unit, and the odds and ends of electrical bits. All total I had about $4200 into the project which saved me over $3,000 for the lowest contractor bid I received on the same unit.

I went with Mitsubishi because they had the most efficent units that could generate heat all the way down to -11F (their "hyper-heat" H2 tech) and still be at 100% efficency at 5F and so the heat pump became a secondary source of heat behind the boiler, and infront of the fireplaces as well as keeping the house cool in the summer.

I purchased the MSZ-FH18NA2 head unit, and the hyper heating MUZ-FH18NAH2 base along with a bunch of options for cold weather operation and their wireless (Honeywell) remote.