AC Replacement: Shopping Around Saves Money
This past week I have had 3 different Heating and Air Conditioning companies at the house explaining to me what is wrong with our AC system and what it would take to correct it or replace it. That’s right, only 6 weeks in and the whole AC/Furnace unit needs major servicing and/or replacement. Thank goodness for the home warranty! Oh wait, it isn’t broken. It was just installed improperly and is undersized for our house. This explains why it can’t keep the house cooler than 83 F when the temperature gets above 94 F outside and why the unit keeps running and running and running. However, since our system isn’t broken (it’s just undersized) according to the home warranty, we’re good!
What a pisser…
The Compressor Broke!
Our compressor went out 3 weeks ago, and we thought it was the cause of these problems. However, with it repaired and running well, the AC was still constantly running. The Master BR seems to be more humid and warm than the rest of the house even when it is the same temperature. Meanwhile, the upstairs bonus room area would start heating up in the afternoon and can’t stay below 83/84 until close to 8 pm. That sucks because my office is up there and it gets uncomfortable in the afternoon. Plus, it’s “stealing” cool air from the main part of the house with this zone running all afternoon and evening.
Thinking the issue could be the dampers being inefficiently set up I had a repair company come out. They were going to check the zones and dampers to make sure they are working correctly and that we’re getting proper circulation around the house.
Well, There’s Your Problem…
When the first company showed up they took one look at the unit and said, “Well there’s part of the problem. Your airflow is constricted so you’re only getting airflow over ~75% of the unit. This thing isn’t running efficiently as it should be.” I thought, “Oh, good. Get some sheet metal, rebuild the transition and plenum and problem solved!”
Then they asked how big our house was and I told him 3200 sq ft. He said, “Yeah that’s your main problem. This is a 3 ton unit and for our area, you’re looking at it efficiently cooling about 1500-1800 sq ft max. There’s no way a 3 ton will efficiently heat or cool your space. You’re going to need a bigger system.”
My heart sank because I immediately saw multiple thousands of dollars flying out the window to fix our “not-broken” AC system.
So Many Options… All SO Expensive…
We were offered 4 different options of what we could do with our system.
Option 1: We replace the sheet metal transitions to correctly fit our current system and let it run as optimally as possible. That’s it and we do nothing else.
My Opinion: I don’t see this as an option because it doesn’t fix anything per se.
Option 2: We fix our current system like above and disconnect the upstairs zone from the system. Then we install a 1.5 ton mini-split for the upstairs. Imagine a very large window unit and that’s a mini-split.
My Opinion: I see this as a potential option but want prices on it. If the AC is mostly keeping the house cool, if we remove the hottest zone and add a system then maybe this will work.
Option 3: Full replacement of the AC and furnace system with 2 separate units. A 4 ton unit for downstairs and a 2 ton unit for upstairs. The existing unit would be too big for the small upstairs space so it wasn’t considered as an option to repurpose it for the upstairs zone.
My Opinion: This seems wasteful and expensive, especially not getting to repurpose our existing equipment. The furnace is 2 years old and the AC unit is only 4 years old. That’s pretty young in the AC world. This also seems like the most spendy option as we’re buying and installing 2 units and not just one.
Option 4: We replace the full system with a single 5 ton unit, keeping it on the same zones we currently have and just plug and play the new system into the existing ductwork. It’s already built to handle 95% efficiency systems and is insulated well.
My Opinion: This was my preferred option, and based on my research would also be the best option since our upstairs is a bonus room and not a “true second floor living space”. It isn’t quite big enough to justify its own unit, which is why the recommendation of a mini-split was popular with the first 2 companies.
Multiple Quotes Pay Off
I got each company to give me their quotes for the different options and OMG were the results surprising! The costs ranged from the cheapest estimate of $6900 up to $24,000. I was nervously laughing about how much this would cost.
Option 1 the quotes were ~$1900 but again, that’s not an option we’re considering.
The first 2 companies had quotes for Option 2 and they varied from $7300 to $8000. Not too bad but it doesn’t seem like a good long term solution.
The quotes for Option 3 ranged from $17,000 to $24,000 so that made me cringe quite a bit…
The quotes for Option 4 ranged from $6,900 to $11,350. Still cringe-worthy, but the $6.9k option seemed workable especially since “fixing” our current system and installing a mini-split would be in that same price range.
When I started researching it more, I realized that the $7k price for Option 4 would be a downgrade from our current system. The Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio, SEER rating was lower, meaning it wouldn’t be as efficient. The blower and compressor would be single stage, not a variable speed blower and dual stage compressor like we have now. Those systems are more efficient and quieter, so I asked for costs on the next level up equipment with a higher SEER rating and the variable speed blower and dual stage compressor.
After multiple phone calls and texts over the holiday weekend; the 3rd company suggested that if we let him have our current equipment he could knock some money off of the upgraded equipment. This way he could repurpose our equipment to other clients that couldn’t afford new systems. I liked this idea because it saves us money and isn’t wasteful since our system doesn’t just get junked. While the “better” system does cost more, with the reduction for getting to re-sell our equipment, the new quote was $8200. This was $3k LESS than another company’s quote for the same equipment. It’s amazing what you can work out when you’re working with a reasonable contractor.
Summary
I wasn’t planning on spending $8200 replacing our AC/Furnace system within 2 months of moving in. I don’t think anyone plans for that to be honest. You just have to stay flexible and keep your options open.
The small win out of this is that we will have a better SEER rating than our current system and it will be more efficient as well. Plus, remember that remote work I was grousing about last week? Guess what those paychecks can pay for and we won’t have to dip into savings or brokerage accounts? That’s right, this whole system upgrade. While I’m still not a huge fan of the work arrangement, Hooray for small wins!
Have you had any large unexpected costs pop up recently? Did you get multiple quotes and shop it around? Let me know, I’d love to hear about it!
