I replaced one last year. The problem is Freon used in older units is no longer made. If you have a leak you will have to replace. I bought the biggest one they had. I only had one choice of brand. It has been doing fine so far.

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I had to install a new AC and heater at the beginning of summer. No supply chain issue with equipment, but all companies were booked solid. Took a week. Luckily the first week and a half it wasn't hot and humid yet. We did get a couple mid 90's days in the end. Bought several floor fans

Probably just the start capacitor which is a $20 part. There are some trouble shooting guides online. I’d start at the simplest fix possible first.

The same happened to us. We had to wait 3 weeks to have the AC installed.

We had one done in early April, not sure when the wife ordered it. We knew it was on its last legs and didnt want to get caught in the middle of summer w no a/c so wife got in front of it before that happened.

Whats the price of replacing an AC unit these days, unit and installation?

John

I recently got a quote in Woodbridge, VA, but we decided to ride it out with the old unit which is working fine. They gave us 2 options which were in the $13 to $15K range which I thought was high for a sub 2K sq ft townhome. I think they said install in 2 to 3 weeks.

Did they replace your start capacitor or add a hard start capacitor? Chinese and Mexican start capacitors suck BTW. Always a chance that you got a bad one.

Have the tech verify the electrical issue, if the unit was operational beforehand it should be an easy fix. Might be a capacitor or the compressor contactor. If it's an electrical issue shouldn't take more than 15 minutes to diagnose.

Have a compressor failing on a 5 ton, 30 year old unit, $3500 to replace compressor and recharge.

I paid $5,850 for 3.5 ton 15 seer AC and 80 percent furnace, installed (included $250 electric company rebate). No fancy variable blower or AC, which would have nice. Second lowest qoute was in $8k range.

My sister had her first floor AC unit replaced earlier this year.
I know nothing about these units, but here were the specs -

AC - Rheem 3 Ton Coil
Rheem 3 Ton 14 SEER Condenser
1 New Pad
1 Condensate Pump
$3800

2 years ago I had a 4ton AC installed and replaced the NG gas furnace 97% 140k btu replaced at the same time for a matching pair. Brand Amana. It was about 12k with some duct work that needed to be replace and rerouted. I had to wait 6 months to schedule it in my area of MA as the company I wanted to use was booked. Took 2 guys 1 day to install. Most of the cost of these installs are highway robbery. The martial cost for me was less than $5k but they charged me 12k. That's 7k for 2 guys for less than one days labor. The problem is they are all like this. I figured out that they are charging about $500 per hour per man otherwise they won't do the job in my area. If I ever swap these units out I am going to do it myself and have a tech just come to check the system next time.

Along those lines, if he can talk to a local home remodeling contractor and find out who their guy is, that's the way to go to avoid that BS.

I don't know if you are rural or metro, but I've found the farther out of the city core you get, the cheaper these things become. find a reputable dealer on the outskirts of the area you are in and you will find the materials and labor are much much cheaper, even if you have to pay a little mileage. They have less overhead and their business depends on repeat customers instead of sheer volume, and you have a lot less chance of getting ripped off. I just built a new house and shop, and I saved over 7K for both systems by going with a guy who was about 15 miles away vs the local commercial shops. Same exact installs, and these guys were great to work with. My first estimates made my jaw drop......

This would be my first step, even before calling a technician. You can probably get the correct capacitor from your local supply house for less than $10 so its worth a shot. When my AC compressor stopped it was because mice had chewed the wiring so give it a good inspection while you are in there

My latest AC issue the outside compressor was working but internal blower motor was not. It only took a few minutes on YouTube, a trip to the HVAC supply house, $121.55, and 90 mins to have cool air flowing again. I would guess during this current heat wave that's probably a 1K service call

Hey you are right and that is what I did. All of the contractors in the area were going to charge the same rate or higher but this contractor I had to wait until they had a free day from their contracted work on large developments. I went with this guy as I knew it would be done right and little things they would fix like duct work that was not in the quote. I used to live near Woodbridge VA and the costs were even higher 5 years ago as someone else in this thread mentioned. They wanted $15k for a one day install for $3k worth of material cost. Instead I sold the house with the old heat/AC system.

I’ve got my fingers crossed for a simple fix for you. I replaced my upstairs unit and compressor last year, but was fortunate to have the assistance of my brother who is licensed for HVAC. This year the downstairs unit stopped in the middle of a heat wave. Long story short, it was the 20 year old wiring in the conduit that had failed and it was an easy 6 feet of wire replacement to bring it back to life. It pays to check the simple stuff first. The compressor, fan, and starter caps are still OK.

Good luck,
Dave

Just replaced, no supply issues.

Mr Cool DIY may be of interest. They have 2 product lines with this bussiness model plus the non DIY line.

Service tech especially a good one will be booked.

Do not forget the service disconnect when you order. Code requirment and a in general hood idea.

Read installation manual before considering.

Best luck. Hazardous heat here in central Va.
Worse hazzard from overheated wife.

Enjoy the day Shane

Basically if you can't do it yourself, or don't "know a guy", it's $$$$$$. I know a guy who works for a large corporate account company, and does installs etc on the side. He quoted me at $6k for a multi head Mitsubishi minisplit unit to be installed at my house (going to do it in the fall). My neighbor has a smaller home, easier setup...he was quoted between $13k and 15k for a crap brand, two head unit from three different companies.

What most people don't realize is when the start cap goes out, it is because the drop out relay has failed. The DO relay is what tells the start cap to be in the circuit or not. You only want the start relay in when the motor is starting...once it is up to speed, the start cap must be dropped. If it stays in, it will blow. It's a short-term device. Not a run all day device. So changing just the start cap will get you back up and running....but it'll blow again soon.

As for AC units, the biggest mistake to buy into the energy efficiency KoolAid that's floating around. Specifically, buying an AC unit with an inverter-fed compressor motor. Or fan motor. It's one of those cases (like many) where 'smart' devices are really stupid devices.

Buy a unit that is old school enough that it does NOT have any inverters in it. They're still very efficient, and they break far less often. When they do break, you can fix them. The inverter units are overly complex, less reliable, and will often cost more to repair than a new unit.

That capacitor is a very simple fix. At my old house, with the heat pump on the sun facing side, it was guaranteed I'd be replacing it every 2+ years, so I kept a spare. At my current house with the heat pump always shaded, I've never had to replace one.

I would hope you have a reasonable repair to ride through another year.

Yes, there are/were shortages of parts from the east, that affected many AC factories as I heard from in Merida Mexico,

But that has almost cleared through the system, although with demand...its still an issue.

Ive found, in General, $6-$12K is a range, depending on much.

Speaking only in Florida, and having done 3 AC units in the last couple years, that a variable speed high end unit worked for my home.
Costco ran a $13K system for $8K, and balanced Electric went from $350 to $150 for home, and AC in Flortida,

In MD, your season isnt as long, so you may not want an expensive unit...

I hope its a small repair bill, and if possible or needed, a second opinion....

Good Luck and health for Dad.

Avoid Trane, Lennox, I don’t recall if Rheem is one of those BS proprietary parts units.

Any unit that requires authorized parts dealers is bad news. They last forever but when stuff breaks it can be insanely expensive.

I used a Goodman.
Generic, commonly used parts. Anyone can fix it.

Side note: “Freon” is not what is used. It’s a blanket term for the average person, because explaining that there are thousands of chemical refrigerants is difficult and spooks the average homeowner.

Replaced ours last year when it got super hot, as that's when they die. No supply chain issues at all, but their installation calendar was booked up. Just because they can send a repair guy today doesn't mean they can do an install tomorrow. Thankfully we already had a separate ductless mini-split for the bedrooms upstairs, so it didn't bother us to wait a few weeks to get the downstairs unit replaced. Good luck.

Good thread.

I will attempt DIY replacing my AC system the next time it dies. I installed a minisplit on my garage and once I learned how to pull vacuum and charge it, it was really easy. Cost me under $1500. For central air I would just need to learn proper way to connect to the ductwork. Inside unit is about ten feet from the outside unit, so not much copper to run.

$23k for all new system (condenser & air handler), some duct revamp, new zone control system. New England price, typical. Took me over a year to find someone to do the work. Was ghosted by four companies who did estimates then vanished first. Now supposedly it will be done this fall but they are waiting on the equipment. I suggest you buy temporary ac of some kind while you work on lining things up.

Mine just went out. Furnace would call for ac and go on, but outside unit would not do anything. Technician that came out found mass of Earwigs had made a nest by the "switch" inside somewhere. Cost me $100

This is what I did. The company I used is owned and operated by two brothers and a sister. They mostly work in the next county that is rural. They came way under anyone else and their customer service was insanely good.

I have to second (third?) this. City companies are decimated by requests in the summertime. They are telling you - with their price - that you need to decide how badly you want the unit replaced soon. Wait until November and you will find the price is FAR lower!

Also, definitely have them check that DO relay. If you’ve already replaced the cap a couple months ago, your compressor is probably fine but the relay may not be. Will save you thousands of dollars if it’s just that

As an Md resident. Look into carrier units for ease of parts and replacement. They have suppliers in Hanover. I’m not in the trade but manage about 100 air handling units of many types in my cannabis production facility. Compressors and motors could be in short supply. When we last hit up carrier, they had it all. Good luck. We work with knott mechanical but they are commercial in scope.

Check out the new Daikin Fit Inverter units - I installed 2 a couple of years ago and love them. They take up 1/3 of the space of a traditional compressor cube - awesome if you have small side yards. They are much quieter too.

https://backend.daikincomfort.com/docs/default-source/product-documents/residential/brochures/cb-consfit.pdf?sfvrsn=f8962826_44

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If it's not clicking on that's a good sign that it may be a fairly simple repair. Most likely culprits are the capacitor in the outdoor unit (usually a dual capacitor for the compressor and fan in one unit) or the contactor. Both of these parts are inexpensive and easy to replace.

Congrats on the easy fix! Your A/C unit may be good for another 10 years, who knows!

Glad you got this sorted for a reasonable price. I keep a dedicated flex rod cleaning brush hanging on the trap and try to clean it every couple of months in summer. Pretty sure most techs recommend using vinegar over bleach and I also use one of these tablets every 3 months or so in the condenser drain pan.

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I used to have to clean mine out twice a year. I have now gone an entire year without touching it. No bleach or anything.

See here...

https://pinside.com/pinball/forum/topic/hvac-biogunk-in-the-condsate-drain-pan-solved

I'm in NE Ohio just purchased a new Train unit and furnace installed for $10,500.00...obviously depends on model. I didn't get the lowest one but maybe 1 or 2 up? Home is roughly 3,000 sf.

I am an HVAC service technician with 25+ years of experience. To correct a few misconceptions:

• “Freon” is a trademark copyrighted to the DuPont company for their refrigerants. Freon 12 (used in old cars), Freon 22 (air conditioning), would be examples.

• Refrigerant 22 is being phased out, with no new supply being manufactured. The inventory that is out there, or if any used refrigerant 22 can be recycled / cleaned is all that is left. Once it is gone, it is gone!

• This is the reason why the price continues to escalate and will continue as the inventory gets smaller and smaller.

• The new refrigerant found in current equipment is R-410A.

• Major manufacturers, such as Trane and Carrier, have set significant price hikes on their equipment.

• Proprietary parts would be major components such as printed circuit boards (PCB’s), compressors, or fans (indoor or outdoor). This goes for the majority of manufacturers. Capacitors, contactors, pressure switches, etc. can be replaced with aftermarket parts.

• You get what you paid for. A good comparison would be the big 3 automakers = Chevy, Ford, Dodge >>> Trane, Carrier, York the big three equipment manufacturers. Some of the smaller companies do put out good equipment, just as bigger companies can put out lemons. The key is to do research, check reviews, and ask questions.

You have a condensate overflow safety switch installed on your system. This is wired in series with your compressor contactor coil. If the drain gets clogged, and the condensate starts backing up, it will open the switch >>> killing the 24 volt signal to energize the compressor contactor coil. This shuts down the cooling immediately so no additional condensate (water) can be produced and possibly flood a piece of equipment or surrounding area.

That's great news.

Getting all kinds of HVAC pop up adds since I started reading this thread.

I may be in this boat soon... Our house has a 2 ton and a 3 ton unit, and they are 18 years old. We had one unit go out in June, but luckily it only took a new transformer to get it back up and running. What is really killing us is the electricity they are using and the $900 power bills. I am hoping we can get through the rest of this AC season with these units, and then swap them out in November or December.