With the sweltering temps in the 80's & 90's, high humidity, HI of 100-106F, and heat advisories, I broke down and turned on my central air last week. At first, it seemed to be working. By the second and third day... the thermostat said the house was 80 yet I had set the CA to 72-74.
I let my fingers do the dialing and called a HVAC guy.
Good news (if you think a $200 service call is good): He *thought* the capacitor was bad. ONLY $25 + labor of $150-175! HVAC guy: "I haven't seen one of these in 30 years."
Bad news: It WASN'T the capacitor, which meant it was the condensor. Can you say BIG bucks?!!
More bad news: The CA unit is too old to get parts. Wanna know how old it is??? Sure you do! "45 years old," he says, "if I calculated the code correctly on the unit"
In addition, he said my furnace is probably 60 years old which means it's the original furnace put in the house when it was built. HVAC guy: "These furnaces don't normally last this long."
So guess what I spent my week doing? Yep, that's right! Getting quotes for replacing my furnace and central air.
There are a few upsides:
1. There's a 30% tax credit for Home Energy Efficiency Improvement.
2. The two HVAC guys that have given me estimates so far have both said that whoever did the duct work, did a really good job. :)
3. I had two practically new window AC units in my garage that I'd bought when I first moved into my apt years ago. Used them sparingly the first year, after that the landlord put in CA units. Go figure. The smaller window unit fits in my livingroom window. JT was the sweetest dear by putting it in for me Friday after he got off work.
Thought for the Day
Handle every stressful situation like a dog.
If you can't eat it or play with it,
Just piss on it and walk away.
15 comments:
LOVE the Thought...That's just how I feel
Just think of how much you'll save on heating and cooling your house and how much stash you can buy with that!
Sarah
Too bad you don't live near us. Carl sells furnaces and AC units and would give you a great deal! And yep 40 and 60 years old is time for replacement. You should see better bills this winter for your gas though! Trying to think of the positives here.
A new central heat and air unit will pay for itself in utility savings and increase your homes value immediately. But love your final sentiment, LOL. CJ ok;-)
Ouch on having to replace those units. :( While it may save money later by getting new more efficient ones, it's the bucks to shell out now that hurts.
Good luck.
Sorry to hear about the a/c and furnace. JT is awesome to put the small a/c in the window for you.
I love the quote. It's perfect for me today. Thanks for posting it!
Mary
Bummer about the AC and furnace. Hope you can get it for a decent price.
Heidi-ILCS
Holy cow on a 60 year old furnace! And a 45 year old A/C unit?? Wow!! Unfortunately, they don't make 'em like that anymore.....
Wow, you are lucky that you made it this far with units that old. You might consider looking at geothermal, if your property is large enough. It's a little more $$, though.
At least you found out about the heat before the cold hit this coming winter. I'd hate for you to be without heat in the cold winters you have. Brrrr!
I think you'll save a lot of money in the long run but ouch! having to pay out a chunk right now. Yep, JT is a keeper for sure!! Like you haven't "heard" me say that twenty times already LOL
How are the allergies and lungs doing? I hope when the weather broke all the sick stuff went for higher ground too.
I am so sorry that your AC and Furnace are not doing so well, but WOW what a long life they both had! Just can not get them like that anymore!
Cindy Mae
My store opens July 1st!!
www.cindymaedesigns.com
Sorry to hear this. The AC going out in my home would be like one of my worst nightmare's-especially here in FL. I hope you will be able to get something reasonable.
Sorry to hear about the AC and Furnace. I had to replace mine two years ago. It hurt to shell out the money at the time, but with the newer ones they operate so much better. My costs for heat and air have gone down, so there was some positive trade off, even if it will take a bit for them to pay for themselves with the reduced costs to operate. Another item on the plus side, I don't need to worry about having them not work when I really need them too, especially the heat.
Sue
Oh dear - sounds expensive :o(
yikes! that just plain sucks :(
Post a Comment