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Originally Posted by REDCART
We replaced our AC two years ago, and from memory I recall it was not quite as easy comparing estimates. Carrier for one thing has three grades of equipment. TheIr high-end was very expensive, over $9 K. Chuck Farrell, at the time did not sell Carrier. Some included new line sets. Others didn’t feel it was necessary. We did! So make sure you’re not just simply comparing price. All bidders agreed on the need for a 2 ton sized unit, which made that part of the equation easy. We paid around $6 K for Carrier’s mid level grade. Carrier at the time offered a rebate. Good luck.
BTW, we now have a 5 year old home that’s 1700 sf and it has a 2.5 ton AC. According to the home inspector and our experience over the last 6 month, it is more than adequate. Keep in mind that an AC that’s too large cools too quickly without removing humidity. So larger is not necessarily better.
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I agree about the size of the unit. A rule of thumb is that a ton of cooling will cool about 600 SF of living space. Some contractors will automatically propose to replace your unit with the same size unit that you have, without doing any evaluation. But, if your house is 20 years old, you need to intelligently determine what is the appropriate size unit for your house. So, if you have an undersized or oversized unit, you want to replace it with the proper size unit. But, you are more likely to upsize because a 20 year old house will leak more energy than it did when it was new.