New Home A/c Unit

Nice rig · May 28, 2008

Well this will be the 2nd year in a row that I have had to get it serviced. Any ideas on how much it will be to replace the unit outside and the air handler up in the attic? It's also an electric heat pump and is all about 14 years old. THIS SUCKS!!!

Dana_15 · May 28, 2008

What do you mean by getting it serviced? Is it losing coolant?

ZZ327 · May 28, 2008

Unless your problem was the inside unit. you dont really need to replace it , Just get a new Heat pump. All it is, is a air mover with your inside coil for AC.

I can tell you a new Heat pump and furnace from the prices Ive seen at my company run 4-8K$$$

Frank S · May 28, 2008

Well this will be the 2nd year in a row that I have had to get it serviced. Any ideas on how much it will be to replace the unit outside and the air handler up in the attic? It's also an electric heat pump and is all about 14 years old. THIS SUCKS!!!

Ran $5400 for my attic exchanger last year just a little further along than now, mid to late June if I remember correctly.

It sucks man, feel for you because they like double the charges from mid spring to late summer/early fall because they know you need it more.

Nice rig · May 28, 2008

I'm already planning on getting it serviced, that will run about $130, but I shouldn't need to service it every year. I am going to milk it until winter time and see if the prices drop, or hopefully it's just a leaky coil and I can get out cheaper. Thanks for the replies.

ZZ327 · May 28, 2008

if youve got a leak in 1 of your coils they should be able to replace or fix it permanently. You really should'NT need a new unit at 14 years.

edited!!

hubbycap · May 28, 2008

I got 16 years out of the contractor grade POS that I replaced 2 years ago. The efficiency of the units now are great. Went from a 9 SEER to a 14 SEER. Changed over from nat gas to heat pump and mayun my heating bill dropped. Trimmed about $75 bucks off of the elect bill in the summer. Bumped the 3-1/2 ton to a 4 ton and I now have a comfortable home. The old unit used to come on in late morning and not shut down until after midnight, and was loosing ground in the heat of the day. Go for it man, if you can, electricity is not getting any cheaper.

Nice rig · May 30, 2008

Well I spent damn near $200 to get it serviced up. The guy says I have a BIG leak...DUH!!! The unit had absolutely no freon in it, so it took 5 pounds to service it up. He looked for this BIG leak and couldn't find it...he says "I'll get my boss out here to see if he can find it". If it's that BIG, it should be able to be found...and of course I told him that I hope they don't expect to get paid to come back out and look for the leak. And of course he starts with the "well it could cost this or cost that". Needless to say these morons will not be fixing or replacing my unit...I told him to service it and leave since he can't find the leak. It just annoyed me that he starts with "well, if this is leaking it could nickle and dime you for about $8000, but a whole new unit will be about $3000 or $4000". I am not that dumb. If need be I'll get a competent service guy to find the BIG leak, show it to me, and I'll fix the damn thing. Sorry 'bout the long post.

ZZ327 · May 30, 2008

good job! I would be finding a new company to install and service it. Theres no leak that cant be fixed!!

All the guy has to do is turn it on and use his leak detector, or use soap bubbles. THere is only 3 places it could be, the inside furnace, the outside coil and if hes not finding it then. Then its probably in the Ac lines between the 2

Wingnut · May 30, 2008

Mine had a nice leak...In the wall...An EXTERIOR wall...Behind the brick.

Because while the house was being built the dude that installed the shelving in one of the closets shot a nail into the wall that pierced one of the lines going between the outside unit and the attic unit.

I was out of town for a couple of days when it finally went south, and it locked up the compressor. This is in my (at the time) 6 month old house...And those f***ers tried to bill ME to the tune of around $2500.

I had a well-dressed friend show up at their office claiming to be my "legal counsel", and they got that $$$ from the builder in 2 days.

Dana_15 · May 30, 2008

All the guy has to do is turn it on and use his leak detector, or use soap bubbles. THere is only 3 places it could be, the inside furnace, the outside coil and if hes not finding it then. Then its probably in the Ac lines between the 2

Exactly. He should have pressurized the system with nitrogen BEFORE putting freon back into the unit. Your just going to lose that freon as well. Sometimes it is difficult to find a leak by soap bubbles without bumping the pressure up with nitrogen (thats what we use at my work, air might work as well).

We also have some ultraviolet dye that can be put into the system as well, works pretty good finding leaks. A big leak could be the size of a pin hole, there isn't much volume in your coils.

Nice rig · May 30, 2008

Well a representative from the company called and asked if the other guy can come out and attempt to find the leak. My response was "as long as I'm not being charged for him coming out to find something the other guy couldn't...come on down". The other guy did use a little hand held detector with the unit running, hopefully this guy will come out, find the leak (without charge of course), show me where it is, and if I can take care of it I will. I'll update tonight when & if the guy comes down and finds something.