AC Replacement

Upstairs unit stopped cooling yesterday, called from yellow pages till we got through to someone who could come out today which was Parrish Services. Service man came out today, said there was no Freon left, would have to reschedule, went into attic, saw oil coming from the evaporator coil, which means this is where the leak is, said the coil would have to be replaced. Then said could not get a 10 SEER coil anymore, must be upgraded to higher SEER, which means the outside unit needs to be replaced also, which means a whole new system. Now that we are talking about a new unit, why not replace the furnace, which has the blower to match the new system. At any rate the cost is $8849 for a 3.5 ton Carrier with a SEER of 14.

Does anyone have experience with Parrish Services, does this seem like it is priced right. Has anyone else had to replace thier Goodman AC units/ experienced leaks of refrigerant that could not be repaired?

Any help would be appreciated

 

hmmmm...not an expert, but I think that you are in the process of being ripped off. I would do a search on hvac on these forums and see who others have used in the past, and who they were happy with and definately get a second opinion. How old is you're unit? Also sounds like a crock that "They don't make the part" anymore. GET A SECOND OPINION!

 

I'd definately get a second opinion. We just used Algonkian HVAC (http://www.algonkianhvac.com/) to have our AC fixed. It was very reasonably priced and the guys knew their stuff. We also had them install a whole house humidifier a few years ago.

 

Thanks for the help, yes the price seems high, and this is only the 4th cooling season for our system, which it seems to me, even if it is a "contractor grade" it should last longer than that. Bad news though, as all the bedrooms are upstairs and can't sleep in them with the heat and no AC. I have search, but cannot find anything about Parrish

 

Thanks for the reference...

 

When ours died last weekend, we bought a cheap window unit at Lowe's for $100 to help cool our master bedroom. Since we have a TH, we were able to put a blanket up on the basement staircase and use a fan to blow the cool air towards the second bedroom.

 

At least for a second opinion, check out these guys out of Leesburg. I've used them to replace two whole house humidifiers and service my furnaces and they've been responsive, professional and straight up with their diagnosis and costs.

 

Thanks, and according to their website, they offer free second opinions, so I'll give them a ring

6/3 update, called ME Flow, spoke with Frankie, sounds like a replacement part is available and is under warrenty. Cancelled the order on the whole new system. Will schedule ME Flow to come out tommorrow.

 

Good to hear ...

Needless to say every homeowner should be aware of these contractors that try to fool us and take our money.

Could you please share your experience with this contractor (MEFlow).

Also could you ask the contractor what is the normal maintenance procedures(other than checking the freon levels) is on these (Goodman) AC Units..

 

I've got to add my .02 here...

I'd be cautious with ME Flow. We had a horrible experience with them 5 years ago and heard about lots of bad things AFTER we had used them. Also, check the Fairfax County Consumer Complaint web page. It helps weed out some contractors. Good luck.

 

Has anyone looked into getting QUIET central A/C units to replace the ones installed from the builder? I've heard the Lennox XC15 is the quietest but I'm sure any replacement would be around $5k or so? Sound right? Any other ideas? Thanks!

 

Does anyone have experience with Parrish Services, does this seem like it is priced right. Has anyone else had to replace thier Goodman AC units/ experienced leaks of refrigerant that could not be repaired?

Any help would be appreciated[/quote]

I have used Parrish a few years ago for a leaky A/C, and of course they charged way too much. However, if you Google 10 SEER coil you can find parts for sale, even though it isn't made anymore. We use a company called United Heating and Air, and they are reasonable and they do great work. We had our A/C go out while we were out of town(pet's were still home) and a neighbor had someone else come to fix it. When we got back we had United come out to check the other guys work, and they came for free. They also told us the extra things the other co. wanted to do at a later time was bogus. They could have done these "repairs" and made some money, but instead they were honest.

800-890-4328

 

logger, whitney1125, and others--

Check out the thread where I posted our HVAC service info that we use. Great service and local guys who are efficient and fair priced. Bowman's Heating and Air is great. They offer Aprilaire humidifiers and other HVAC services, duct cleaning, etc.
Web site is--

www.bowmanheating.com (Bowman's Heating and Air info.)

The thread is HVAC Problems under Homeowners Corner and posted by me "foodie" on 03/13/06.

Good luck--

Foodie

 

http://www.broadlandshoa.org/hoaforum/showthread.php?t=2177

Look at this link to a thread in the Broadlands forum for a 10 SEER unit they are about to put in the landfill! I hope it works out!

 

Update on AC Replacement: ME Flow ordered a replacment evaporator coil, said they would install it for $950 which would not include the cost of the coil as it was covered under warranty, scheduled the work for this past Friday morning, they did not show up, called in and got a story about how they had the wrong number said they would have to do it on Monday as it was now too hot to be in the attic. I told them how dissatisfied we were, they said they would try to get someone to work on it Saturday, they called back later and said a technician would be on site at 7am Saturday morning. Technician came, seemed to know what he was doing, installed the coil, recharged the system and left after 3 hours. AC initially appeared to be working, however now it is apparent it is not, as the temp difference between supply and return air is very low. Called ME Flow this morning to tell them, they say they will have someone on site this morning...

 

$950 labor for three hours work? I'm in the wrong business...

 

Heck Yeah! A friend of the family owns an A/C service in Falls Church, most of thier Senior Tech's make over $80k a year plus benefits.

Hard, dirty hot work, but it pay's well.

 

Hot & Dirty is right ... a friend of mine did our A/C work at our Broadlands house. Whenever he was in the attic, I always turned a fan on to blow up the access way so that he would get some cooler air up there. We did have an attic fan, but it would come on at 90 degrees. In my current home, I've been adding a new circuit to power an attic fan, and even at 8am, the temps in the attic are over 95 !!.

IMHO .. while the charges seem pricey ... they do earn their pay! I only wish they would see more, as the companies always get most of that hourly cost.

 

They did come out, this time with two guys, determined that the compressor is now bad. Said it was probably due to it running without freon in it. At any rate, the compressor is a warranty (5yr) covered part. Quote to install was "normally" $1188, but since they had just billed me for the $950 to install the coil, they made a "special" deal for me at $687. Compressor part arrived 2nd day and they came out and installed it. Took about the same time as last time, 3 hours. It has now been running for about a week, and seems to be doing a better than ever job of cooling. So we are hoping this is the end of our story, but if it is not, I will add what ever happens.

Overall opinion; did not appreciate the wrong number story as to why they didn't show up; did not think they should have had to come back to diagnos a bad compressor (but who knows maybe it did die right after the coil install?), but on the bright side, they pretty much did what they said they were going to do, and it was a definate step up from Parrish and the whole new system for $8849, so overall we have a fixed AC system and I guess we are happy with that. Have no clue on thier pricing, but then, that is why I am posting this, so others in our community can hear the details and be armed with what we experienced in case they need it.

 

I have had experiences two AC repair contractors and neither was good. I used to do HVAC repair years ago but I did not need the EPA cert back then to handle freon. The first company was Croppe-Metcalf who told me my condenser fan was bad and wanted to charge me $500 for a fan motor. The unit was two years old and I did not believe the story. I replaced the contactor and capacitor for $40 and it worked fine. I had to go through the Better Business bureau in Richmond to get a refund for their labor. The B&B are excellent for resolving issues in Loudoun County since we do not have any other recourse due to the lack of foresight on the part of the BOS.

The second bad experience was with Bowman's who charged $315 to add three pounds of freon(so they said, they had no way to measure) on a Saturday. I told him that I could wait until Monday but he said the price would be the same since he was out and had a call near me. The labor of $120 I could have lived with but the $190 for three pounds of freon was outrageous since he buys a 30lb can for much less. I compained to the owner but he said that they all charge the same and they check with each other. So, unitl we get a BOS that will regulate these HVAC contractors to fair prices and qualified personnel, I don't think you will find a reasonable and fair HVAC company in our area. They send the personnel to the three day EPA certification class and they call them "qualified" technicians. If anyone has better experiences, especially now that the really hot weather is coming please let us know. I know I would like to hear about them.