HVAC is this tooo much $$$

[dholmes]

My inlaws just had a co. come out to see what it would cost to install a air conditioner & heat pump, its a 75 yr old house, appx 1800 sq ft, no duct work in the house. They said it would cost 7900.00 for a 3.5 ton unit with the install of duct work & unit (Trane). The house is low to the ground & its going to be a pain for anyone to work on. Are they going to get screwed??? thanks

[treitz3]

That sounds reasonable as hell to me.

[appadv]

Would a multi-zone split-system AC be a better option, since there is no duct work in the house?

[dholmes]

Thanks, most companies wont even come out to give a price,I guess they like new contruction instead of retro work. My new heat pump-air cond. cost 4100.00 for a Trane 4 ton unit but I had duct work already. Oh both are houses are 2 story & a multi zone would be better,I have a single zone but the up-staires is only about 2 degrees hotter that down staires.

[dholmes]

This company, the one that did mine is very good,they had a sales guy come & gave the cost, then a crew came & did the work, then the next day a diffrent crew came & double checked everything the installers did!

[Frank Z]

I'm in the HVAC biz...the price seems reasonable to me, maybe a little low to be honest.

[treitz3]

I'm not in the A/C industry and that's exactly what I was thinking Frank. A little too low in my experience. Not that that's a bad thing, mind you. I will tell you this, it's more work in labor than one might think retro-fitting A/C ductwork. More often than not there's a snag or an "issue" at every turn.

You might want to suggest to them to make sure that the A/C company guarantees the price quoted just to be on the safe side.;)

[miner]

Yes, make sure it is not an estimate that could go higher with more detailed inspection during installation.

[-justin-]

That's a great price. I just got a ductless Unico system installed and it's only a 2-ton system and was almost 10k.

You also want to make sure that if there are exposed ducts, the cost includes covering them, or you may need to hire a carpenter for that.

~J