Well Poop

[BarryBobPosthole]

Main A/C unit compressor on the house has seized up. It's 16 years old so its about time I reckon.

I'm not sure if I'm going to need to replace the furnace/air handler up in the attic that goes along with it or not. Hopefully not. Anybody have any advice for replacement? I imagine it'll be a R410-A unit since freon is so dad gum expensive nowadays.

Dang it, its always something seems like making you write those damned checks.

BKB

[Thumper]

Just called my a/c guy about 10 minutes ago ... awaiting a call-back. It's 85 degrees in the house right now. Odd you should mention "it's always something". I've been outside with the Verizon guy for the last 2 hours ... the phones went out Saturday ... which also wiped out my internet. Just been real sporadic service ... no internet access ... access for 20 minutes, then out again ... tons of static on the line. He left ("THINKS") it's fixed (seems to be for now) ... then I walked into the house and it's not much cooler than it is outside. ARRRGGHHH!!

To make matters worse ... I had a big oak tree fall over in the back yard a couple weeks ago and I'm still working to get it cleaned up. There's another VERY large Live Oak that looks like bugs have gotten to it and if I don't have it taken down, it's gonna take out half my neighbor's house. I called a tree guy who came out a week ago last Friday, took one look at it and said he'll have to come back on Monday to look at it with his partner as it's a MUCH bigger job than he'd anticipated. They were supposed to be here LAST Monday ... I haven't seen or heard a thing ... the tree must'a scared 'em.

Sometimes I don't think I own a house ... it owns me! :(

[jb]

Wish we had an AC problem, temp this morning when we woke up was 49, high today maybe 65, high all week is mid 70's.
Feels like fall.

[Thumper]

Come back and talk to us when your furnace breaks. :D

[Captain]

Karma.... God a punishing you for giving me hell when I called the repairman two weeks ago when it was a hundred degrees and my AC went out.... That will teach you! ;)

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[BarryBobPosthole]

It would be highly out of character for me to kick a guy like yourself when he was down.

BKB

[Thumper]

Ha! Yeah, I suppose. Lightning fried mine a few years back and they installed a new unit. Ever since, they've had to add freon every other summer although nobody has ever been able to find a leak. Of course, the warranty on their work was only for 1 year. I just pulled my file and see the last time freon was added was in July of 2012. Story of my life. :(

[BarryBobPosthole]

R22 is expensive as hell. The new units use a different type of refrigerant that is a lot cheaper. And they have variable speed compressors nowadays too instead of the old ones like mine that are just either off or on.

BKB

[Buckrub]

I just paid off the $6,000 my totally new inside/outside unit cost when installed in May 2012................ Sure does work great and is quiet. But it was some kind of shock when the coils rusted out, the unit fell apart, and my ceiling was raining, and I had to find Six Large to make the world right.

[Captain]

Posty, my comments were basically aimed at Thumper, but only because he beat you to giving me hell..... :D

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[Niner]

BBP, get ready to crack open that piggy bank. :crybaby :snorting
I prolly already told this, but I'll tell 'er again.

Earlier this year...just as the heat/humidity started rising, we turned on the A/C one evening to "cool things down a little". The next morning, the temp was the same. Called the outfit who's number was on the sticker when it got installed.....WELLL....that company was out of bidness, sold out to ummmmm--- let's call them Company B. They sent a "technician" out, and he spent all of about 10 mins looking at the system and pronounced that the compressor was locked up.

We asked the dude if the unit was still under somekindof warranty. He said, "nope this unit is 9 years old and the warranty has expired. Y'all will need a NEW system installed. It should only be about 7 to 8 THOUSAND DOLLARS, as they are phasing out the Freon that this OLD unit uses. We could just install a new compressor....that would prolly only be about $5000. I'll have someone from the business office call you on Monday (this was Friday evening).....that'll be $100.00 for the service call please."

So, we also put in a call to Company C. They sent out a feller to look at the system. He also said the compressor was dead, and would need to be replaced. "Prolly only run about $5000". We again asked if the unit was under somekindof warranty.....and the dude said nope.

Well.......long story a tad bit shorter. We called Company D. We told them about needing a new system or compressor. The OWNER of this SMALL company came out to talk with us about a new system. During the course of the conversation, he says..."Ya know, that compressor SHOULD still be under warranty. I think the warranty on those is 10 years." SO, this guy goes down to the outside unit and starts looking it over. He didn't bring any tools.....he'd the OWNER of the company, and had come to talk about selling us a new system (as we'd requested). He asked if I had a screwdriver and a multi-meter he could borrow for a min. I said I sure did, and got them for him. He checked the unit out and wrote down the serial numbers. THEN he whips out his cell phone and calls his supplier and asks if that unit is still under warranty. Sure enough it was....just barely. The warranty runs out this summer.

Soooooooo, they ordered the replacement compressor. It took a few days to get here from wherever they had to source it from. His technician came out and installed the new compressor and charged the system up with Freon (whatever kind it's supposed to use), and took the old one back to the supplier for the warranty exchange.

We ended up only having to pay for the service call, and the freon......about $1200. Thank GOD there are still some honest business folks out there!!!!!!

[BarryBobPosthole]

Wow, I'll bet you're glad you stuck to your guns on that deal! This is one of the original three units we had installed when we built the house in '98 so it's 16 years old. I THINK I can get like a $500 rebate from ym electric company but our nincompoop Congress failed to extend tax breaks for folks improving their energy efficiency in their homes. That'd be $2000 to me. They couldn't hit the friggin' ground with their hat.

BKB

[Captain]

You should have upgraded when the money was available. It was there for UPGRADES, not replacements when yours breaks. The whole deal was so folks would replace older working units with more cost efficient units... ;)

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[BarryBobPosthole]

You don't consider replacing and old one that's broke with a new one that ain't an upgrade?

BKB

[Captain]

Yep but the money done RUNNOFT now. The Idea was to get folks to replace old systems while they were still working for more efficient units. Not to keep using old units till they broke and needed replacing....

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[Niner]

BBP, be sure to check with your electric provider. If you don't have that kind of money stashed away in your sock drawer, they MAY have some low or no interest monies available. I know back when we had these units installed (zoned HVAC...one upstairs, and one on the main level), our EMC had some very good rates on money for new HVAC systems.....AND they were more than happy to just tack the monthly payment onto our electric bill each month. IMHO it was a win/win for sure.

[BarryBobPosthole]

Thanks Niner, I will check that out. We have some money socked away in a CD for stuff like this. It just seems like every time we get a little of a stash built back up, something like this happens. The joys of home ownership I guess! I sure wish they allowed solar in my neighborhood. Lennox has some pretty decent looking solar systems out there nowadays.

BKB