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I'm getting a new centrail system for my home. I will of course get a number of estimates. What I would like to know is what kinds of questions do I need to ask the estimators and what to watch out for that might indicate I'm being over charged.
Sorry I saw this forum so late in the game. Ask what their hourly rate is, do they give free estimates, how long it would take, what needs to be replaced/can you work with current duct work, stuff like that. Try to get 3 or 4 ests and then go with the middle of the road est.
That sounds like a good thing to post Xeramtheum. Thanks. I would like to know about operational costs. Are your monthly bills cheaper than running forced air furnaces or more?
You need to ask for the Seer Rating. The higher the Serr the higher the efficientcy. (sp)
Also by doing this you will save money and increase the value of your home.
If you are using gas make sure you do the same.
Some contractors oversize the unit. This is not good. The AC rins too short a time and does not remove the moisture from the air.
We called HD to come out. We also had a neighbor who does AC for a contractor. HD wanted 16 GRAND for a 14 seer unit. Our neighbor? He got us a Trane 17.5 seer unit from him for only 8 grand even. Most people have NO clue AC units will run in the thousands. We even got an upgraded filter on it that is like 6 inches thick! It's good for 3 months at a time and can be replaced for $30 at HD.
When HD came second to give their bid the guy was aghast at the estimate our neighbor gave us. He said they couldn't even come CLOSE to beating that.
Now our neighbor did say you want to replace your units in spring or winter (especially if they have to do attic work for install) because the estimates will be cheaper since they aren't working at peak time in the heat. He said it would have cost us about a grand more in labor had he been doing it in the summer.
This was a replacement for the main floor AC unit. We still need to replace the one for upstairs and because it has attic work no matter what time of year it will still cost slightly more.
The previous owner had replaced the downstairs unit with a York and guess what. After 4 years it broke.
I'd only buy Trane or American Standard, at least if you plan to live in your home a long time and enjoy the benefits of it. They both offer a 10 year warrenty on ALL parts.
You can also post online to [HYPERLINK@www.craigslist.com] and ask contractors willing to do a free estimate to come to your home. You can use the yellow pages and call around but never hurts to have many estimates especially if it's already hurting your wallet you'll want the best price.
