Air Conditioner Repair - Ripoff?
I've got a Carrier Weathermaker high-efficiency furnace/air conditioner that is about 11 years old. We've had problems with it off an on since it was installed - always fixable, never outrageously expensive, just periodic leaks, failed small parts, etc. Well now I've been told the "accumulator" by the outside compressor has rusted to the point it leaks freon and the cooling coils inside the unit in the basement are also leaking pretty badly and should be replaced. I'm waiting for an engineer to give me the estimate, but the repairman's unofficial guess looks like around $1500. So I'm wondering... Does that price sounds high? Is it reasonable that these parts should fail at 11 years? Anything I should look for or ask about when getting second estimates?
Answer:
an engineer to give me the estimate, but the repairman's unofficial guess looks like around $1500. << WHAT? No way. Do you live in Beverly Hills or what? You could put in a whole new a/c unit for about that!! I just had a dryer replaced in my beach home heat pump. It took him 2 hours to draw off all the old refrigerant, cut out the dryer (size of a fat beer can), silver solder it in the system, vacuum pump all air and moisture out of system and recharge the system with R22 refrigerant. Cost $170. Lucky for me it was covered 100% by my maintenance agreement (which I have since the house is 50' from the Atlantic ocean and everything rusts like mad). always fixable, never outrageously expensive, just periodic leaks, failed small parts, etc. << Periodic leaks??? This sets off bells and alarms. An a/c unit is a closed system and is hermetically sealed. Unlike your car system which will leak after time - the home a/c should never need more gas. If it does, it indicates a leak and those can be very hard to find. Many fly-by-night repairman will say, "we can just add more gas every couple of years".