Charlotte, NC area: hate on OP, houses, boats & hoes

Anybody have an HVAC company they trust that I can call for a second opinion? Morris Jenkins just quoted me between $19-23K FFS.

 

That was a new 3.5 ton unit, a new furnace to handle it and cutting in a 3rd air return.

Here’s the backstory. Bought the house last year, the AC struggled. Set at 72 and couldn’t hold, would go up to 75-76 and run all day. We lived with it because it was near end of summer.

This year same problem. Set at 72, about 1pm it climbs to 73 tops out at around 75-76 and catches up at night.

Call Morris Jenkins since it was 8pm on a Friday and they don’t charge extra for after hours. Guy comes out takes a look at the unit, and asks me how many sq ft is the house. 2300 I say, he shakes his head and says the unit is terribly undersized. He replaces a broken part but says it’s not gonna fix the problem.

4 weeks later I finally call them back and they send a guy out to look it over and quote. He goes in the attic and points out multiple issues. Tells me for my size house with the open ceilings I need a 3.5 ton unit. The current unit is 2.5. Once I got to 3.5, the current furnace isn’t built for that and needs upgraded. Says I need an extra return.

Starting to think that’s why this house has been sold 3 times in 10 years.

 

I bought two 2 tons with air handlers in January installed for less than half that.

 

IMS Services 704-609-5631

Best around. 3 of my neighbors use them now.

 

Damnit man! Ya'll need to just start riding the bus!

 

Who did you use if you don’t mind me asking?

Thanks, I went in fully expecting to spend thousands. I didn’t expect $20K. You’re in Columbia, right?

Thanks @aturk. I will give them a call to see what they’d recommend.

 

Those fools never got back to me when I reached out to them. Ended up being a electrical issue in the house that I fixed myself.

 

Woke up at 2:30am to my 2 year old son screaming bloody murder. Kid somehow climbed out of his toddler bed and got his head stuck under it. Craziest thing ever.

 

Ah, guessing the company that did yours won’t be an option for me. I appreciate the prices for perspective though.

 

I had Comfort Max out of Indian Trail replace my unit when we moved in a year and a half ago, I think it was like $8Gs, negotiated into the purchase.

 

I used them to replace both my HVAC units in my house back in 2020.

First unit went out on July 4th 2020, coincidentally my wifes 30th bday and she went into labor with our 2nd kid (ended up having her that same day). They came out within an hour and told me it was fucked but they put a bandaid to get it working for the next week while we were stuck in the hospital.

The unit was from 1997, was a propane furnace and forced air...I had them take it out, put in a heat pump (2.5 ton), because propane heating my house was costing me $1500 for gas in the winter...I paid $15k and it was the 18 seer unit.

Second unit went out Christmas eve, they were out that same day to replace it. It was just a standard heat pump but it was also from 1997, it was just wore out. $11k for that one, but again, same 18 seer unit.

I had a good experience with them and can see why they are a large company. Sure their prices are a bit high, but their customer service is second to none.

My power bill used to average $200/mo, now with both units it hasnt been more than $100 on the coldest or warmest months.

edit - both my units have a 10 year parts and labor warranty, no questions asked.

 

if your handler and ducts are in an unconditioned attic, it is going to work overtime to combat the high temps. My main unit is in my basement and the temp down there never gets above 65F, thankfully.

they are probably correct in saying it is undersized and you need an additional return. bigger units move more air, so they need to be able to pull more cfm than a standard 20x20" return provides.

 

Thanks Jimbo, I’ll add them to the call list.

 

I’ll agree there. Customer service is good, their employees are professional, their response is quick and they don’t charge after hours service fees.

They offered 3 configurations. Lower end model with 2 year labor/10year parts was $19K, high end model with 10 year labor/10 year parts was $23K. Mid was 5/10 year.

 

yeah I had sticker shock on mine as well, but couldn’t get anyone else out in a timely manner. I did the 10yr financing on both my units. Didn’t have that kind of cash to burn. The last one will be paid off in two months or when we sell the house if the market doesn’t crash in the next two weeks.

 

Right!? Girl came unglued. She’s already told me she would use the full resources of her largest-in-the-state firm to clean me out if I ever cheated.

 

Give you $5k cash tomorrow for that totaled 4 runner though.