Community Chat

[mm1206]

I live in S. Florida so we use our AC year round. I have central AC and the inside unit needs to be replaced. The outside was replaced (by previous owner) about 2 yrs. My place is only about 1000 sq ft. so I think I need a 2 ton. Any one know how to get a cost without having a company come out. I need to have some idea to make sure I have the funds

[Kachina624]

Get several people to come give you a free estimate. Why don't you want anyone to come to your home?

[apple1964]

That seems very odd... They would have to come to put in the unit.

[hckynut]

Have you considered a portable AC unit? We haven't had the full house AC turned of for 3 hot summers now. We spend most of our time in our 4 season patio room and it has combination Heat/AC Unit. When my wife is at work the ceiling fan and a commercial fan keep me cool enough for no AC, and I am talking 100+ degree days with high humidity also.

Paid less than $400 for the portable unit and we can move it to any room in our home that we occupy for a time. It currently resides primarily in the Master Bedroom as that is where my wife sleeps. She works and I am retired. I sleep in the patio room because I have not been able to sleep in any type of bed for over 20 years now, so our lounge chairs are my "bed".

Other than when I was in ICU for 8 days after my first heart attack with aspiration pneumonia, I haven't even slept in a bed during my days/weeks/months spent in the hospital stays.

For this winter I bought a Quartz Heater for the Master Bedroom, it also is portable, and it heats our 220sq. ft bedroom as warm as we wish. As in the summer, we do not turn on the whole house furnace. Could be more comfortable but it is not like we are suffering. When cold? Put on another layer of clothes, very simple.

Now that I've written a novel for you on this, back to my original question. Can you get by with a unit that is portable and you can move from room to room as you and/or your family moves? Just thought I would throw this is.

I can tell you for an AC that would be full house for our almost 4,000sq.ft house? It would be in the high 4 figures when it comes to $$$$.

[aubnwa01]

Not sure what type of system you have, but when I replaced my AC back in 2011, I had to have everything replaced, indoors & out. I have what's called a "split system" & all the components have to be matched & balanced to each other. What I had previously (original to builder) was an Amana compressor outside with an Amana gas forced air furnace in the attic & a Carrier chiller unit. In the 5 years I lived in the house before the AC was replaced, the AC would break at least once a summer & sometimes more & I've always had someone come out & check it before each summer.

When they replaced it (got thru Costco) the contractor pulled all the necessary permits & replaced the inside & outside stuff & moved the outside unit as the building codes had changed & there had to be more airflow around it. They also reran the electrical wiring to a larger gauge & put in new breakers at my main box & also a new breaker by the compressor. An inspector from the county had to sign off on it, too.

Mine is a Lennox 4 ton/2 stage system (my house is 1700 sq. ft) & my power bills went down immediately, because most of the time it runs in the 1st stage which pulls less power to run. The whole thing came to about $13K, but it had to all be replaced at once, because it had never worked properly to begin with.

I think you almost have to have someone come out & look at what you have & need, to make sure you're getting the right things

[tuscaloosa]

I replaced my AC/heater a couple of months ago. My condo is 700 sq ft. I got a 1-1/2 ton unit. Everything was replaced, inside and out. In fact the compressor is on the roof; it is a Rheem. It is important not to get one too big for your space as the system will run too much. The old system was the same size - all electric by the way. I had it replaced during the winter as it was cheaper. I would have paid about $600.00 more if I had waited until summer. I forgot the price - $3400.