I've got an old central air conditioning plant - probably 40 years old. It has been working great - up until a few days ago. The service man says it needs a new compressor. Of course he says its better to replace the whole system $$$$$$! What say you? Can't the compressor be easily replaced? o No: - Bill
Depends if you can still get parts for it. If you have to spend $500 on a compressor, I'd go with a new unit. You might even ask your heating and cooling guy if he might have a used unit that works. We got a used unit once that served us well...... sometimes people upgrade or remodel and trade their old one in. Mike
Easy way out. Get one of those home warranties. They cost like $350 I had American Home Shield with my house when I bought it. The A/C went out and they bought me a new $1600 unit installed no questions asked. They dont make you wait 30 days to file a claim either. They are hoping you saw benefit out of it and keep it every year after. Check it out, I think its AHS.com. I was sceptical, but I am not very cool in my house. -Jon
I just picked up a 5 ton compressor at a wholesale distributor today for a compressor replacement i am doing tomorrow. my cost was 503.00. i'm betting he quoted you close to a grand to replace the compressor, install new driers and new refrigerant.. you can buy a whole new condensing unit for less than the cost of a compressor replacement and you get a factory warranty on the condensing unit. usually 5 years parts 1 year labor. another thing you have to think about if you are considering replacing the compressor vs a new unit.. what caused the compressor to fail? it may simply have been age, but it could have also been another component in the system that took out the compressor. if thats the case then you wont know until you install the new compressor. new unit removes this as a possibility.
Trane makes good systems but they are fairly exspensive and they really arent that much better. the trane condensing units use a spiny type coil that is very tough to clean. i will usually steer a customer towards Ruud, Rheem or Arcoaire unless they have their heart set on a trane. almost all systems come with a 5 year warranty on parts and most shops give a 1 year labor warranty.
