Our house has two sets of HVAC systems. One set is in the basement for cooling the downstairs area. The other is in the attic for the upstairs bedrooms. Last June (2022) the upstairs air conditioner started blowing out hot air.
We had an HVAC company come out to evaluate the system. They found a slow leak in the evaporator coil. Of course, we asked about getting it repaired, but because our unit was old enough to buy alcohol legally, they couldn’t guarantee a fix that didn’t break other components. They recommended replacing the A/C.
Oh yeah, and since the heating unit in the attic was the same age, they suggested replacing that as well. Oh yeah, and since the A/C and heating units in the basement were around the same age, they suggested replacing those.
We decided to put a band-aid on it in hopes of getting better pricing once demand was lower. We had the technician refill the system with refrigerant and crossed our fingers that it would leak out slowly enough to get us through the summer. Fortunately, that part worked out. The better pricing part didn’t.
In November, we had three companies come out to offer quotes. All of them said that due to COVID production shortages and tighter efficiency regulations, the hardware costs were 30% higher than they had been a year earlier. (So instead of a price in the mid to high-teens, we were now looking at a price in the mid-20s.)
Boo.
Ultimately, there wasn’t any way around paying the higher amount, since all of the estimates were fairly close together. We bit the bullet and had all four units replaced in late December.
It was definitely an unwelcome expense, but now that the outside temperature has hit 90°+ consistently I’m glad it was done.