Central Air Unit and Furnace (Heating) Replacement

[butchik]

If this is a question that has been asked before, I apologize. My wife and I are buying our first house (21 years old), we just had our inspection today and the inspector said that the central air unit (still works but it's 20 years old) and the furnace (rusting) needs to be replaced. Just wondering how much will these items cost including installation and what brand/model should we get? Any good contractors in central NJ? Any assistance is greatly appreciated.

Didn't know that buying a house is stressful!!!!

[LazyPup]

Aside from some totally unneccessary bells and whistles there is really very little difference between one HVAC unit and another. The real test of quality is determined by the quality of the installation.

I would begin by getting a minimum of three bids. Make sure they each compute a heat loss study on the house to determine the proper size unit and necessary ducting or distribution components specific to the needs of your house.

While some people guess at BTU or tonnage requirements based on square footage, there are many other factors to be considered. When a heat loss study is properly done, they begin by taking the square footage of each room, then factor in ceiling heights, lenght of outside walls, wall contruction, insulation, doors and window openings etc. You then have to consider what is under the floor, a slab, unheated basement, a heated living space etc. Next they factor in the ceiling, another heated space above, an attic, type of insulation in the attic, roof pitch,etc etc.

Once the BTU requirements for each room is computed they add them all up to get a total load. The total load is then adjusted by the average tenperature differential for your climatic zone.

The physical location of the house must also be factored in, (is the house out in the open, protected and shaded by trees etc.)

In some cases they even factor in the color of the roofing material and exterior paint or siding.

Once the heat load has been computed a duct or distribution system has to be designed specific to your house to insure a balanced airflow or distribution of steam or water.

While it is commonly believed that it can be done solely by square footage, in truth, if ten homes were built to the same blueprint, by the same contractor in the same neighborhood, a true heat loss study would reveal they each have a differing BTU requirement.

[butchik]

LazyPup,

Thanks for your inputs. As it stands we don't own the house yet that's why I think we can't get it have someone bid on what needs to be done --- Sears even said that technically we should be the owners before they can give us a quote. If we assume that the ducts were done properly and that the square footage on the house is 2500, how much minimally is the cost of replacing the AC unit and the furnace? We're trying to get a ballpark figure just in case they don't want to fix them and the contract price needs to be adjusted on the house.

Thanks again for your help.

Butchik

quote:Originally posted by LazyPup

Aside from some totally unneccessary bells and whistles there is really very little difference between one HVAC unit and another. The real test of quality is determined by the quality of the installation.

I would begin by getting a minimum of three bids. Make sure they each compute a heat loss study on the house to determine the proper size unit and necessary ducting or distribution components specific to the needs of your house.

While some people guess at BTU or tonnage requirements based on square footage, there are many other factors to be considered. When a heat loss study is properly done, they begin by taking the square footage of each room, then factor in ceiling heights, lenght of outside walls, wall contruction, insulation, doors and window openings etc. You then have to consider what is under the floor, a slab, unheated basement, a heated living space etc. Next they factor in the ceiling, another heated space above, an attic, type of insulation in the attic, roof pitch,etc etc.

Once the BTU requirements for each room is computed they add them all up to get a total load. The total load is then adjusted by the average tenperature differential for your climatic zone.

The physical location of the house must also be factored in, (is the house out in the open, protected and shaded by trees etc.)

In some cases they even factor in the color of the roofing material and exterior paint or siding.

Once the heat load has been computed a duct or distribution system has to be designed specific to your house to insure a balanced airflow or distribution of steam or water.

While it is commonly believed that it can be done solely by square footage, in truth, if ten homes were built to the same blueprint, by the same contractor in the same neighborhood, a true heat loss study would reveal they each have a differing BTU requirement.

[LazyPup]

If your bank or mortgage company is demanding the system upgrade I would think the seller would be glad to work with you on this. Obviously the final answer is of mutual interest, you don't want to take on too big of a bill and they dont want unneccisarily bump down the selling price.

The compromise would be to mutually get the estimates, then negotiate the selling price based on the result.

YOu might call your realtor, explain the situation and have him/her contact the seller to work it out. You might offer to share any cost of the estimates then you could logically adjust the selling price to something that is fair to both parties.

[imeduc]

Call around there where you are for a ball park price. They are different all over the country. So its like if I dont live there I dont want to give a price for it on here for sure. Get 3 bids or prices on the job for sure and work from there. Up there Id go for a furnace with a high AFUE like 90 and a not so high SEER on the AC like 12 to 14

ED

My mistakes dont define me they inform me.