BR HVAC recommendations? UPDATED

One hour air has always been super expensive IMO

Get a quote from AmTech services.. That guy does fantastic work.

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One hour air has always been super expensive IMO

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Yeah, but you're paying them so you don't have to be fricking miserable for a week until someone else can get time in their schedule to come out and do the work. It's kind of the same idea behind why you'll pay a premium for a plumber to come out on the weekend when your toilet's backing up. Sure, you could wait and pay less for him to come deshit your house during the week in a few days, but you want that shite gone NOW. It's the quick, good, cheap triangle at work.

Last time I used them it was the Sunday before Labor Day and from the time I called them until the time I was cool again was about 6 hours to show up, inspect the system, diagnose a blown fan motor, go fetch a replacement from the warehouse, and then come back and install the replacement. Totally worth the extra couple hundred bucks when it's 100 degrees outside and I'm looking at two days, minimum, before anyone will come out after the holiday. Not so much when it's 80. When it's 80, I can wait a few days.

I don't think I'd use them for major repairs or replacement of systems, though.

I got a 4 ton 16 seer with 80k btu furnace American Standard from Climate Control Heating and Air for $7k about 2 years ago.

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Yeah, but you're paying them so you don't have to be fricking miserable for a week until someone else can get time in their schedule to come out and do the work. It's the quick, good, cheap triangle at work.

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This has been my experience as well. But I’ve only had one major repair (coil replacement 6 years ago). Everything else has been minor stuff, and done quickly. But we knew last summer this day was coming. Our system limped through the summer and last night it died (refrigerant is all gone). Since I’ve only used one company for 17 years, I think I should see who else can install our new system at a more reasonable (in my mind) price.

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I think I should see who else can install our new system at a more reasonable (in my mind) price.

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Wise man. Don't instantly jump at the cheapest guy, though. Make sure you get some recommendations from actual customers, make sure that the guy does the proper ASHRAE heat load calculations to figure out what size unit you need, make sure he knows HOW to do the calculations to size the system correctly, and make sure the guy knows what the hell he's doing in installation because a shitty installation of a good system is just as bad as a good installation of a shitty system.

If your system is 17 years old, you probably shouldn't overlook the ducting, either, and have it inspected. You can lose a massive amount of capacity just from worn leaky ductwork and old degraded insulation. The dimensions of the openings in the new air handler where the return air comes in and the cold air blows out is almost certainly going to be different than the old air handler, so they'll have to make some transition pieces and canvases to fit the duct to the new air handler anyway. Depending on the condition of the ductwork, it may make sense to have all of the ductwork reworked, rewrapped, repaired, etc. during the replacement to make sure your investment in your brand new high efficiency HVAC system isn't going toward conditioning your attic.

Lester Lemoine. He’s a one man show and is old school. He doesn’t overcharge and isn’t about bullshite.

I had AC issues last year. Called Accutemp and Home360. Both said I needed completely new units that would run about $8K.

Got Lester’s name from a family member. He came out, looked at my system and said it was fine. Turns out, I just needed a new evaporator coil. I paid him $1100 for a new coil and refill my Freon. Haven’t had one issue since.

Great guy. Give him a call.

Office: 225-753-6229
Cell: 225-413-3440

I’ve been using Accutemp for maintenance on my Lennox garbage. They’ve got a very professional act going. I like them well enough. They seem competent, especially compared to some of the HVAC fools I’ve used in the past.

Climate Control has done good work for me. Definitely worth a bid.

Aire Serv, Daniel and Steven both very professional, honest upfront pricing, very responsive. They’ll show up on Sunday night if you have an issue. They replaced my unit last year, and had the best prices by far. Can’t go wrong with them.