Air Conditioning Quote

[philshep]

Hello,

I have a quote for an attic air conditioning installation (older bungalow home). The person proposed a 2 ton York unit outside and an air handler in the attic, with pre manufactured 5" flex pipe (R5 rating) feeding the registers. The registers would be round 5" diffusers (similar to a pot light). He quoted me $5900 CDN (approx. $4750 USD). Is this outrageous? I am currently getting other quotes.

Any help would be appreciated!

Phil

[Jacksnap]

Hard to say but sounds high. The amount labor (or labour) is the largest unknown issue. For example, say a piston ring broke in your auto engine causing no other damage other than the ring has to be replaced. The ring itself costs less than $5, but the labor time involved to get the engine apart is horrendous.
Best you get at least 3 quotes and get documentation on how the tonnage was figured. Get a breakdown on labor involved for ducting verses installing the unit and air handler. Consider working area and number of floors to travel. Any of these may require an extra man beyond normal thereby causing additional labor costs. As far as the unit itself, larger is not always better when it comes to AC. Too small is not good. The size needs to be right on.. very important and can't be a seat-of-the-pants guess! A good quality job with a unit sized exactly right, will make you forget what you paid for the job and let you enjoy the intended use of the space.

[mdshunk]

I can't add much to Jack's response. I just wanted to re-emphasize the fact that when you're putting in the ductwork as a retrofit, it can get quite expensive depending on your particular house. I'm picturing the typical craftsman style bungalow in my head and that price sounds pretty decent to me. It's real hard to say, the price will even vary from market area to market area, and is sometimes cheaper when work is slow. The only real way to know is to get another quote or two. Refrain from having every contractor in town bid your house, since this is sort of like "robbing" them of their time. Another one or two would be the thing to do. If your prices are all in the same range, you can add value to the install by asking for something like longer a warranty, electrostatic air filter, higher SEER rating, R410a refrigerant, or a scroll compressor for no additional charge. Sometimes they'll bite if they want your work.