Central Air is DEAD!

[TheGreatSatan]

Now that summer is pretty much here and I'm itching to use my caentral air, but it's dead. The wiring inside is all burnt and melted. The serviceman said that their were too many windings in the line that created too many ohms for the aging unit to deliver on and it blew. The brand is called Janitoral, which I was told is very cheap and was only meant to last 10 years at best. It was installed back in 1990 (I bought the house 3 years ago) and it's been alive for 17 years!
A new system will be about $3500 to $4200 total after labor and taxes. Just wondering if anyone has experience with what brands to look for and what lingo to be aware of?

 

[Double D]

I have zero experience, but I do feel for you! Sorry to hear that! Wow that would be aweful!

 

[maniclion]

How many tons is your current unit? 1 ton = 12,000 BTU's... a 12'000 BTU unit is enough to cool my living room, dining room and kitchen about 800sqft...my home is large(5bdrm,3bath,1.5kitchen,2 lvgrms) so I would need a 3ton unit to cool the whole main part and a second 12,000btu split system for the studio addition in the back....

This was my fathers business, he used to recommend Trane, Carrier and Rheem, I remember those were the stickers he had on his truck as an authorized technician for them, e hated working on those cheap units for the reason you stated shoddy manufacturing meant more time he had to spend searching for strange reasons causing failure, like loose connections causing heat buildup and tripping breakers all the time....

Good luck, make sure you get it sized right or a system too small will run itself until it freezes over and a system too big will will drive you nuts turning on and off constantly...and they suck down more power at start-up so not only will it be pulling more KW's while running it will also take more to get going....

 

[maniclion]

This is from Rheems Choosing a Central AC:

Which air conditioners are energy efficient?
Much like automobile manufacturers, today???s air conditioner manufacturers are required by law to evaluate and rate their equipment according to its energy efficiency. This rating is known in the industry as a SEER, or Seasonal Energy Efficiency Rating. The higher the SEER, the more efficient the equipment.

Most new homes with central air come equipped with a standard builder???s model. However, when replacement becomes necessary, property owners can upgrade their air conditioning by specifying a more energy-efficient system.

The Rheem Classic XIV® High Efficiency model, for example, has a SEER of 14.00, among the highest available. It???s significantly higher than today???s standard models, many of which carry SEER???s of around 10.

High SEER models are generally more expensive, but can easily make up the difference by reducing your home energy bills over the long run.

 

[TheGreatSatan]

My old unit is a 4 ton one, so my new will be the same, but Trane this time.

 

[Witmaster]

If you've got the funds... go Geo_Thermal

It'll save you thousands of $$ over the long haul.

 

[TheGreatSatan]

Four thousand will just about tap out our savings, anything more will bankrupt us. I was saving up to get all new windows for the house especially since no matter what kind of system we put in will be mostly lost through our 40 year old windows!