How much to replace central a/c unit?

[Chicago526]

We bought our home at the end of last summer, with the knowledge that the a/c was on it's last legs. We suffered through without running it last year since we moved in at the end of August. Now with summer fast approching, I'm trying to decide what to do, we only have ceiling fans in the master bedroom and in the kitchen, and with plaster walls/ceilings, we don't want to have to install more if we can avoid it (plaster can be messy!).

The easiest option is just to replace the stupid thing, but I have no idea what that will run. Obviously it will depend on what kind of unit we replace it with, but if anyone has done this and can give me a ballpark, I'd appreciate it.

Our other options are to plug in DH's old window a/c unit from his bachelor days, but I hear they can really run up your electric bill. We'd put it in the bedroom and just run it enough so we can sleep at night, using box fans downstairs.

Our third option is what we did last year, which is to put a few box fans in the windows, both upstairs and down to get a breeze going through the house. This worked okay after the sun went down and it got cooler outside, not as well during the day. At least this option is cheap!

Anyway, if any of you can give me an idea of what a new central a/c unit can run, I'd really appreciate it!

 

[RitaZ.]

The price depends on its size, brand, energy efficiency (SEER), etc.

We had ours replaced in January 2005, I can't remember the exact cost, but I think it was around $3K. We bought a Rheem with a SEER of 13 or 14, the highest they make. We did notice about a $100 decrease (per month) in our electric bill in the summer. Again, the cost depends on the size of your home, if you choose an energy efficient model, etc.

 

[Chicago526]

We'd need to cool a 1300 sqft two story home, has little insualtion so we'd be looking for as an effeciant model as we can afford. The house was built in '47 and as far as we know, insulation was never added. We plan on adding the insulation ourselves, but not until we re-side the house, that's a year or two down the road.

 

[Brianne]

Ours died during one of the hottest days of the year last summer mid-afternoon. Florida heat & humidity is manageable with a/c but without? Ugh. Then, when the repair guy arrived, we got a major thunderstorm so he couldn't look at anything until the next day. I'll tell you, it really sucked.

Anyway, we ended up having to buy an entire new unit---would've cost as much to replace the compressor as it would to just get a new unit. Plus, at least this way we knew it'd be taken care of & so forth (previous owners never took care of squat).

It cost us $3k for the unit & installation. While I'm glad we ended up doing it, it was a pretty painful pill to swallow!

 

[tinaluis]

We had our furnace and AC coil unit replaced in February and it was $3,370 for both. We were going to replace the entire AC unit but the very honest serviceman told us that we didn't need to -- only the coil needed to be replaced. I'm in Chicago and swear by the people we used. Long story short, but when we moved into our house 10 years ago we had the local company come out to service our furnace. The serviceman gave us a story of gloom and doom, we were all going to die of carbon monoxide because the furnace was so bad, etc. but we decided to get a 2nd opinion. The second company came out, cleaned the unit and it ran fine until we replaced it (and it was still running fine - we replaced it because we wanted to.) If you want their name and # PM me. I don't know if they service your area but they may be able to refer you to an honest contractor out your way.