'cause she's gone to that great cool place in the sky leaving me and the fuzzies to swelter.

I shouldn't complain... It was made in 1988.

Still, there goes my vacation fund, my buy me a new (used) truck fund, and the cash reserve fund.

Foo Chin Ah.

I feel your pain. Mine is on the way out and wiping out my .44 revolver fund (and more).

Yep, just wrote a ~$4,500 check a couple of days ago as ours died. Had to replace the whole frickin thing due to it being R22. You're not alone my friend.

quote:

Originally posted by MattW:
Yep, just wrote a ~$4,500 check a couple of days ago as ours died. Had to replace the whole frickin thing due to it being R22. You're not alone my friend.

Yeah, I'm looking at a whole new A/C and furnace deal.

I'd say fuck my life, but at least then my life'd get laid, so I'llsettle with FUCK.

At least I'm not in Oregon. It's like a bazillion degrees there now.

Just had ours serviced and the guy seemed to think it was old at 24 years and recommended replacement. I dunno.

Check to see if your state has any rebates or 0 interest loans for replacing heating/cooling equipment.

Replaced our 8 (!) year old AC a month ago to the tune of $5500 plus a couple of nights in hotels. I found out all sorts of interesting things like, it being installed on the side of the house with no shade and direct sun shortened its life by a third, being too small for the house another chunk, and not knowing I should cover it in the winter to protect it (I'm from the south originally, sue me...LOL) all reduced it's life span dramatically.

On the upside, the new one is 20% more efficient, and we know better how to maintain it.

Also, a friend of mine told me about having to replace his. It was a special attic installation A/C with lots of specialized parts that set him back $12k. So yeah...it sucks and I feel for you, but it could be worse.

quote:

Originally posted by ryan81986:
Check to see if your state has any rebates or 0 interest loans for replacing heating/cooling equipment.

There is (or used to be) a tax break for some items.

https://www.energystar.gov/about/federal_tax_credits

Man you guys need to shop around for prices, I had mine replaced mine about 3 years ago for under $2500. That was for a new compressor and A coil and also switching over from R22. Many a/c service guys do work on the side and much less than the company charges.

quote:

Originally posted by Rinehart:
Just had ours serviced and the guy seemed to think it was old at 24 years and recommended replacement. I dunno.

Most people I've talked to say typical life span is around 12-15 years.

My GF's system died last summer in August. It was 28 years old. The HVAC guy tried to find some replacement parts to cut the cost but it used an old discontinued refrigerant that would've cost an arm and a leg. So she had to have a new plenum assembly put in the attic too along with the new outside unit.

Our Carrier AC and furnace are 25 years old. When we moved in I bought the best they could get that had a lot of extra protection circuits. I know I am probably living on borrowed time and probably will replace within the next year.

I only had one repair done to it. About 5 years ago it quit working and I called Four Seasons out to service it. They are big in this area and have TV ads, etc but they are a joke. Guy came out and told me I needed new AC and furnace! I asked what was wrong with my AC and how much would it cost to fix it. He said I was much better off replacing it and I told him I would make that decision. When I pressed him he said he was not sure what was wrong with it and probably could not get part anyhow. In so many words I told him to fuck off.

So I pulled the top of the unit off to take a look and right away I see a multi capacitor in an oval can that was all bulged. He had to see that, the little prick. I discharged and removed the cap and got online and found that Granger had a replacement for $20. I drove to Granger, put the new cap in and it has been working ever since. Gosh it can be hard to find trustworthy repair people.

I have done one minor repair on the furnace. A $10 limit safety switch went bad and the blower was always on. I shorted it out and ordered the new part and replaced. I have done my own furnace maintenance and cleaning. My furnace is not very energy efficient but it sure is easy to troubleshoot and maintain.

I plan on going with the Carrier Performance line for replacement AC 16 SEER and furnace 80 or maybe 90 AFUE. We will probably live here another 6 years max.

quote:

Originally posted by cazio:
Man you guys need to shop around for prices, I had mine replaced mine about 3 years ago for under $2500. That was for a new compressor and A coil and also switching over from R22. Many a/c service guys do work on the side and much less than the company charges.

Location location.

quote:

Originally posted by cazio:
Man you guys need to shop around for prices, I had mine replaced mine about 3 years ago for under $2500. That was for a new compressor and A coil and also switching over from R22. Many a/c service guys do work on the side and much less than the company charges.

Yeah, try and find someone who isn't booked a month and a half out in the dead of summer when the AC gives up the ghost. Sure I might be able to find a cheaper deal, but not necessarily when the Mrs. is getting cranky and has to work on a home computer which cranks out even more heat adding to the fun. Besides, the tech was quick and the work was solid. Remember the old triad of Fast-Cheap-Good? You can have any two of them.

I replaced one about 7 years ago. The old was ancient - about 20 years old. The new one was so much more efficient that it cut our summer electric bills in half. This is Houston, mind you, so an AC gets a huge workout, but you ought to save the purchase price pretty quickly. It only took us about a year to recoup the cost.

quote:

Originally posted by Sig2340:

quote:

Originally posted by MattW:
Yep, just wrote a ~$4,500 check a couple of days ago as ours died. Had to replace the whole frickin thing due to it being R22. You're not alone my friend.

Yeah, I'm looking at a whole new A/C and furnace deal.

I'd say fuck my life, but at least then my life'd get laid, so I'llsettle with FUCK.

At least I'm not in Oregon. It's like a bazillion degrees there now.

About $4,000 if I can talk my buddy into it. He's busy as hell, so the timing will likely not work for you.

When we were in Wilmington NC we had dual AC units (upstairs, downstairs).
One sweltering weekend in August the AC unit for upstairs stopped working (no cold air and it just chugged away). I had the usual service people come in and they gave me a replacement cost of both units (they claimed I had to replace both) of "around" 7k to 8k.
They said the compressor had a pinhole leak and was old sh*t and couldn’t be repaired.
Three of them shrugged and just said "it was old" and they just told me to replace it.

I mentioned this to a friend and he said he knew a guy who knew a guy who might be able to help me.

The guy was an AC technician who did work on the side.
(He eventually replaced my Mom’s entire AC/Heating system for around four thousand dollars. They even pulled and replaced all of the crawlspace ductwork for that price).

So I called "the guy" and he looked at the system. He said the leak was on the bottom of the compressor and he thought he might be able to fix it if I wanted to try. He would have to take the compressor loose and turn it upside down to repair the pinhole. It would cost me $250.00 for him to try. Did I want to do it?
Of course.

So he did just that and called me out to show me the tiny pencil tip sized rust hole in the bottom. About two hours later he said, “let’s try it”. The AC system worked and continued to work for another eight years until we then sold the house. I made sure "the guy" was tipped well and passed him a load of referred work over the years.

Total cost… $250.00. cazio is right. The only way to win at thermonuclear war is not to play.

Our family motto is... numquam reddere retail

I wish I could find a guy who knew a guy that could work on a Waterfurnace geothermal heat pump. I'm on my 3rd season without AC. I can handle it but my house can't. The humidity and heat raises hell with my basement causing mildew and mold which now is likely a whole 'nother major issue.

My A/C went out last year at age 33. It was acting funny and seems to have a loose connection.
I replaced the starting capacitor and contractor but it still wouldn't run. There are no leaks since it shows pressure in the lines. So I just got a dehumidifier for the basement and a window unit for upstairs.

You'll make it up in a couple of years in electricity costs. My summer bill dropped 300 bucks a month when I replaced my mid 80's ac with a newer model.

Mine is about 10 years old. I came home a couple of weeks ago at 9:30 am after working a 15 hour shift that culminated in 40 minutes of CPR in a sweltering, cat-infested trailer to find my house at 80 degrees. I said screw it, and went to bed...woke up sweating 4 hours later.

I could hear the blower running in the furnace, but the compressor wasn't running. I went outside, tore the panel off, and discovered a broken contact on the connector switch. I soldered it to get me through, and a local shop was able to get me a replacement part in 2 days for $25. Disaster averted!

The one thing that did piss me off, though, is that there is virtually no way for a consumer to get appliance parts without going through a contractor. And the few places I could find, didn't have the part because it was discontinued...what I ended up with was a generic replacement. The manufacturer (Goodman), doesn't even sell parts to the public. It took hours online and multiple phone calls to get what I needed, even though I had the original part # in hand.

I have a 25 year-old John Deere mower that I can still order almost any part for, directly from Deere, and most are actually in-stock at my local dealer. Why can't my AC unit be the same? It's a racket, I tell ya.