As my previous post indicated, I'm having an issue with my home's HVAC system. I first knew there was a problem back in April when I had people over and the house wouldn't cool down one evening (it got about 5 degrees higher than what I set it at). I turned it off and back on the next morning, and didn't think of it again until Memorial Day weekend when the same thing happened. When I pushed my thermostat down a notch, I could hear the outside unit kick on, but the indoor fan didn't make any noise. This same thing has happened three more times since then, but I've been lucky that it hasn't been as hot as usual for June in the South.
After I called my dad to ask him what could be wrong, he encouraged me to climb into the upper attic, which is where my air handler is located. I immediately found a frozen pipe attached to the air handler, which is definitely a problem. My system was freezing up, so when I turned it off (and its hot outside), the ice melted and it worked again. I did some googling and figured out this definitely means I had a leak of refrigerant which is why it was getting too cold.I looked on Angie's List for a company who had a coupon for a maintenance and cleaning coupon - $89 for a Precision Tune-up and Professional Cleaning for your A/C system for only $89! This service includes up to 2 lbs of refrigerant and is normally priced at $327, saving Angie's List members $73%! (for new customer only). I was heading out of town for the week so unfortunately it was a week before they came out to my house. Within 20 minutes, they told me that I had a leak, that it wasn't worth fixing it ($200 for detecting where the leak is, 9 out of 10 leaks are in the compressor which costs $1800-2000 to replace, and $300-$600 worth of refrigerant to replace what was missing because the EPA had drastically reduced supply of R-22 available since it is so bad for the environment). They were pretty quick to tell me what the problem was and suggest a new system, and very fast to recommend someone to come take a look at what I need. They "only" charged me $45 for coming out to my house that day so my coupon was irrelevant. I scheduled an appointment for the next day with their "Project Manager" aka their Sales guy.
In the meantime, I quickly realized I knew nothing about how much this would cost or what I was even getting into. I looked online and the Air Conditioning Contractors of America was helpful at understanding the scope of the work needed to be done. The site does a good job explaining the supply of R-22, the switch to R-410A in all new systems, and helped me think through the questions to ask a contractor. From their site, I was also able to search an incentives database (connected to DSIRE, a database from the US Department of Energy) and find out that while I will not get any rebates on my federal taxes for putting in an energy efficient system like I would have in 2011, I DO get a $200 rebate from my energy company if I put in a 15 SEER system or higher (more on this later). I double checked the info about taxes with my accountant. There ARE some discounts but they are currently for solar energy and geothermal heat pumps (read: expensive). I also really liked Energy Star's website from the EPA and found their Contractor Bid Comparison Sheet to be VERY helpful as I started to get bids for a new system.
After this research, I realized I was probably going to want more than one quote. I went back to Angie's List, which now has over 1 million members who write reviews about various corporations. I've used it several times as a homeowner and when I was considering a new vet and a new dentist. You've probably seen some of their relatively low-budget ads on TV since they recently went public. I do like them, but it feels arbitrary as to why some companies have many so many reports and others have none. I also went to colleagues at work and asked as many people for references of good companies, and I cross referenced those with Angie's List. I ended up getting 4 quotes total, as I disregarded the first one - and you'll quickly see why.
When I met with the first contractor who I found from Angie's List (who had about 50 reviews with an A rating), I figured out how they have SO many ratings - not only does this company give a discount for Angie's List members, they told me (1) a good review was written in as part of my price negotiation process, and (2) I shouldn't put EXACTLY what I paid for my system on Angie's List but instead inflate it by $1000. What's funny is that their reviews sound a lot like my experience - "I called because I thought i had a problem, they told me I did and suggested a new system, the project manager came right away and got me all squared away." Well, this company's Project Manager was extremely pushy and wanted me to make a decision immediately. I had to tell him 3 times that I wasn't going to agree to a price and schedule installation that night before he would leave my house. He told me all sorts of personal information as he tried to convince me that his company was the best, and even tried to explain that I should sign an agreement so he doesn't have to come back out to my house. Once I got him out of my house and talked to other companies over the next week, I realized a few problems with his quote:
-He didn't do a load calculation - didn't do ANY calculation! He should have measured my house, my windows, my duct work, and taken many notes - which he didn't really do. He basically said my old system was the right size for my house, without taking any of his own measurements. The industry calls this a "Manual J" load calculation which is recommended. Other contractors took many measurements (in varying amounts) and taught me a lot about my system -- ie. my return air ducts are 12 inches wide and could be larger, but work fine as they are.
-Didn't look at my circuit breaker for my house or my thermostat to know if either of those needed to change with a new system using different wattage. All three other contractors went to look at my circuit breaker for the house in my garage and showed me what they were looking for.
-Wanted me to sign something scratched out on paper, without even giving me the model number of the unit - and when I asked for it, he texted it to me with a typo so I couldn't even find it! Other contractors wrote down model numbers and pricing, either in email or on paper.
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| sketchy... in more ways than 1 |
This first project manager then called me the next day, didn't answer my email which I did want him to answer, sent me 26 texts, and has called or emailed me every other day since then. Needless to say, I will not be selecting that company, and I do plan on writing an appropriate review of the work they did.
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