OT: AC & Furnace

[briansd1]

[quote=UCGal]

It’s a high capacity, high CFM, fan that sucks the air up into the attic (which has vents.) [/quote]

Sounds like you have a whole house fan. It’s a lot of work.

My cousin who lives in NY does the same thing but doesn’t have a fan. She draws the drapes on the sunny side of the house.

Her husband installs the storm windows in the winter and she changes the drapes. A lot of work but it might be fun and educational for the kids.

I’ll talk my dad into installing an attic fan on a thermostat to automatically draw the hot air out. It won’t work as well as your setup but it’s better than nothing.

I live in a apartment but I like home projects.

[an]

[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] If I end up selling my house earlier than 6 years, then the government actually would be paying me to put in the AC, since I would be getting 30% tax credit from the federal government.[/quote]

No, you’re not…. you’re giving the house to your kids. 😉

$4,200 is a good price for a furnace and A/C. I would go for it.[/quote]
Nothing is off the table. If there’s another bubble I can take advantage of, I will definitely take advantage of it. If not, $120/yr for 20 years wouldn’t be too bad of a deal either.

[an]

[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] If I end up selling my house earlier than 6 years, then the government actually would be paying me to put in the AC, since I would be getting 30% tax credit from the federal government.[/quote]

No, you’re not…. you’re giving the house to your kids. 😉

$4,200 is a good price for a furnace and A/C. I would go for it.[/quote]
Nothing is off the table. If there’s another bubble I can take advantage of, I will definitely take advantage of it. If not, $120/yr for 20 years wouldn’t be too bad of a deal either.

[an]

[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] If I end up selling my house earlier than 6 years, then the government actually would be paying me to put in the AC, since I would be getting 30% tax credit from the federal government.[/quote]

No, you’re not…. you’re giving the house to your kids. 😉

$4,200 is a good price for a furnace and A/C. I would go for it.[/quote]
Nothing is off the table. If there’s another bubble I can take advantage of, I will definitely take advantage of it. If not, $120/yr for 20 years wouldn’t be too bad of a deal either.

[an]

[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] If I end up selling my house earlier than 6 years, then the government actually would be paying me to put in the AC, since I would be getting 30% tax credit from the federal government.[/quote]

No, you’re not…. you’re giving the house to your kids. 😉

$4,200 is a good price for a furnace and A/C. I would go for it.[/quote]
Nothing is off the table. If there’s another bubble I can take advantage of, I will definitely take advantage of it. If not, $120/yr for 20 years wouldn’t be too bad of a deal either.

[an]

[quote=briansd1][quote=AN] If I end up selling my house earlier than 6 years, then the government actually would be paying me to put in the AC, since I would be getting 30% tax credit from the federal government.[/quote]

No, you’re not…. you’re giving the house to your kids. 😉

$4,200 is a good price for a furnace and A/C. I would go for it.[/quote]
Nothing is off the table. If there’s another bubble I can take advantage of, I will definitely take advantage of it. If not, $120/yr for 20 years wouldn’t be too bad of a deal either.

[RichardJamesEsquire]

4200 is so cheap it sounds to good to be true is all. Theres also about $500 in miscellaneous materials plus a permit coming out of that. Even if it’s like 10′ from the furnace to the condensing unit, 30′ from the electrical panel to the condensing unit, and theres already a slab to put the condensing unit on theres still around $300 misc. A drain line has to be run (of course), the furnace condensate is acidic and will eat metal pipe, concrete, and kill plants. Your metal/ceramic/asbestos combustion gas vent pipe must be completely replaced with a pvc one. I wouldn’t do all that work for 800 bucks but theres always someone hungrier. If your existing thermostat doesn’t have cooling or a 2nd stage of heat, if you need more return air to get the required cfm for cooling, thats not a freebie, thats a required part of the job. Hopefully theres enough insulation on the ductwork that it doesn’t sweat in cooling.
As far as licensed and bonded, you basically buy a license in CA it has nothing to do with competence, the required bond is $1500 (I think), people use other peoples licenses all the time, and it’s not like he’s got the electricians license to run the electrical anyways. Not that a permit was even going to be pulled. We’re lucky we’re in a coastal zone and a Ca title 24 duct leakage test isn’t required.

[RichardJamesEsquire]

4200 is so cheap it sounds to good to be true is all. Theres also about $500 in miscellaneous materials plus a permit coming out of that. Even if it’s like 10′ from the furnace to the condensing unit, 30′ from the electrical panel to the condensing unit, and theres already a slab to put the condensing unit on theres still around $300 misc. A drain line has to be run (of course), the furnace condensate is acidic and will eat metal pipe, concrete, and kill plants. Your metal/ceramic/asbestos combustion gas vent pipe must be completely replaced with a pvc one. I wouldn’t do all that work for 800 bucks but theres always someone hungrier. If your existing thermostat doesn’t have cooling or a 2nd stage of heat, if you need more return air to get the required cfm for cooling, thats not a freebie, thats a required part of the job. Hopefully theres enough insulation on the ductwork that it doesn’t sweat in cooling.
As far as licensed and bonded, you basically buy a license in CA it has nothing to do with competence, the required bond is $1500 (I think), people use other peoples licenses all the time, and it’s not like he’s got the electricians license to run the electrical anyways. Not that a permit was even going to be pulled. We’re lucky we’re in a coastal zone and a Ca title 24 duct leakage test isn’t required.

[RichardJamesEsquire]

4200 is so cheap it sounds to good to be true is all. Theres also about $500 in miscellaneous materials plus a permit coming out of that. Even if it’s like 10′ from the furnace to the condensing unit, 30′ from the electrical panel to the condensing unit, and theres already a slab to put the condensing unit on theres still around $300 misc. A drain line has to be run (of course), the furnace condensate is acidic and will eat metal pipe, concrete, and kill plants. Your metal/ceramic/asbestos combustion gas vent pipe must be completely replaced with a pvc one. I wouldn’t do all that work for 800 bucks but theres always someone hungrier. If your existing thermostat doesn’t have cooling or a 2nd stage of heat, if you need more return air to get the required cfm for cooling, thats not a freebie, thats a required part of the job. Hopefully theres enough insulation on the ductwork that it doesn’t sweat in cooling.
As far as licensed and bonded, you basically buy a license in CA it has nothing to do with competence, the required bond is $1500 (I think), people use other peoples licenses all the time, and it’s not like he’s got the electricians license to run the electrical anyways. Not that a permit was even going to be pulled. We’re lucky we’re in a coastal zone and a Ca title 24 duct leakage test isn’t required.

[RichardJamesEsquire]

4200 is so cheap it sounds to good to be true is all. Theres also about $500 in miscellaneous materials plus a permit coming out of that. Even if it’s like 10′ from the furnace to the condensing unit, 30′ from the electrical panel to the condensing unit, and theres already a slab to put the condensing unit on theres still around $300 misc. A drain line has to be run (of course), the furnace condensate is acidic and will eat metal pipe, concrete, and kill plants. Your metal/ceramic/asbestos combustion gas vent pipe must be completely replaced with a pvc one. I wouldn’t do all that work for 800 bucks but theres always someone hungrier. If your existing thermostat doesn’t have cooling or a 2nd stage of heat, if you need more return air to get the required cfm for cooling, thats not a freebie, thats a required part of the job. Hopefully theres enough insulation on the ductwork that it doesn’t sweat in cooling.
As far as licensed and bonded, you basically buy a license in CA it has nothing to do with competence, the required bond is $1500 (I think), people use other peoples licenses all the time, and it’s not like he’s got the electricians license to run the electrical anyways. Not that a permit was even going to be pulled. We’re lucky we’re in a coastal zone and a Ca title 24 duct leakage test isn’t required.

[RichardJamesEsquire]

4200 is so cheap it sounds to good to be true is all. Theres also about $500 in miscellaneous materials plus a permit coming out of that. Even if it’s like 10′ from the furnace to the condensing unit, 30′ from the electrical panel to the condensing unit, and theres already a slab to put the condensing unit on theres still around $300 misc. A drain line has to be run (of course), the furnace condensate is acidic and will eat metal pipe, concrete, and kill plants. Your metal/ceramic/asbestos combustion gas vent pipe must be completely replaced with a pvc one. I wouldn’t do all that work for 800 bucks but theres always someone hungrier. If your existing thermostat doesn’t have cooling or a 2nd stage of heat, if you need more return air to get the required cfm for cooling, thats not a freebie, thats a required part of the job. Hopefully theres enough insulation on the ductwork that it doesn’t sweat in cooling.
As far as licensed and bonded, you basically buy a license in CA it has nothing to do with competence, the required bond is $1500 (I think), people use other peoples licenses all the time, and it’s not like he’s got the electricians license to run the electrical anyways. Not that a permit was even going to be pulled. We’re lucky we’re in a coastal zone and a Ca title 24 duct leakage test isn’t required.

[an]

His original bid was closer to $5k. He price matched another contractor and brought it down to $4200. My house is already pre-wired for AC, but lets assume there’s $500 in misc. materials; if his cost is $2900 for the units + $500 misc. materials, that leaves $800 for labor. He charges $100/hr and he said he can have it done in 8 hours, so $800 in labor makes total sense as to why he can go down that low. This price does not include permit. That will be extra as is any load test, etc. that will be required by this program.

I’m aware of the pvc pipes that are needed for the 95% unit.

[an]

His original bid was closer to $5k. He price matched another contractor and brought it down to $4200. My house is already pre-wired for AC, but lets assume there’s $500 in misc. materials; if his cost is $2900 for the units + $500 misc. materials, that leaves $800 for labor. He charges $100/hr and he said he can have it done in 8 hours, so $800 in labor makes total sense as to why he can go down that low. This price does not include permit. That will be extra as is any load test, etc. that will be required by this program.

I’m aware of the pvc pipes that are needed for the 95% unit.

[an]

His original bid was closer to $5k. He price matched another contractor and brought it down to $4200. My house is already pre-wired for AC, but lets assume there’s $500 in misc. materials; if his cost is $2900 for the units + $500 misc. materials, that leaves $800 for labor. He charges $100/hr and he said he can have it done in 8 hours, so $800 in labor makes total sense as to why he can go down that low. This price does not include permit. That will be extra as is any load test, etc. that will be required by this program.

I’m aware of the pvc pipes that are needed for the 95% unit.

[an]

His original bid was closer to $5k. He price matched another contractor and brought it down to $4200. My house is already pre-wired for AC, but lets assume there’s $500 in misc. materials; if his cost is $2900 for the units + $500 misc. materials, that leaves $800 for labor. He charges $100/hr and he said he can have it done in 8 hours, so $800 in labor makes total sense as to why he can go down that low. This price does not include permit. That will be extra as is any load test, etc. that will be required by this program.

I’m aware of the pvc pipes that are needed for the 95% unit.

[Author]

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