HVAC question for the board

[SubGod22]

So, I've been without a functioning AC the last two summers and am looking to finally replace the unit. I've reached out for quotes recently from the familiar names I could think of, Fahnestock, Hanna, Fenix, Reddi, Moody and Roth. I've only had one out to the house and provide a quote so far, and I'm not overly impressed with the expected costs. But I was wondering if any of you have had any experience with others in the area that I should reach out to. I know that there are other options out there for services that are sometimes better, but this isn't my area of knowledge and getting any feedback from those either in the business or with personal experiences can't hurt.

I have a small home and generally I tend to err on the side of things are going to cost me more than what I think, but my first quote was a fair amount more. So either it's really high, or I didn't have as much information as I thought I had when I was mentally preparing myself. Or both.

[shocktheheart]

I like using Bryan's Heating & Air out of Valley Center. I deal somewhat with the industry and if you go over about $1,300 a ton with labor and materials you are getting high.

[wichshock65]

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[SubGod22]

I like using Bryan's Heating & Air out of Valley Center. I deal somewhat with the industry and if you go over about $1,300 a ton with labor and materials you are getting high.

I was mentally trying to price that to be slightly higher than what you said but the Fahnestock quote shocked me. Talked to a guy with Reddi that basically said they can't beat Fahnestock as I don't need a high end unit as I have an old and small house that doesn't need anything overly special or top of the line. He ballparked me a quote about $500 more than the quote I have in hand and that was using their "cheap" unit.

I had seen Bryan's pop up in a search and I'll check in with them as well. I'm in no hurry so I can take the time to get as many quotes as possible. Hell, what's another summer of heat when I've already been through two? And I'm no longer working from home in it, though the dogs still suffer. Thankfully I do have a small window unit that does a decent job of keeping things bearable.

I appreciate you and wichshock65 for the recommendations.

[NCAABound]

Just had to replace a water heater and it was outrageous compared to the last time I did it.

[ShockBand]

I was mentally trying to price that to be slightly higher than what you said but the Fahnestock quote shocked me. Talked to a guy with Reddi that basically said they can't beat Fahnestock as I don't need a high end unit as I have an old and small house that doesn't need anything overly special or top of the line. He ballparked me a quote about $500 more than the quote I have in hand and that was using their "cheap" unit.

I had seen Bryan's pop up in a search and I'll check in with them as well. I'm in no hurry so I can take the time to get as many quotes as possible. Hell, what's another summer of heat when I've already been through two? And I'm no longer working from home in it, though the dogs still suffer. Thankfully I do have a small window unit that does a decent job of keeping things bearable.

I appreciate you and wichshock65 for the recommendations.

I am by no means an expert in this field, but Bryan's is who I use for regular maintenance. I have been happy with them.

The last time I had an install was in 1999 in my first house. Putting in everything - removal of window unit and floor furnace, install of AC, furnace, and ductwork - for about a 900 sf house was just under $3000 all in back then.

If your house is small, would a mini split or two be a more economical option? Again I don't have expertise in this, but I have seen people use mini splits when they do things like sunroom additions to a house. Just a thought.

[SubGod22]

I am by no means an expert in this field, but Bryan's is who I use for regular maintenance. I have been happy with them.

The last time I had an install was in 1999 in my first house. Putting in everything - removal of window unit and floor furnace, install of AC, furnace, and ductwork - for about a 900 sf house was just under $3000 all in back then.

If your house is small, would a mini split or two be a more economical option? Again I don't have expertise in this, but I have seen people use mini splits when they do things like sunroom additions to a house. Just a thought.

My understanding, from what I've heard from a few others, is that a mini-split wouldn't make sense since I have everything I need already for a "normal" unit. Or something like that. It was a FB conversation I had with a few people I while back when first thinking about doing this. I do have a friend that said that they did the mini-split thing at their cabin, which I believe didn't have anything so it made more sense. But I no longer trust my memory quite like I used to so I could be a little off on all of this.

My house would be comparable in size to the one you reference and definitely doesn't need all the extra work that you needed as that work was done 30 years or so ago when their was an electrical fire I think it was. They updated the heating and air at that time. My grandparents owned the house back then and rented it out before selling to my brother, who I purchased it from a number of year ago.

Obviously prices have gone up and inflation is a ***** right now, but from talking to the guy at Fahnestock, the supply chain hasn't been a major issue for the industry which should help some. But all I should need is the outside unit and then the exchange coil I think is what they've called it that sits in my attic along with the furnace.

I do have one schedule visit for next week and am working towards a few more. Will have a phone call to make this afternoon as someone doesn't have a website that my anxiety riddled ass can use to reach out. But maybe that's a good sign.

[SubGod22]

Just had to replace a water heater and it was outrageous compared to the last time I did it.

I've had to replace two of those in the 14 years I've been in the house. The first one the labor was really cheap as it was my girlfriends uncle, who was a contractor, and he didn't charge us at all. So we paid for the water heater and then a $50 gift card I think it was to he and his wife's favorite restaurant. The second time I believe the tank was still under warranty and I had my dad install it. So I've lucked out there.

[Kung Wu]

They will ALWAYS tell you otherwise, because it's a lot more fun to sell you an entire new unit, but it's often way less expensive to just bring what you have already back to life. What is the symptom? How old is your existing unit? What type of coolant is it using?

[SubGod22]

They will ALWAYS tell you otherwise, because it's a lot more fun to sell you an entire new unit, but it's often way less expensive to just bring what you have already back to life. What is the symptom? How old is your existing unit? What type of coolant is it using?

Symptom? No longer blows cold air.

Age? Old.

Coolant? R22

I had R22 put in about 10 years ago when this happened. It cost me something like $20. R22 is no longer manufactured and is expensive as hell now as supplies diminish.

I'm curious to see what others say. Talked to a co-worker a little bit ago that said that had a high efficiency complete replacement of everything for maybe 1k more than my current quote, which I told them I didn't need anything special, just the bear minimum more or less. I believe he said he used Cook who I may check into as well. Though he did also have good things to say about Bryan's. Not so much for Fahnestock.

I have two scheduled to visit next week currently. We'll see where it all goes.

[MoValley John]

I live in an older house no ducts (pre central air). In order to put ac the previous owner ran ducts through the attic and vents in the ceiling. When it went out, I did a lot of shopping and comparing. I needed to have an option outside of these leaky, inefficient ducts tgat were rigged in the attic. We decided to buy a multi mini split unit. I really didn't like the idea of how the units would look in each room, but was pleasantly surprised, you don't notice them. The system is uper efficient, the house stays cool and it does a great job with humidity. I spent about six grand for everything four years ago. My biggest challenge was finding an installer in the Central Plaines that was familiar with the product. They are much more common on the east coast.

[AndShock]

I’ve used Epic for two repairs, would recommend. Paid for emergency service in the winter and they were there in about 10 minutes. Paid for regular service on another repair and they were able to schedule me about 15 hours out. It’s been the same tech both times and he was super thorough in explaining everything. The first repair was to fix something a warranty contractor couldn’t. Let us know that HVAC was either really bad at their job or running some sort of scam.

[Kung Wu]

I had R22 put in about 10 years ago when this happened. It cost me something like $20. R22 is no longer manufactured and is expensive as hell now as supplies diminish.

Regardless, it could still be a lot cheaper than replacing the whole thing. I'd find a honest HVAC company to check pressures and get to the root of the problem.

[ShockerDropOut]

My kids have used Dan’s Heating and Air. Said the tech was straight forward and honest. Didnt try to sell them more than they needed on the repair.

it might be worth giving them a shot.

[SHOCKvalue]

Just had to replace a water heater and it was outrageous compared to the last time I did it.

New efficiency standards a few years back. So you can spend hundreds to save pennies. Government math.

Not a joke.