[Lottoguy]

Our home in The Villages has 1,680 sf and the central a/c is the original when the house was built in 2003. I feel now would be a good time to update to a 16 seer system. We currently have a Trane. What would be the price for a new Trane or Carrier system?

[retiredguy123]

Probably between $4,000 to $6,000 for the entire system. But, you should get 3 written quotes before selecting a contractor. I would buy a Carrier system instead of Trane. Also, you should check the model number on your outside unit and google it to determine how many tons of cooling you currently have. It will probably be about 3 tons for the size of your house. If it is 3 tons or less, you may want to increase it by a half ton, especially if your current unit runs for a long time. Just something to consider. Chuck Farrell, 352-753-9497, is a good contractor. I would also get a quote from Munn's.

[JGVillages]

I replace mine 2 years ago and used Chuck Farrell. Got 4 quotes and he was $900-$1200 less for comparable units. Great service a as honest as they come. He sells American Standard which is made by Train. Trane and American Standard are the same air conditioning company. American Standard acquired the Trane Heating and Air Conditioning company back in 1984, and has since broken up its various divisions in 2007, but kept the Trane air conditioner name.

[bob47]

DiSantis in Wildwood also installs Trane. We used them several years ago and had great service, and a better price than the big names like Munns and SunKool.

[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.

[retiredguy123]

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.

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.

[Deb508]

We used United and felt we received a good deal

[Stduno]

We just replaced ours. Home is 2700sqft.
We had an American Standard but now have a Trane.
The old unit lasted 15 years but due to the poor install the life was shortened.
The quality of the unit is no better than the install.
Here is what we paid for and what we got.
Very happy with the deal all the way around.
New Trane 5 ton split heat system 10kw Heat installed
$6280 Inside and outside units due to the new refrigerant.

[MandoMan]

Originally Posted by retiredguy123

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.

If people think their house may be leaking energy, it may be useful to have an Infrared heat scan done. Attic insulation can settle, and it is possible that it wasn’t thick enough to begin with when it was blown in. Blowing in more is pretty easy, and it makes living space much easier to cool, sometimes saving a couple hundred dollars per month.

People who have can lights, especially, should have them checked. I once went into an the attic of a very fancy house that had a couple dozen can lights and found that the original contractor had put a two foot square styrofoam box around each can and left it open to the attic air so it wouldn’t overheat. Of course, heating and cooling the attic this way cost the owner a couple thousand dollars a year Than necessary. For ten years or more, building codes have required special can lights that are less likely to catch fire And so can be better insulated. Good builders put boxes built of styrofoam around them, then covered them with blown in insulation. More recently, many builders use LED can lights that are much cooler, and I think they can be completely covered, but still, each one is a hole cut into the ceiling and difficult to seal. Many builders these days are putting in, instead of can lights, nearly flush-mounted LEDs that need only a hole for a wire, easily sealed. Big money saver! Indeed, I would urge everyone to replace as many bulbs as possible with LED bulbs, everywhere in the house.

[RoadToad]

Google it

[Donaz1]

Thanks, great information, especially about going too big.

[rmd2]

Originally Posted by Lottoguy

Our home in The Villages has 1,680 sf and the central a/c is the original when the house was built in 2003. I feel now would be a good time to update to a 16 seer system. We currently have a Trane. What would be the price for a new Trane or Carrier system?

The house came with Trane. When it needed to be replaced I got a Carrier. The air from it smelled musty/moldy and caused a breathing problem. I replaced it with a Trane and everything is fine now. Not sure why this happened but I like the Trane. I got it from DeSantis.

[Barbscats]

I recently replaced my system (same size house) and the cost for a 3 ton unit was $7280. Munns uses Carrier and has three units to choose from- basic was $5000,
mid range was $7280 and high end just under $10,000.
Mid range included programmable digital thermostat.
The sales person explained the differences and work was completed in a few hours.

[Villagesgal]

Recommend Chuck Farrell and his company, do a great job at an incredible price. Replaces both inside and out 4 years ago. Electric bill cut in half, service is amazing. He even reminded me to get the rebate offered by the electric company. Good, honest, reputable man and company.

[Krainerts]

I just got a quote from DeSantis AC. A 3 ton Trane 16 SEER installed was $7,450 for 2,000 Sq Feet. You should be able to use a 2 to 2.5 ton with your sq footage .