I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

I did a search here on the Home board and I see lots of ladies have recently put in central air. I have 3 companies (Slomin's, Dix Hills Air and Sears) coming to give me estimates over the next few weeks. I am open to having other companies come and give me estimates if you are willing to share who you used with some other info.

So:

Who did you use?

What style house do you have? (we have a hi-ranch)

Do you have ductwork in place already? (We do, we have forced air heat)

What is your house's electricity? (we have 200 amp)

Where did they put the big unit?

Do you have a service contract?

What type of heat do you have? (we have natural gas)

How long was it before they could install, and how long did it take them to install?

How much did you pay?

Any other info you can share would be great. I am so happy I am finally moving on this and hope to be cool this summer (last summer was unbearable without AC!)

Thanks!

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

we used a firend who has a contracting company and is insured - his speicalty is a/c stuff. We had built an extension and never had central air so he added all the ducts, the main unit, etc. we live in a split level ranch, so its a little different but it is amazing and the best choice you can make....we feel spoiled now (ok, not in winter but summer! ) and can't imagine how we survived before!

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

may I suggest hi velocity A/C? It's done by a company called Spacepak (I used to work for a manufacturers' rep comp. in NY and this was one of our clients). The ductwork is a mere 2 inches wide, can be retrofit into ANY style home and due to the hi velocity of the air, it's a lot more allergy-friendly (prevents things from settling in the ducts). It's also a lot more quiet and ALOT more efficient than traditional C/A/C. Installation tends to be higher but again, in the long run you save yourself a TON of money.

Spacepak

If you want more info, let me know...I'll give you the # of where I used to work and who to contact. They can give you a better idea/understanding of why this system is better than regular CAC

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

I can't personally answer but in-laws got it 2 years ago.

Who did you use? Dix Hills Air and Cooling

What style house do you have? Hi-Ranch

Do you have ductwork in place already? I think so, not sure.

What is your house's electricity?

Where did they put the big unit? On the side of the house behind a shed. Totally not visible from the street

Do you have a service contract? I'm sure they did.

What type of heat do you have? Oil

How long was it before they could install, and how long did it take them to install? I think they waited about a month, not sure, but it was installed in March, so maybe it was an off season. It took them several hours to put in about 15 vents with about 6 guys on the job. Then they had to come back and move one of the vents/ducts, whatever, the thing in the ceiling, but that didn't take too long.

How much did you pay?
I want to say about $5000. That was a number I heard said, but I don't know the actual number. I could find out, but I have heard from other people that that is the range, depending on size of house, unit, etc.

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Great, thanks for you replies!

Shana, the system you describe sounds great! I would totally consider it if we didn't already have the ductwork. I think that will cut down the cost considerably, but I will do some more research and get back to you. I like the way it looks!

Anyone else??

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Who did you use? Burner King

What style house do you have? (we have a hi-ranch) Colonial

Do you have ductwork in place already? (We do, we have forced air heat) No and we only had it put in the upstairs of the house. We have a very old house with very few closets, so we have to get a seperate unit in for downstairs (and didn't have the money at the time).

What is your house's electricity? (we have 200 amp) 200 also

Where did they put the big unit? The ouside unit is on the side of the house. The other unit is in our attic

Do you have a service contract? yes

What type of heat do you have? (we have natural gas) - gas also. They actually installed our new heating system and central air in the one day.

How long was it before they could install, and how long did it take them to install? We had to have them wait until we were ready for the installation. They did the heating and central air in about 14 hours!!!

How much did you pay? 4K - just for upstairs

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Who did you use?
Slomin's

What style house do you have? (we have a hi-ranch)
Split, (4 levels)

Do you have ductwork in place already? (We do, we have forced air heat)
No

What is your house's electricity? (we have 200 amp)
200 amp

Where did they put the big unit?
The one needed for outdoors is in our backyard and th eone needed for the inside is in our attic.

Do you have a service contract?
Yes

What type of heat do you have? (we have natural gas)
Oil

How long was it before they could install, and how long did it take them to install?
Not long at allbefore they started, I think it was a couple of weeks.
They came 1 day to map everything out, to figure out where everything would go, how many vents per room etc. Then the actul install took 2 days. They left no mess.

How much did you pay?
10,000

Any other info you can share would be great. I am so happy I am finally moving on this and hope to be cool this summer (last summer was unbearable without AC!)
We were very happy with Slomin's, no complaints at all.

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Michelle and Natalie, thanks! We are having Slomin's come on Wednesday, I am anxious to see what they say!

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Who did you use?
Tom from National Air Conditioning. Dix Hills is not reputable IMO AND completely overcharges. We dealt with owner/operator. Sears did come and they sent a salesman who couldn't answer any of our questions. Many of the larger companies only sned salespeople and if you have special requests, etc. or questions about how the job is done, equipment whatever they can't answer them

What style house do you have? (we have a hi-ranch)
Colonial.

Do you have ductwork in place already? (We do, we have forced air heat) No but if you have the ductwork the job and cost is much less for them.

What is your house's electricity? (we have 200 amp)
200amp. Our electrician ran the lines for the CAC unit up to the attic. It needs at least one designated curcuit.

Where did they put the big unit?
On the side of the house closest to the side of the attic where the atic unit is.

Do you have a service contract?
No, not yet. We will sign with a major company for that but wanted a smaller company to do the install.

What type of heat do you have? (we have natural gas)
Oil

How long was it before they could install, and how long did it take them to install?
We had ours done in November and the house was empty (We had to have A LOT of work done to our house. It took about 5 weeks but keep in mind this was also his off season. I'm sure most companiies are booked up for longer at this point.

How much did you pay?

I think the entire job was 7K. We had to have ducts installed through the walls and a few more vents due to cathedral ceilings.

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Thanks Theresa! I have two definites coming this week and next (one is Slomins and the other is Sears). I am going to call a few others too once we start to get some estimates in . I am waiting for Dix Hills Air to call me back, I got two recommendations on them, so we'll see.

I'll continue to update this thread as we get our estimates! Thanks, this helps a lot!

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Who did you use?
Cool Power

What style house do you have? (we have a hi-ranch)
ranch

Do you have ductwork in place already? (We do, we have forced air heat)
We also have forced hot air, they just added a high return for the hot air, and maximized the trunk.

What is your house's electricity? (we have 200 amp)
150 amp

Where did they put the big unit?
They asked us where we wanted it, we put it on the side of the house behind the chimney.

Do you have a service contract?
Yes, it was free for one year.

What type of heat do you have? (we have natural gas)
Gas

How long was it before they could install, and how long did it take them to install?
It was very quick, maybe a week, week and a half. They fit us in b/c we were gutting and it was easier for them to put it the return while there was no sheetrock.

How much did you pay?
We also had a new furnace and hot water tank installed, so I'm not sure of the breakdown. But we had a few quotes and the price was good.

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Re: I'm getting estimates for central air - help by sharing info

Posted by chmlengr


Where is Cool Power located? I also think our heater/boiler will need to be replaced to, I believe its original to the house