Posted on 02/25/2015 7:07:59 AM PST by Phillyred
I am looking into replacing my 25+ year old gas furnace (forced air) and AC unit for a 1900 sq ft home.
How much should I expect to pay total if using existing duct work?
Does anyone have a reputable recent low cost recommendation in the Philadelphia suburbs? Anything to watch out for? Thanks!
When you have decided what you want, then the trickier part is finding a good contractor to do the installation. Shop really well when it comes to this. I think it is usually better to buy the unit(s) from the installer so that you know you will be able to get it serviced when needed.
Hope that helps, along with the links I provided.
Plan on Between $4 and $8K. Check (if you have one) your Home “Warranty” it may cover a lot of not all of the cost.
Look up HVAC wholesale supplier stores (Johnstone is one in my area). Call several different stores and ask the counterman what three or four contractors he would recommend to, say his friends.
If you get the same name(s) several times from different stores then call that one.
Look for a HVAC contractor that works on Rental Properties. Check with a local Realtor.
Then ask that contractor for a slightly used unit. These contractors frequently remove unit from temporarily vacant properties to prevent thieft.
let us know how that works out.
If you are mechanically inclined, and know how to use a torch and can silver solder copper, you can do it for about $1500-$2000 TOTAL. 5 ton coil and condenser is about $900-$1200, new furnace around $600. If it is a heat pump then it will be about $1200 for coil and condenser. Condenser will come Pre-Charged, so all you need is a vacuum pump and guages.
15 years or so ago, I always bought Sears Die-Hard slip resistant work shoes, on sale of course. The wear very comfortble and durable.
I would look into Geo Thermal. It is the most efficient way to heat and cool your home.
If your home is multi-story, get a quote on a zoned system. It opens and closes ducts to put conditioned air where it’s needed, minimizing run times.
Get the contractors to tell you how much cooling (in tons) your home really needs. Many homes are built with undersized systems.
I live in the East Bay of San Francisco. In the summer of 2011, my 3.25-ton, 25 year-old Carrier system died. My brother, who is an HVAC expert, told me that my house needed a four-ton unit. One of the bidding contractors agreed and said that we would need to add a return to the system. Done.
The winning bid was $8500, and that included replacing all the flexihose ducts in the crawl space and building a new plenum, both of which were ruined by wild animals that had gotten into the crawl space. I got a new high-efficiency Amana furnace with variable-speed blower, which runs at low RPMs when the heater/AC are not running, to keep the air mixed. The compressor is also Amana. Amana is a rebadged Goodman. The two-zone system (upstairs/downstairs) is from Honeywell. Perfect, so far.
Take your time; it’s a lot of money.
Bump for later...
Getting ready to replace our HVAC soon as well.
Hope you’re successful...
Thanks to all who posted very useful information.
For most of my life, my folks lived in two houses (we moved a ton when I was young, but by the time I was seven, they'd finally settled). We had a "green monster" (big ugly green box) A/C unit that was original to the house that was built in 1968 or 1969. It was there when they moved out in 1995.
The next house they lived in was built in 1991, and the original unit is still on that house (the furnace has issues, but the A/C unit is still chugging). I couldn't tell you what either brand was.
As an aside, the rental house I'm in has a Carrier unit that was installed in about 2009. It's crap. Both the furnace and A/C unit have issues. The outside unit has a leak, and needs re-charging every 4-6 weeks when in use, and the furnace rattles something fierce when it kicks on.
In that regard, my brother had oil/hot air heat, no AC (I think). His oil sys was on the way out, and he needed AC - so he decided on a heat pump added to his existing system, and retained the oil sys as backup on cold days. That worked to his satisfaction. That was Bucks County, Pa, which is in your bailiwick as far as climate is concerned. I shouldn’t wonder that that system is doing poorly this winter, cold as it’s been.I’m now in central PA, getting hammered with persistent sub-20 and even single-digit WX. But I have natural gas heat, like you - and NG is the cheapest fuel going now and in the foreseeable future. I’m certainly not pining for a heat pump in this weather, and I’m proud of having NG fuel. You will have to sharpen your pencil well to count the cost of the heat pump, in the context of the plentiful nature of NG today. But if it doesn’t add too much to your capital cost, it is good thermodynamics to do it. Good thermodynamics - but only good engineering if the cost of electricity to run the heat pump doesn’t outrun the (low) cost of NG.
I will add that my brother, an engineer, calculated the size of the heat pump he wanted, and stuck to his guns when the supplier claimed he needed a bigger unit. The upshot was that the unit he chose was adequate to provide all the heat he needed, down to the temperature at which the oil burner kicked in. And that remained true even when he significantly added on to his house. So, his choice was correct.
Another possible consideration is heat zones, and one workaround if you need it is to put a heat pump through-the-wall system in the room which is otherwise not adequately temperature controlled. That won’t be free, but it can be done if you do need it.
$4K for heat and air for mine in central Illinois, using existing duct work.
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