HVAC Replacement

[udpolo15]

I just got a quote for a Lennox furnace and ac. The furnance is a 95% efficient two stage and the AC is a 14 SEER. The quote is 7,200 including installation which drops to $5200 after rebates. The other quote I got is about $1.5K higher. (for the same system)

Does this seem reasonable?

I am on the fence whether to do it. We just moved to the house so we will see the payback on the energy savings, plus there is $500 in rebates is if I do it now. Furnace has a couple more years of life in it, but the ac is a couple years past its expected life (but still works). Not sure I want to shell out 5K right now, even though in the long run it makes sense. I would almost certainly replace it next year to take advantage of the all your money.

 

[Capt Worley PE]

I'm a firm believer in run it til it breaks, then replace.

 

[udpolo15]

I'm a firm believer in run it til it breaks, then replace.

Yeah, but then you won't help pay for it.

 

[TouchDown]

As for price, that sounds about right - we had a furnace / coil:condenser replacement in our old house about 7 years ago and it wasn't that much, but it wasn't 95% efficient and 14SEER either.

We had an old 70's electric furnace, and a condenser unit that was probably 25 years old. Package deal. I think back then we ended up spending around $5k on it. With the rebates that sounds nice. We just couldn't stand to pay $450 monthly electrical bills in the winter. Freakin rediculous.

So, it might depend on what you have and your estimated annual savings. Projections on utility rates never seem to decrease, so your savings will probably increase over time, even though your bills may go up if utility rates are high enough.

I will typically follow what the Cap'n says as well, unless it get's just too freakin costly.

We have a condenser unit on our existing house that's original - it has a hard time keeping up on hot summer days (it was sized for finished SqFt when the house was built and has no chance when we really need it)... Thank heaven for a cool summer here - made it through one more season.

 

[Chucktown PE]

I guess if you know the thing is going to break that's one thing but I'm too cheap to replace something that is working okay. As discussed on other forums, I don't have enough money to do stuff like that. Are these gubment rebates or manufacturer rebates. The manufacturer rebates will be around for a while and more than likely the gubment ones will be as well. If they say they are going to expire at x date, they'll just reissue the same thing one or two months later.

 

[bigray76]

I just got a quote for a Lennox furnace and ac. The furnance is a 95% efficient two stage and the AC is a 14 SEER. The quote is 7,200 including installation which drops to $5200 after rebates. The other quote I got is about $1.5K higher. (for the same system)
Does this seem reasonable?

I am on the fence whether to do it. We just moved to the house so we will see the payback on the energy savings, plus there is $500 in rebates is if I do it now. Furnace has a couple more years of life in it, but the ac is a couple years past its expected life (but still works). Not sure I want to shell out 5K right now, even though in the long run it makes sense. I would almost certainly replace it next year to take advantage of the all your money.

Price seems reasonable for the replacement, plus in terms of the time of year to get deal it is before the heating season.

I may echo the sentiments of others - if it ain't broke don't fix it, rebate or not. Just my 2 cents.

I guess the real question is, have you had the existing unit checked out or serviced recently? Does it seem to be showing signs that it is on its way out or is it in good shape for it's age?

 

[udpolo15]

It is 1,500 tax credit (I don't see this coming back after next year, but you never know), at $450 gas company rebate that expires at the end of October and a $150 Lennox rebate.

I am in Chicago so the climate isn't that extreme one way or the other and energy price are probably a little higher than average.

 

[nashbmattPE]

what is the capacity(tons) of the a/c system?

 

[jeb6294]

I'm a firm believer in run it til it breaks, then replace.

Normally I would agree, but when we had our old furnace (gas) checked a few years ago the tech told us that even though our furnace was like 35 years old it still in okay shape. The thing that changed our minds was the fact that for every dollar we were spending on heat, about $0.80 was going right up the chimney. The company is owned by a good friend of my sister and BIL so we knew we were getting go information and he even ended up giving us a deal on a new furnace ($2800 Comfortaire, 93%) even though I wasn't expecting one. I just wanted to go with him because I knew I could trust what he was telling us (we didn't need a whole house humidifier and didn't need the "top of the line" furnace another place was trying to sell us). I have defintely been able to see a difference in our bill every month.