Central Air ( AC)

[turbo392]

Usually when the compressor is gone the unit should be replaced. When you factor in the extra time and cost of refrigerant (new ones are precharged) you won't save much repairing. Then the whole thing is new and warrantied.

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Just like a truck, right? Engine is gone, throw that truck away and buy a new one.

 

[turbo392]

Do you have to replace all the stuff thats hooked up to the furnace on the inside of the house? Or can you just replace the unit that is outside the house?

Just outside, but salesbro might argue otherwise.

 

[Caper11]

Do you have to replace all the stuff thats hooked up to the furnace on the inside of the house? Or can you just replace the unit that is outside the house?

That would depend on the contractor, he may not want to use the old evaporator, depending on the condition of it. It definitely would not hurt pulling it out of the furnace and see how clean it is.


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[lilduke]

That would depend on the contractor, he may not want to use the old evaporator, depending on the condition of it. It definitely would not hurt pulling it out of the furnace and see how clean it is.


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Might hurt the wallet. I just want it to work, not to spend 10 grand. Only get 10 hot days a year lol


I watched a few YouTube videos and think i might beable to fix it myself.

 

[Caper11]

Might hurt the wallet. I just want it to work, not to spend 10 grand. Only get 10 hot days a year lol


I watched a few YouTube videos and think i might beable to fix it myself.

No it won’t cost that much bud. I would be very surprised if it all cost 4g. Now availability of units is another thing. I wouldn’t wait.
Some contractors sell the condenser and the evaporator as a package, your electrical and AC lines are already done, so that will lower the cost. Evaporators are not that expensive, probably 1500 at the most, that would be a conversation with your contractor.
The evaporator is just as important as the main unit (condenser) if there is a lack of air flow on the evaporator than the main unit cannot take the heat out of the house, and it will always be freezing off.


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[mclean]

I just got a quote for a carrier 3 ton in Calgary. 4900 everything in

 

[mclean]

Or I could put 2 portable ones in every room for half the price haha

 

[Cyle]

Or I could put 2 portable ones in every room for half the price haha

I've found you really only need one in the bedroom, other then that depending on the house it's not bad. There's not many days in a year here where you really need it.

 

[Caper11]

Been there, done that with the portable in the bedroom, 1100 bucks total by the time the window insert was made for the house bedroom, they are horribly noisy, and suck a lot of air out of the house.
I have two in my work condo on the 3rd floor, two portables put quite the negative pressure inside the unit, they will suck the hot air in the hallway under the main door.


The central air installation was well worth the money, even if I am close to the mtns, there have been times it was +30 at 11pm, and I did it mostly for my kids. Their bedroom is westward facing and it’s horrible how hot their rooms gets.
I won’t own another house without central AC. I love it, properly sized they do not increase the power bill much.
Last summer my power went up 60 bucks a month during the major heat wave.


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[lilduke]

Im with you. Ive done it both ways and central air for the win.

 

[Stompin Tom]

You wont have to worry about it getting hot this summer, we had our central air installed a couple of weeks ago. It hasnt stopped raining since. Im sorry.

 

[ABMax24]

I also bought a portable unit. Even spent the money on a 2 pipe unit that doesn't pull hot air back into the house, worked okay for our master bedroom, but had to run for at least a few hours to cool it off every evening. Wasn't particularly energy efficient either, pulled 1300watts, our 2 ton AC unit pulls about 2300watts including the furnace fan to cool the entire house.

 

[Stompin Tom]

I also bought a portable unit. Even spent the money on a 2 pipe unit that doesn't pull hot air back into the house, worked okay for our master bedroom, but had to run for at least a few hours to cool it off every evening. Wasn't particularly energy efficient either, pulled 1300watts, our 2 ton AC unit pulls about 2300watts including the furnace fan to cool the entire house.

We had one of those in the bedroom for a few years. Kept it cool, but yes, had to precool for a few hours each evening, and noisy as hell. Would keep fluctuating though the night, fan would runs slow, then high, then kick in cooling and make more noise, then shut down.

 

[mclean]

We like them for the white noise. We have a big one for our room. We want to keep our little guys room cold and run a white noise machine so a portable one would do both. We need the ac bad but 5g is a lot for the 30 days a year you need one

 

[turbo392]

Can’t we just pay more taxes to fix the problem?

 

[sirkdev]

 

[struglin]

I just had a 3 tone unit installed for 4595.00 just outside of Calgary


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[mclean]

What unit and by who

 

[struglin]

Canyon did the install, it it’s a Duncane(by Lenox) 16 seer 3 tone unit


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[meierjn]

I had to have my furnace replaced in the middle of a freaking cold snap about 5 years ago. The heat exchanger developed a huge crack and would have been pretty pricey to replace vs. the benefits of installing a new, efficient unit. I told them to install the internal coil and "stuff" for AC while they were at it. I banked enough money over the next year to buy a nice efficient and quiet AC unit that sits between mine and my neighbors house. Its a big condenser but its really quiet, and supposedly more efficient. I remember my wife saying "we don't have the money right now" when I told her we should get it installed. I just smiled and yes we do. I had a electrician friend install the breaker for me and the external disconnect and I ran the wire. The AC unit was installed in the spring of 2018. I was in a bad MC accident in June of that year and we had a freaking hot heat wave with all of the smoke from the fires in BC. There was no way I could have got into the basement to stay cool so the AC install was very good timing. I'd say it was one of the best investments we made. There are the peeps that disagree or say that you only need AC for a couple of weeks/year but once you have it you realize you shouldn't have waited that long. I was one of them until we moved into our previous house that had AC. The new furnace was installed with a MERV 11 filter setup that does a great job of keeping the allergens out of the house. I knew what we were missing and I wanted it back! Its so nice to be able to sleep at night with the windows closed and not wake up sneezing due to allergies.

From my "limited" knowledge a bigger or higher rated unit is not always better. The installer should size the unit for your house and take in to account the location of the condenser outside. A bigger unit in a smaller house may cool it off too quickly and continuously turn off and on. A unit that is too small may seem to run continuously. If the condenser is sitting in the south side of your house in the sun vs. the shade on the north side will also add or subtract to the required sizing. Remember, this is my "limited" understanding of AC requirements! Please feel free to correct me if any of it is BS!

Recommendations:
If you are installing a new furnace, get the coils installed at the same time.

If your sitting on the fence, get AC. You won't regret it!