Is it reasonable to have to replace a 7-year old A/C system?

[Anonymous]

Our central air system went out and we had a well-known, reputable company come out to fix it. The freon is leaking and we spent $1800 to get it looked at, tested for leak, and refilled. They determined that the leak is in the system itself, not one of the tubes (which could have been fixed). So according to them, the only true fix is to replace the entire system. It was purchased in 2008 before we bought the house. It only had a 5-year warranty.

Does any of this sound reasonable? I don't really know how to get it re-evaluated without paying another company a lot of money to test it.

Any advice?

[Anonymous]

You got ripped off. That should have been a few hundred. I'd get a few more opinions and file with consumer affairs. For $1800, you were better off putting that to a new system. Freon should not cost that much (we are in the process of replacing ours).

[Anonymous]

Yes, freon DOES cost that much. The price has skyrocketed due to new regulations.

[Anonymous]

Get a second opinion. That is an unbelievably expensive repair and they should have clearly laid out the possibilities and options before they did that.

[Anonymous]

The freon was like $700. The $1100 was for the testing. It seemed a lot but like I said, this is a company that gets really good reviews so I trusted them.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The freon was like $700. The $1100 was for the testing. It seemed a lot but like I said, this is a company that gets really good reviews so I trusted them.

Really good reviews from where?

You got ripped off.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:The freon was like $700. The $1100 was for the testing. It seemed a lot but like I said, this is a company that gets really good reviews so I trusted them.

From where? Checkbook?

[Anonymous]

You definitely got ripped off on the testing. That is ridiculous.

However, Freon is exceptionally expensive so the refill amount sounds about right.

And, yes, regulations changed a few years back regarding Freon usage. As I understand, the systems use a different cooling fuel now than they did 10 years ago, so to the extent you replace a condenser, you need to replace the entire system at once, i.e. you can't do it piecemeal. For whatever reason, this logic also applies to moderate to major repairs -- I know that once the repairs surpass a certain price point or repair level, you can't just repair -- you need to replace. So the subsequent logic of replacing your entire system was right. Too bad they ripped you off for $1100 of testing prior to that. You should see if that amount can be applied to the cost of the new system.

[Anonymous]

I'd double check your warranty too. Some times system comes with 10 year warranty for some of the parts.

[Anonymous]

I would have gotten a new system if freon is now that expensive.

[Anonymous]

OP, we are having a coil issue. Several companies did a check for free to make sure we had to replace vs. repair. Others charge a service fee, usually $100 or less depending on coupons, etc. In less they came out at 2 am, that's insane. Even a few hundred, but not that much.

In the meanwhile, Costco has reasonable prices on AC's. That is what we did till we can fix ours. We got a cheaper brand and it didn't work well and leaked.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:You definitely got ripped off on the testing. That is ridiculous.

However, Freon is exceptionally expensive so the refill amount sounds about right.

And, yes, regulations changed a few years back regarding Freon usage. As I understand, the systems use a different cooling fuel now than they did 10 years ago, so to the extent you replace a condenser, you need to replace the entire system at once, i.e. you can't do it piecemeal. For whatever reason, this logic also applies to moderate to major repairs -- I know that once the repairs surpass a certain price point or repair level, you can't just repair -- you need to replace. So the subsequent logic of replacing your entire system was right. Too bad they ripped you off for $1100 of testing prior to that. You should see if that amount can be applied to the cost of the new system.

The $1100 would be applied to the cost of a new system. Our question now is whether to do that, or to see if the temporary fix (liquid sealant) holds out for awhile.

We'd like to get other opinions but I don't really know how to do that without having to pay more people to come out and test things.

I'm just really annoyed at myself. I'm a first-time home owner and have never dealt with a problem this big before. Plus, the house was sweltering and I have 2 small kids, so I felt like I just needed it fixed ASAP.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You definitely got ripped off on the testing. That is ridiculous.

However, Freon is exceptionally expensive so the refill amount sounds about right.

And, yes, regulations changed a few years back regarding Freon usage. As I understand, the systems use a different cooling fuel now than they did 10 years ago, so to the extent you replace a condenser, you need to replace the entire system at once, i.e. you can't do it piecemeal. For whatever reason, this logic also applies to moderate to major repairs -- I know that once the repairs surpass a certain price point or repair level, you can't just repair -- you need to replace. So the subsequent logic of replacing your entire system was right. Too bad they ripped you off for $1100 of testing prior to that. You should see if that amount can be applied to the cost of the new system.

The $1100 would be applied to the cost of a new system. Our question now is whether to do that, or to see if the temporary fix (liquid sealant) holds out for awhile.

We'd like to get other opinions but I don't really know how to do that without having to pay more people to come out and test things.

I'm just really annoyed at myself. I'm a first-time home owner and have never dealt with a problem this big before. Plus, the house was sweltering and I have 2 small kids, so I felt like I just needed it fixed ASAP.

Go out get a couple of window units as a temp solution. They are relatively cheap. HomeDepot or Lowes.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You definitely got ripped off on the testing. That is ridiculous.

However, Freon is exceptionally expensive so the refill amount sounds about right.

And, yes, regulations changed a few years back regarding Freon usage. As I understand, the systems use a different cooling fuel now than they did 10 years ago, so to the extent you replace a condenser, you need to replace the entire system at once, i.e. you can't do it piecemeal. For whatever reason, this logic also applies to moderate to major repairs -- I know that once the repairs surpass a certain price point or repair level, you can't just repair -- you need to replace. So the subsequent logic of replacing your entire system was right. Too bad they ripped you off for $1100 of testing prior to that. You should see if that amount can be applied to the cost of the new system.

The $1100 would be applied to the cost of a new system. Our question now is whether to do that, or to see if the temporary fix (liquid sealant) holds out for awhile.

We'd like to get other opinions but I don't really know how to do that without having to pay more people to come out and test things.

I'm just really annoyed at myself. I'm a first-time home owner and have never dealt with a problem this big before. Plus, the house was sweltering and I have 2 small kids, so I felt like I just needed it fixed ASAP.

Companies will come out to give you a quote for free.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:You definitely got ripped off on the testing. That is ridiculous.

However, Freon is exceptionally expensive so the refill amount sounds about right.

And, yes, regulations changed a few years back regarding Freon usage. As I understand, the systems use a different cooling fuel now than they did 10 years ago, so to the extent you replace a condenser, you need to replace the entire system at once, i.e. you can't do it piecemeal. For whatever reason, this logic also applies to moderate to major repairs -- I know that once the repairs surpass a certain price point or repair level, you can't just repair -- you need to replace. So the subsequent logic of replacing your entire system was right. Too bad they ripped you off for $1100 of testing prior to that. You should see if that amount can be applied to the cost of the new system.

The $1100 would be applied to the cost of a new system. Our question now is whether to do that, or to see if the temporary fix (liquid sealant) holds out for awhile.

We'd like to get other opinions but I don't really know how to do that without having to pay more people to come out and test things.

I'm just really annoyed at myself. I'm a first-time home owner and have never dealt with a problem this big before. Plus, the house was sweltering and I have 2 small kids, so I felt like I just needed it fixed ASAP.

Companies will come out to give you a quote for free.

How can they give a quote if they don't know what's wrong? I am questioning whether there is even a need for a new system.