Air Conditioning repair estimate. Any thoughts on this price?

Tank of refrigerant nowadays is expensive but obviously shouldn't take whole tank. Does sound a little hogh

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estimate of $950 and when I said I'd get another look he said he'd go down to $800

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that doesn't sound very positive.

You know if r22 or 410a? 22 is high as an eagle's eyebrow.

Sounds like a legit price to me for a small outfit.

Had a similar issue and was around $900 something to fox the coils.

See how much it is to just replace the unit. Our was 8 years old, we replaced it for around $2k, but I did some of the grunt work for the guy to help lower costs.

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Is he bending me over the barrel

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that depends on the number of states he shows you.

Sounds about right. I have an old heat pump the idiot previous owners of my house had installed upstairs. It has a slow leak and needs recharged every now and then. Like every other year. R22 is expensive. I got a quote for a 4.5 or 5 ton using existing duct work for under $4k. He could tell my house originally had a 4-5 ton and a larger air handler. They had added little extensions of duct work to the returns to connect the smaller cabinet. I know I’ll have to replace in the near future and I’m going back to one larger unit and taking the heat pump out.

How old is your unit. R410 didn’t come out until the early 2000’s. I don’t remember the exact year that they started requiring r410

Evaporator coil or condenser coil? How old is the system? If its the condenser coil (outside) and your air handler is in good condition ask him for a price on swapping the entire condensing unit and TXV or metering device in the AHU to facilitate a switch to R410A. It will be more expensive but at least you will not have him back next summer for the "other" leak that will undoubtedly follow.

Considering that you have little to no knowledge of the current system that you have, this is not a knock on you, Get 3 quotes from REPUTABLE companies before you go forward. Also, educate yourself a bit about what system you have. Many HVAC techs are the laziest folk you will meet and will go with the "easiest", and probably not the best for the customer, fix that sells you equipment and gets them out to the next call. You WILL be paying about 200% markup on parts like filter driers and contactors. If your system is R22, I would replace it. It is only going to cost more and more as the years go by. Dry charged R-22 units are becoming rare as hen's teeth to find and you still will be paying for a can of R-22. At current wholesale costs for R-22, you WILL be paying at least $1000 a 30lb can after markup. R410A is a quarter of that price right now. Added benefit of replacing your system, It will probably be more efficient and comes with a charge of R410 in the condenser. With a line set of around 50', you MAY need about a pound of R410 when they are done. Also, get it done now before the season really cranks up along with the prices. Just my .02


Just an FYI, there is no such thing as "repairing" a filter drier. It gets cut out and replaced.

Once again, educate yourself on what system you currently have. It would be a good idea to get a few folks out to make sure your system is not too big or too small, too big is just as bad as too small, as well. Good luck and I hope it works out for you!

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Paid $80 p/lb of R22 two weeks ago in Houston...and that was a 'friend' deal.

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Your "friend" bent you over a barrel. Wholesale for a small outfit should be about $20-25 per pound for R22. Much less than that if they are a high volume company.

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my brother owns an HVAC company.

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Same. there is no better person to have in your family in the heat of summer than a good brother in law.