HVAC company

[FCNova]

How do you put R22 into a condenser? That may be a bit above my DIY level. I can see it totally being worth it if you're into rental properties though. I called a few more places and found someone who will only charge me $70/lb so I think I'm going with them. It was a small company, Fairfax Heating & Cooling or something like that. The lady seemed really nice on the phone.

I did some research on the inducer motor/fan that's grinding on my furnace, which McCarthy quoted me $900 for. The part is like $150 and the installation process is essentially like replacing a bathroom ceiling fan, which I've done several times. Basically simple electrical connections and connecting a vent.

[FCNova]

So I had the other HVAC company come recently to check out the system and put R22 in at a reasonable price and he ultimately determined it wasn't very low and didn't need any. Looks like McCarthy was definitely trying to rip me off. Ugh...

[boyd888]

Well you did call them for a spring checkup and the whole point is for them to offer services. Sounds like they offered to "tune up" your AC so that it would be good to go for a long time to come. If they came in, said you needed nothing, and then the thing broke or needed more R22 later this year you would be like those guys suck why didn't they catch this at the checkup. If anything the ripping off occurred with regards to the pricing of the services themselves not which ones were offered.

[FCNova]

I thought the point of a spring checkup was just to check the system and give you an honest assessment? How would they put 3 lbs of R22 into it as a preventative measure if it was already full of R22?

[Hal Roach]

I paid 795 for a brand new Samsung 18,000 BTU split system, parts and labor, and that is in a 28 year old condo, with no previous installation. 16 SEER, 410a refrigerant. Oh, and 4 free 6 month maintenance visits. The Chinese are still producing R22, and I'm sure Mexico is, too. If you need refrigerant, you have a leak. A lot of the reports here are simply whitey ripping off whitey...a friend is building as new house near Charlottesville. He was quoted 9500 by the company with the expensive truck. He bought the identical unit and had it delivered, and paid someone to install it...4500 total.

[ash_2015]

@FCNova What is the name of the company that you used.. I need some servicing and looking for some recommendation.

My outside unit (fan and compressor) stopped working. Looked up online and checked it was bad capacitor, which I was able to replace. Both fan and compressor in the outside unit now work. However, after couple of hours the air flow from the vents is reduced and the air is not cold anymore. It may be icing as I left it off overnight and in the morning when I turned it on, the air flow was normal and cold but it went back to very low air flow and not that cold in few hours again.

[Joe33]

Originally Posted by MedvedActual

Dealing with a similar - old AC units issue now. It is true that R22 is being phased out, hence the steep $105 per lb. charge rate. Home warranty companies, at least mine, cover up to $10 a lb. so depending on how much you need, it does get pretty pricy fast. I am contemplating just replacing both of mine, definitely not looking forward to spending the $ but it is the best option in the long run as opposed to keeping doing $1k + upkeep every year.

R22 is being phased out however there are replacement refrigerants. At todays prices R22 is about $15 per pound contractors price and most replacements are about half of that.

[leavingwash]

I have had good experience with Dave's Heating & Air Conditioning. They were fair to me and in the middle of a freeze spell when I came home to freezing house/no heat I called them (from the phone book) and they were able to walk me through a fix to get it up and running - no charge. I was not under contract with them either so it was nice to see a company that didn't try to take advantage (as they easily could because it was freezing!).

[FCNova]

Originally Posted by ash_2015

@FCNova What is the name of the company that you used.. I need some servicing and looking for some recommendation.

My outside unit (fan and compressor) stopped working. Looked up online and checked it was bad capacitor, which I was able to replace. Both fan and compressor in the outside unit now work. However, after couple of hours the air flow from the vents is reduced and the air is not cold anymore. It may be icing as I left it off overnight and in the morning when I turned it on, the air flow was normal and cold but it went back to very low air flow and not that cold in few hours again.

Fairfax Heating & Cooling. I liked them a lot and they seemed honest. Like I said in previous post they didn't end up loading any R22 into my condenser after testing it even though I was ready to pay them for it based on the previous recommendation from McCarthy.

[bbnetworking]

Just had mine repair today. $50/lb. Got 3 lbs. And paid $150 for repairing the leak. Injecting super seal. Service call is $95. $50 for washing the system. Today total $450. It's 95 degree out. Felt good to have AC working again.

Don't ever pay $280 for r22 freon.