HVAC Advice - Repair/Replace ? (Garland, Forney: house, contractor, electric bill)

[denebj]

Hello !!

I have a question regarding my HVAC

My HVAC is 7 years old
Rheem Model - 13ajm48a01 - 13 SEER 4 Ton and an other unit but smaller.
I have a 2 story house so 2 units and 1 furnace in the attic.

I had the upstairs unit checked out because it was not blowing any cold air.

Turns out I have a leak on the coil ....

So I was quoted $2000 to replace the coil with the same model or a little bit more for an other brand, better quality according to the tech - American Standard. That gives me 1 year warranty.

The other options is to have that unit replaced - Not the furnace though, and that would be around $5600 with 10 years warranty.

Does that seem high ? Or is that reasonable ?
Should I just keep refiling every year since it R410a ? It lost like 3 pounds of refrigerant in 1 year.

I probably will go and just change the coil , any advices ?

Thank you guys !

[WorldKlas]

Get another quote. There’s nothing wrong with Goodman or AMS. I’ll DM you the HVAC tech I use; he gives good rates.

[ChristieP]

Don’t just keep refilling it. That’s wasteful and you’re only “kicking the can down the road” since that’s not fixing the problem.

I agree with getting another quote and recommendation.

Personally, if you can afford to replace it, that’s what I’d do.

[gtt99]

I was in the same boat as you about 3 months ago, two-story house. Got a few quotes ranging all the way up to $7000 for a 3-ton 14 SEER unit (TRANE). Called these guys EMS Heating & Air Conditioning, Inc.: Forney & Garland, TX , got the best quote ($4000 including tax) for a TRANE unit 14 SEER, 3-ton. It came with a 10-year manufacturer warranty and 3-year labor warranty from the installer.

https://www.google.com/maps/place/EM...6!4d-96.473155

[escanlan]

Originally Posted by denebj

Hello !!

I have a question regarding my HVAC

My HVAC is 7 years old
Rheem Model - 13ajm48a01 - 13 SEER 4 Ton and an other unit but smaller.
I have a 2 story house so 2 units and 1 furnace in the attic.

I had the upstairs unit checked out because it was not blowing any cold air.

Turns out I have a leak on the coil ....

So I was quoted $2000 to replace the coil with the same model or a little bit more for an other brand, better quality according to the tech - American Standard. That gives me 1 year warranty.

The other options is to have that unit replaced - Not the furnace though, and that would be around $5600 with 10 years warranty.

Does that seem high ? Or is that reasonable ?
Should I just keep refiling every year since it R410a ? It lost like 3 pounds of refrigerant in 1 year.

I probably will go and just change the coil , any advices ?

Thank you guys !

Was that a typo? Do you have two exterior condenser units and two units in the attic or just one in the attic and one elsewhere?

Which coil do you have a leak "on"? Is it the exterior condenser or interior evaporative coil?

[denebj]

Originally Posted by escanlan

Was that a typo? Do you have two exterior condenser units and two units in the attic or just one in the attic and one elsewhere?

Which coil do you have a leak "on"? Is it the exterior condenser or interior evaporative coil?

I have two compressor (2.5 T for upstairs and a 4 T for downstairs), then I have a 50K BTU Gas Furnace in the attic.
It is the interior coil

[WorldKlas]

Originally Posted by denebj

I have two compressor (2.5 T for upstairs and a 4 T for downstairs), then I have a 50K BTU Gas Furnace in the attic.
It is the interior coil

Those are not called compressors — they are condensers. A compressor is a part inside the big exterior unit that is called a condenser.

[denebj]

Originally Posted by WorldKlas

Those are not called compressors — they are condensers. A compressor is a part inside the big exterior unit that is called a condenser.

Ok, thanks for the clarification.

[EcoDeb]

14 seer is not efficient at all by today's standards. Look into rebates from your utility company for Energy Star units and figure your ROI with the lower utility bill. Ask the contractor to throw in a duct work check to see if you are throwing money out of attic. 6.5 T for how many sq ft?

[denebj]

No rebate at all for me after looking and house is 3000 sqft.

Not sure if replacing right now would give me a good ROI - Might take a while I would imagine - I spent $1200 in electric bill last year for a 30 year old house .
Plus that would be changing only one unit. If I have to change furnace + 2 units, I am in for like $12+ :/

I called Rheem, the warranty was 5 years so no free stuff for me.

I need to call a second company to give me a second opinion on that leak.