a/c help

I spent a cumulative total of three years installing HVAC systems. Twelve grand sounds like a lot, but the newer units are much more energy efficient than the ones being made even ten years ago. You'll make up the cost of the new system with the savings on your electric bill. Plus look into what kind of tax break you can get for having a new system put in. My brother bought a house last year and all the ductwork needed to be replaced. He bought the new ductwork and I installed it for him over a couple of days. I know he was saying that he was able to get some sort of tax write off out of it. That may have been something that was going on last year only.
I also highly recommend installing thermostats that are programmable. That'll help you save some bucks too. You can set it to a warmer temp during the day when people likely aren't at home and program it so that it'll be whatever temp you want at a certain time. If you set it to stay at 82 during the day but want it to be 75 when you get home shortly after 5:30 the system will kick on just before 5:30 so that it will be 75 at 5:30. Most programmable thermostats have a M-F program setting and separate Saturday and Sunday settings. Some of the higher priced ones have settings for each individual day.

 

If my heating or AC system does die, hopefully it happens before mid-June 2008. As part of the closing we got the sellers to include a home warranty, so all service calls are $55, no matter the cost of the parts needed to do the job. If the technician determines that it needs to be replaced, it's still just $55.

 

Happy ending (and thanks for the help, everyone):

My wife's editor gave us the number for the a/c company he uses. They've been in business 20 years and haven't advertised in 19 because word-of-mouth does the job. The guys get paid hourly, no commissions, so they don't try to upsell you.

The guy came and spent an hour and a half checking every last thing out, even after he found the probable cause early in the search.

A line in part of the outside unit was blocked with dirt. He cleaned it out and everything's humming now. Total cost: $145.

Quite the relief. And for what it's worth, he said that for installing a totally new system in our house, twelve grand is probably a little high but isn't all that out of line.

 

uh, you can buy another home warranty when the current one runs out. very good investment.

 

I know I can renew it when the current one expires. The wife & I just need to decide if we're going to renew or not.