"cybercat" wrote in
. com:


"cshenk" wrote

Waiting patiently and hoping for good news!

The AC guy just left. As soon as he saw the unit, he said, "I can tell
you what the problem is, it is out of freon." I said, "Oh, good, then
you can just fill it up!" He said, "No, that's not good, because I can
fill it up but it will just leak out again."

He could not tell me how long it would take to leak out again. He
could tell me that a new system, with new ductwork is going to run
something like $7K to 9K.

I told him we would have to take our chances and hope the freon would
last for a while.

He sold me on a $150 per year maintenance plan for both heating and
cooling, with one check in the spring that includes coil cleaning
every year. Then a check of the furnace etc. for winter. With this
maintenance plan, we got a small discount on freon.

Here is what the invoice looks like:

Qty and Service Non HSP HSP

Diagnostic: $99.00 $47.00
HSP agreement $0 $149.00
Gas surcharge $10.00 $0
1 lb R-22 (1st pound) $ 91.00 $77.00
4 Additional lbs R-22 $108.00 $88.00
2 Cleaning coils $162.00 $0
Total $470.00 $361.00

So we paid $361 and this includes a heating check next fall.

Under Work Performed:

Performed service. cool check on system checked volts, amps, coils,
motors, filter, T-stat, Electrical, Refrigerant, Capacitors,
superheat, temperature drop, Diagnostic system, very low refrigerant.
Added 5.04 lbs of R.-22. Diagnose no other problems at this time.

Technician recommends: System upgrade due to age and efficiency. Very
highly recommend replacing system. Leak search test $35 per 1/4 hour."

Hmmm. Anybody know what the leak search results mean? Did I just pay
$361 for a week of cool air?

By the way, the unit is beautiful now, he did a great job cleaning it
inside and out. It looks new.

What say you experts?



As far as the ductwork, it could be a soaking and it could be necessary.
If it was a poorly designed airflow (turbulence, turns causing air
friction, back pressure) it could indeed benefit a lot in the form of
higher effeciency/less unit work.

How do you know? Someone you have an established relationship with and
trust and/or multiple opinions and/or take a chance with the old
ductwork. For some they skip duct suggestion and it works out just fine.
I guess the ones that it doesn't work out for don't advertise it much.