Get an estimate from Pence HVAC before you make a decision. I had 4 estimates with multiple levels and costs. Pence beat them all by $2000.00 and even got an upgraded variable speed air handler. They do Trane systems, and I am very happy with it so far. Night and day from my electricity sucking old POS builder grade Goodman I had for 12 years.
I will say it's a bit noisy through the vents. But, the cooling run time went from 10-15 mins to 1-2 mins. No joke. Cools the whole house (~4000 Sq feet) in that time. So the vent air noise is off quick and the house is cold. And there is a setting to keep the variable air handler fan running slpwer after the condenser stops to keep circulating the overflow cool air and we can't hear that at all.
Oh i just read that. Yeah I'm on longer than 1-2 minutes for sure. There's more even temp distribution in the house since switching to trane and my utilities dropped a pretty good amount, but no I'm not running only 1-2 minutes.
That's not a good thing...
You want your AC to run for at least 15-30 min each time it kicks on to dehumidify the air. Kicking on for such a short time is called a short cycle. It's also really bad for the oil in the condenser pump.
Contact Scott Alewel at Hotter than Hell Heating and cooling. He offers Goodman systems which are budget oriented, but he’s a master HVAC tech and will have it running beautifully.
Get at least 3 bids before you buy.
Do not buy the "Cadillac" of any AC as the very best you can buy today is going to be junk compared to what we can get in 5 years.
Budget to buy a new AC system every 10 yeas.
The fact you got 30 years is remarkable.
Keep your HVAC fans running 24/7/365 a year to circulate the cool air with the hot.
Choose when to replace it and you'll save $$$. We did ours in the fall when there was little demand and you can pick up good deals on the install rates since you aren't competing with everyone whose system blew out when it was 100. Our system was leaking refrigerant and we were pretty sure it wouldn't make it through another summer without burning out.
Totally agree with that advice. I got quotes during the summer and during the fall "slow" season. Price difference was about $2500 out of the busy season.
You may be able to have your current system recharged and serviced to get more life out of it. Make sure your air intakes and vents aren't blocked. Make sure the filters are clean.
30 years old. Can’t replace the refrigerant. Freon is no longer available. (You can get into it with me about verbiage but deep down you know I’m right)
Not if it uses Freon. You can get it but it’s super expensive and if there’s a leak you just wasted money. Freon and 1980’s hairstyles killed the ozone. No more CFC’s. Now it’s HCFC’s and the “current” refrigeration is called Puron. It will be outdated soon enough. You can’t mix Freon (R-22) with Puron (R-410a)
i rent a house
been here 10 summers now and whenever i call them to service the AC they just come and spray it down like i’ve already done multiple times a year
wtf do i do ? just take a hammer to important parts on the backside and get them to give me a new one ?
sigh
I feel for you. Good filters are expensive but i found a 5 pack of merv 8’s for under $50 online. It’s super important to change those MONTHLY. Do your best to not have anything giving off heat near your return air duct or have it blocked. Curtains help a lot. As far as your unit goes spraying your coils does help to let the heat escape. I’ve known of people putting sprinklers next to their unit. Deep sigh.
I moved out of state for a couple years and had my buddy rent my house while I was gone. He and his gf had like three dogs and never changed the filter and the compressor exploded. I was happy to get a newer, more efficient unit anyway and with the right vendor it doesn’t cost much. My buddy still never changed the filters though so I came back. Good luck.
Tl; Dr
Get a dog, stop changing the filters. Boom.
lol at the tldr
and i do change filter monthly
no animals anymore —- the ducts have been cleaned before i moved in so i removed one of the “patches” to look inside
ducts look great too
i gotta get fans situated or something
maybe look into compressors? or if this unit takes freon
thanks for reply - preciate it — helps with the stress :)
tldr: gonna break ac unit and i don’t appreciate your replies ;)
There are non-freon replacements for the old R-22 systems. Some of the servicing companies will have the alternatives. I had one put in my system and got a couple of more years out of it before replacing it.
True. I’ve used Mo-99 in replace of R-22. Cost to the average homeowner is a grand for a season or two. Most landlords would rather ignore for 3 seasons. s/
If possible, see if you can find someone to install a system you purchase independently. This skips their markup on the hardware. That's what I did with my Daikin heat pump when it was installed. That alone saved me many thousands of dollars (I was quoted as much as $15,000, but in the end I think my total cost was around $6000.).
We had our whole HVAC system replaced by Rudroff 3 years ago for about $12k but I swear by them and their work. Not sure what just an AC would cost but they’re honest and reliable!
[Appliance 911](https://maps.app.goo.gl/m1G3yuGkAq9Fzm937) just did an AC replacement for us and was quite reasonable. We got a 4 ton, 14.3SEER2 condenser from York for just a bit over $5k, 10yr parts and compressor warranty, 5yr labor, and 1 year of free maintenance.
We did save a bit as the evaporator was replaced under our home warranty last year, but that would have been another ~$3k or so. Troy was our technician and he was super helpful and knowledgeable - I had a litany of questions and he answered them all.
I have had great luck with this guy! Very reasonable and honest.
[https://www.facebook.com/p/Hotter-Than-Hell-heating-cooling-100057330044758/](https://www.facebook.com/p/Hotter-Than-Hell-heating-cooling-100057330044758/)
I've got good experiences with [Top Notch](https://www.topnotchheatingandair.com/) ... co-worker recommended them a few years ago. I researched, good reviews, and they've been easy to work with.
My parents just used Summit Heating and Cooling and they were signnnnificantly lower than another big name place. They were also very quick to get them on the schedule and were very thorough. Might be worth getting a quote from them and a couple of others.
Sort of off topic but make sure all your equipment is registered with manufacturer for warrantee coverage. Our current one had the condenser go out and it would have been a free replacement except the warrantee had never been activated and the company that did the install shut down for retirement two years after we bought it.
I have an attic fan and I would agree to this. Until it gets to be 90° outside and the humidity is horrible. At that time air conditioning is probably needed.
Get an estimate from Pence HVAC before you make a decision. I had 4 estimates with multiple levels and costs. Pence beat them all by $2000.00 and even got an upgraded variable speed air handler. They do Trane systems, and I am very happy with it so far. Night and day from my electricity sucking old POS builder grade Goodman I had for 12 years.
Yeah trane pays for itself real fast. the savings were unreal
I will say it's a bit noisy through the vents. But, the cooling run time went from 10-15 mins to 1-2 mins. No joke. Cools the whole house (~4000 Sq feet) in that time. So the vent air noise is off quick and the house is cold. And there is a setting to keep the variable air handler fan running slpwer after the condenser stops to keep circulating the overflow cool air and we can't hear that at all.
It's very oversized if so
Yeah mine's not noisy in the vents
Yeah mine's not noisy in the vents
Yeah mine's not noisy in the vents
I was referring more to the very short run times.
Oh i just read that. Yeah I'm on longer than 1-2 minutes for sure. There's more even temp distribution in the house since switching to trane and my utilities dropped a pretty good amount, but no I'm not running only 1-2 minutes.
That's not a good thing... You want your AC to run for at least 15-30 min each time it kicks on to dehumidify the air. Kicking on for such a short time is called a short cycle. It's also really bad for the oil in the condenser pump.
Do you mind sharing how much you paid and the seer?
Little River hvac, just got mine replaced, they came in $6,000 cheaper than Anthony, they’ll shoot you straight.
what did you pay total? I'm saving for a new one
I went with a medium quote at $8425. The financing, warranties etc got me to spend more. Little River was by far the cheapest at like $6,600
Did they have their son with them?
Good work is never cheap...
Just from personal experience, stay away from MVP and Neal Harris
Contact Scott Alewel at Hotter than Hell Heating and cooling. He offers Goodman systems which are budget oriented, but he’s a master HVAC tech and will have it running beautifully.
2nd that.
Get at least 3 bids before you buy. Do not buy the "Cadillac" of any AC as the very best you can buy today is going to be junk compared to what we can get in 5 years. Budget to buy a new AC system every 10 yeas. The fact you got 30 years is remarkable. Keep your HVAC fans running 24/7/365 a year to circulate the cool air with the hot.
We're going on 32 years.
Assume it will fail any day now. I’m serious.
Oh, we do. We would have replaced it by now, but then we'd have to pay for it. 😄
Choose when to replace it and you'll save $$$. We did ours in the fall when there was little demand and you can pick up good deals on the install rates since you aren't competing with everyone whose system blew out when it was 100. Our system was leaking refrigerant and we were pretty sure it wouldn't make it through another summer without burning out.
Good point. Thanks.
Totally agree with that advice. I got quotes during the summer and during the fall "slow" season. Price difference was about $2500 out of the busy season.
Get multiple quotes!
You may be able to have your current system recharged and serviced to get more life out of it. Make sure your air intakes and vents aren't blocked. Make sure the filters are clean.
30 years old. Can’t replace the refrigerant. Freon is no longer available. (You can get into it with me about verbiage but deep down you know I’m right)
are you saying you can’t just have your current system recharged ?
Not if it uses Freon. You can get it but it’s super expensive and if there’s a leak you just wasted money. Freon and 1980’s hairstyles killed the ozone. No more CFC’s. Now it’s HCFC’s and the “current” refrigeration is called Puron. It will be outdated soon enough. You can’t mix Freon (R-22) with Puron (R-410a)
i rent a house been here 10 summers now and whenever i call them to service the AC they just come and spray it down like i’ve already done multiple times a year wtf do i do ? just take a hammer to important parts on the backside and get them to give me a new one ? sigh
I feel for you. Good filters are expensive but i found a 5 pack of merv 8’s for under $50 online. It’s super important to change those MONTHLY. Do your best to not have anything giving off heat near your return air duct or have it blocked. Curtains help a lot. As far as your unit goes spraying your coils does help to let the heat escape. I’ve known of people putting sprinklers next to their unit. Deep sigh. I moved out of state for a couple years and had my buddy rent my house while I was gone. He and his gf had like three dogs and never changed the filter and the compressor exploded. I was happy to get a newer, more efficient unit anyway and with the right vendor it doesn’t cost much. My buddy still never changed the filters though so I came back. Good luck. Tl; Dr Get a dog, stop changing the filters. Boom.
lol at the tldr and i do change filter monthly no animals anymore —- the ducts have been cleaned before i moved in so i removed one of the “patches” to look inside ducts look great too i gotta get fans situated or something maybe look into compressors? or if this unit takes freon thanks for reply - preciate it — helps with the stress :) tldr: gonna break ac unit and i don’t appreciate your replies ;)
There are non-freon replacements for the old R-22 systems. Some of the servicing companies will have the alternatives. I had one put in my system and got a couple of more years out of it before replacing it.
True. I’ve used Mo-99 in replace of R-22. Cost to the average homeowner is a grand for a season or two. Most landlords would rather ignore for 3 seasons. s/
If possible, see if you can find someone to install a system you purchase independently. This skips their markup on the hardware. That's what I did with my Daikin heat pump when it was installed. That alone saved me many thousands of dollars (I was quoted as much as $15,000, but in the end I think my total cost was around $6000.).
Priced right heating and cooling.
We had our whole HVAC system replaced by Rudroff 3 years ago for about $12k but I swear by them and their work. Not sure what just an AC would cost but they’re honest and reliable!
[Appliance 911](https://maps.app.goo.gl/m1G3yuGkAq9Fzm937) just did an AC replacement for us and was quite reasonable. We got a 4 ton, 14.3SEER2 condenser from York for just a bit over $5k, 10yr parts and compressor warranty, 5yr labor, and 1 year of free maintenance. We did save a bit as the evaporator was replaced under our home warranty last year, but that would have been another ~$3k or so. Troy was our technician and he was super helpful and knowledgeable - I had a litany of questions and he answered them all.
I recommend Dick Ray, they replaced my system recently. I was very happy with the results and the price was good.
im an hvac technician of 10 years that could possibly help you out installing a new system
I have had great luck with this guy! Very reasonable and honest. [https://www.facebook.com/p/Hotter-Than-Hell-heating-cooling-100057330044758/](https://www.facebook.com/p/Hotter-Than-Hell-heating-cooling-100057330044758/)
I've got good experiences with [Top Notch](https://www.topnotchheatingandair.com/) ... co-worker recommended them a few years ago. I researched, good reviews, and they've been easy to work with.
Don't go with Anthony, whatever you do. Unless you want a quote to laugh at
My parents just used Summit Heating and Cooling and they were signnnnificantly lower than another big name place. They were also very quick to get them on the schedule and were very thorough. Might be worth getting a quote from them and a couple of others.
Sort of off topic but make sure all your equipment is registered with manufacturer for warrantee coverage. Our current one had the condenser go out and it would have been a free replacement except the warrantee had never been activated and the company that did the install shut down for retirement two years after we bought it.
Fellow cheap skate here. Don't use your AC. Just turn it off. Use an attic fan if you've got one. It ain't as bad as everyone would make you think
I have an attic fan and I would agree to this. Until it gets to be 90° outside and the humidity is horrible. At that time air conditioning is probably needed.
Two words: Swamp. Cooler.
Swamp coolers don't work when there's high humidity.
As someone who just spent 10 years in Texas I'll have to disagree.
As someone who grew up with a swamp cooler in Arizona, right after a monsoon it won't work because it's too humid.
We can agree to disagree - because we are adults and that's totally a normal thing to do :). It's better than nothing *shrug*
Nah man.
[удалено]
Jesus that username and this comment I knew better than to look at the profile. I'm an atheist and TST member but still you need Jesus.