"AKA Gray Asphalt" writes:
My a/c quit working, no cool air. About a year ago a repairman did something
with a switch in the attic that he said would normally be replaced at a cost
of $150 or so but that it really wasn't necessary. He has a good rep and no
reason to have me spend less.
Nos the A/C quit working. I called another company as I couldn't locate the
other guy. The tech came out, took a look at the unit and said the
compressor was probably frozen but that he couldn't tell until he put a
booser on it to see if he could get it running. He said it was turning off
because it was overheating and was getting a signal to turn on. He didn't
look in the attic or mention anything about a disabled switch.
It's a carrier. I don't have the BTUs.
Any suggestions? What should it cost to replace the compressor it that's
what turns out to be bad? The A/C is 10 years old. Should I replace the
whole unit, if the compressor is bad?
Well poo. Sorry to hear of your trouble.
Given that the industry now has a mandated 13SEER efficiency on A/C
units, it may be that you won't be able to get away with just
replacing the compressor without also doing the coil inside. At 10
years, may as well just do the system I suppose. Plus at 10
years... it's not exactly a spring chicken.
I have some recent estimates for A/C for a 2 story colonial of around
2400sf in Chicagoland. 3TON 13SEER a/c + coil installed was
$2000-3200 depending on how quiet ya want it to be outside.
The low estimate broke it out: Frigidaire R22 unit at $1400 with a
$550 coil. Carrier systems using R410A ran between $2600-$3200 for
basic/comfort/performance series. A Ruud 3TON (R22) came in at $2889.
Hope that helps ya with some ballpark numbers before you start
gathering estimates. If you're comfy with Carrier (which you may not
be with this failure), have a Bryant dealer quote ya too -- same
stuff, same factory in Indiana, less expensive paint and label. Rheem
and Trane seem to be very well respected. Ruud is another brand of
Rheem equipment.
Best Regards,
--
Todd H.
http://www.toddh.net/