OMG, cost to replace HVAC!!!

[twowhat?]

We came back from vacation to a warm house Verdict? We need to replace our main A/C unit. Which means we really should replace our secondary unit as well since it's just as old and could fail at any time. Since we have a large 5-ton unit and a smaller 2.5-ton unit, it's gonna cost as much as a new car. GAAAAAHHHH!!!!!

I also learned of a lot of dirty tricks that home warranty companies use, which just makes me sad!! We don't have a home warranty anymore because I got sick of the fine print which helps THEM make sure they don't actually have to cover a lot of the most common problems. And it seems that they wouldn't have done the right thing anyway when it comes to replacing A/C units...they'd force the contractors to keep the old unit running, no matter the cost...and the cost is heavy to the environment which is super, super sad!

[ArizonaGirl]

I can commiserate, our A/C blew in July, in AZ.

It was only 1 unit but it was about 7K to replace it.

It royally sucked...

[TwinFoxes]

Do you think you'll still need two units with a newer, presumably more powerful unit? We replaced ours two years ago, and it is awesome. The house gets colder AND our bills are much smaller. So, hopefully this works out in the long run. It definitely is sticker shock though!

[rollycolly2007]

We had to replace our AC in 2010. We spent $10,000 on the AC unit. Then, we sold our house a year later. That sucked!!!

[georgiegirl]

We spend a TON when we had to replace two geothermal units. We even had a home warranty plan but of course geothermal was excluded (as was pretty much everything we wanted to use it for, so we ditched it.)

[Philly Mom]

Preaching to the choir. Just happened to us too. Ugh.

[Nyfeara]

Our HVAC was about 13 yrs old - original heater/AC/HW heater. Our builder didn't do the heater chimney correctly and it was falling away from the house (13 yrs old), and would have cost between $7-10k to fix. So, we looked into geothermal and just replaced everything. We have a state loan program here that gives you a low rate on that type of upgrade, and we will get back 30% of the total cost on our Fed tax return. Our local electric company also gave a $1000 rebate for the upgrade. Now we just need to tear down the chimney itself and fix the siding, but that is way cheaper than 'fixing' the chimney and maybe having it happen again if the chimney foundation is faulty and I just imagined that we'd fix the stupid chimney and then the heater or A/C would go.... Plus, I don't have to mess with oil anymore, the energy auditor estimated that we would save 40-60% on heating/cooling at today's rates by switching.

I would check into local rebates or anything else that might help with the cost. For us, the cost to replace the chimney was about 1/3 what it cost us to replace EVERYTHING with new equipment, plus we have the tax credit. We no longer have an A/C unit outside and the oil tank in the basement is gone too; new equipment, new efficiencies, new warranties and lower bills! But definitely look into credits/rebates for energy efficient improvements - you may find something to help with at least some of the cost.

[SnuggleBuggles]

I'd only replace the broken one. You can never really bank on how their life expectancy. (Our 50yo furnace is going strong, for example). Save yourself some. If replacing them at the same time isn't some logistical necessity then I wouldn't do it. (Yes, replacing our ancient furnace is on the to do list. We should get something more efficient, I know. Part of me is keeping it out of morbid curiosity about how long it'll last.)

[twowhat?]

Good points about looking into rebates for upgrading to more energy-efficient products. I will look into that. Our units are 22 years old (!!) so we knew this was going to happen sooner or later, and DH thought maybe the sooner the better so we can lower the $400-500 (!!!!) we pay each month in electricity bills in the summer.

Holy sticker shock though!!! And we do need both units...our house is pretty huge at 3600 ft. It's a 1.5 story home so the big downstairs needs its own 5-ton unit and the upstairs will get a smaller one, plus the ductwork is designed for 2 units (with the HVACs housed in separate attics, even!) - it wouldn't make sense to re-do all the ductwork even if 1 unit could handle it. And HVACs aren't supposed to last more than 20 years so it's better to replace both units now, since the contractor will give a discount for doing both at once. But still, OUCH!!! It puts a huge dent in our savings but theoretically if it can save us 40% on our electric bills, it would pay for itself over the lifetime of the new equipment. Definitely means we won't be doing any other upgrades to our house in a while...

And it makes me wonder...what if you can't afford to replace your HVAC? For a small house, one unit, will still cost several thousand. Yikes.

The company we used did offer to attempt to fix the old unit, but warned us that we would probably be calling them back anyway to continue to fix it every year just to keep it going. At some point you just have to bite the bullet.

[jal]

First of all I can commiserate with a related b!^@#!&% post of my own...

The A/C condenser unit needs replacing at an estimated cost is OVER $2,000... for the MINIVAN!!!

As for replacing the smaller unit... it it's working just fine, I can't see any reason to replace it just because of its age. After all, you wouldn't be replacing the 5 ton unit right now 'just because of its age' if it were still working now would you?

Now if you were going to save some serious money to go ahead and replace both now compared to replacing the 5-ton now and 2.5-ton next year. But I just don't see much of a money saving doing them two at the same time vs. doing them separately.