Price for new furnance & AC unit

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victorb
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Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by victorb »

I talked to a Lennox dealer at a Costco today. A 95% efficient furnace with a 2 ton AC unit SEER 16 was in the $6500-$7000 range after about $900 in rebates from the local gas & electrical utility. I just started looking, but this seems a bit high to me. Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated.
sport
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by sport »

I would get three additional quotes. Before you ask a company to quote, check them out with the Better Business Bureau. When you compare quotes, try to compare at the same quality level. I believe that Lennox is one of the better brands. In any case, I would expect the Costco offer to be very competitive.
denovo
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by denovo »

victorb wrote:I talked to a Lennox dealer at a Costco today. A 95% efficient furnace with a 2 ton AC unit SEER 16 was in the $6500-$7000 range after about $900 in rebates from the local gas & electrical utility. I just started looking, but this seems a bit high to me. Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated.
Is this for the unit? Includes install? Installing a unit in a 1st story closet is much easier than shoving it in an attic. All matters.
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HardKnocker
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by HardKnocker »

victorb wrote:I talked to a Lennox dealer at a Costco today. A 95% efficient furnace with a 2 ton AC unit SEER 16 was in the $6500-$7000 range after about $900 in rebates from the local gas & electrical utility. I just started looking, but this seems a bit high to me. Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated.
That price sounds reasonable to me. 2 times the cost of the unit is the going rate. This would put the cost of the units at $3250-$3500 for both the furnace and AC. Not unreasonable at all.

The real question is whether you want a Lennox brand unit or not and if the installer is reputable and will do a good job.
“Gold gets dug out of the ground, then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility.”--Warren Buffett
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cheese_breath
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by cheese_breath »

HardKnocker wrote: The real question is whether you want a Lennox brand unit or not and if the installer is reputable and will do a good job.
+1 Lennox is a good brand, but it's not the only good brand out there. There are several threads discussing furnace and a/c brands.
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LiveSimple
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by LiveSimple »

Seems reasonable, paid for a york 98 % efficient furnace, 5 K installed, in Jan.
I remember 95 % was quoted for 4.5 K.

Also, when comes from Costco, it will be reasonable, you can get other quotes to verify and feel comfortable
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Watty
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by Watty »

That is in the ballpark of what I paid a few years ago. I agree with getting a few other quotes since the prices varied a lot when I got my quotes. Depending on where you are at now is a good time to get quote since it is between the heating and cooling seasons and the HVAC people may have very little work so don't delay making a decision since it might be more expensive when the summer A/C season starts.

One of the differences in bids will be the warranty that comes with it and that will vary a lot more than you might expect. The one I got has a ten years parts and labor guarantee through the company I used as long as I have the systems serviced annually through them for a reasonable cost. Some of the other bids I got had much shorter warranties.

There are lots of options for having multiple and variable fan speeds and running levels and if you are not on a real tight budget then get at least mid-range options for these will make a very noticeable difference in the comfort level and sound level which I think is worth it.

The size of the units are very important so they should really do a "manual J" calculation to see what you need instead of jsut putting in the same size units. Having one that is too large can cause problems. The original size might have been incorrect or the house may have changed since then if things like the insulation or windows were improves.

If your hot water heater is older and next to your furnace then ask about getting that replaced too. In some parts of the country HVAC companies can do that but in other areas they don't, if they can they may be able to do that at the same time for a very reasonable cost.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by cheese_breath »

Watty wrote: ....If your hot water heater is older and next to your furnace then ask about getting that replaced too....
That reminds me... If your water heater vents into the existing brick chimney be sure to have a chimney liner installed if you don't already have one.
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bloom2708
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by bloom2708 »

victorb wrote:I talked to a Lennox dealer at a Costco today. A 95% efficient furnace with a 2 ton AC unit SEER 16 was in the $6500-$7000 range after about $900 in rebates from the local gas & electrical utility. I just started looking, but this seems a bit high to me. Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated.
Does Costco kick in a 10% rebate on Lennox deals? We did a big carpet job through Costco Services. They referred it to a reputable local business who did the quote and install. When everything was agreed upon and finished we got a Costco card with 10% of the project value back.

I have been thinking about a Furnace/AC upgrade and grabbed a Lennox brochure from Costco the other day. Was just curious if that could factor in and further lower the total cost.
mw1739
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by mw1739 »

bloom2708 wrote:
victorb wrote:I talked to a Lennox dealer at a Costco today. A 95% efficient furnace with a 2 ton AC unit SEER 16 was in the $6500-$7000 range after about $900 in rebates from the local gas & electrical utility. I just started looking, but this seems a bit high to me. Any advice on how to approach this would be appreciated.
Does Costco kick in a 10% rebate on Lennox deals? We did a big carpet job through Costco Services. They referred it to a reputable local business who did the quote and install. When everything was agreed upon and finished we got a Costco card with 10% of the project value back.

I have been thinking about a Furnace/AC upgrade and grabbed a Lennox brochure from Costco the other day. Was just curious if that could factor in and further lower the total cost.
When I got a quote from Costco (Lennox) there was a $500 Costco gift card kicked in.
4nursebee
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by 4nursebee »

How much work is actually involved?
What is a days work worth for the right person?
What does the Lennox badge offer in cost vs reward?

With 30 seconds of searching I can find 15 Seer, 96% efficient hybrid fuel systems online, not one of which costs over 3K.
There are many qualified and/or skilled people that would install a system for $500 where I live.
I'm guessing I could get two comparable Goodman systems installed for what Lennox bid on.

I also think I know who to call to get a 8K bid.
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killjoy2012
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by killjoy2012 »

OP - That price sounds fairly competitive, but I'd still call out a couple of other well respected contractors for comparison sake. Make sure whoever you go with does a "Man J" calculation during their visit... or better yet, use the fact that they don't do one as a decision criteria of who not to go with. All good hvac contractors will do one before spec'ing equipment. A good HVAC system is 40% equipment, 60% installation quality.

In 2007, I had a 60k BTU 95%+ fully modulating furnace + 16 SEER 2T AC installed for < $7k. But that was 7 years ago, and pricing likely varies a bit regionally.

I would search the forum here for previous HVAC threads - there's been many. Understand that in the world of HVAC, many brands are identical (same manufacturer, same unit - different brand sticker sold at a diff price point). Trane, Carrier, York are going to be your luxury brands & you'll pay for them. Rheem, Ruud, Bryant, and others are more of the value play. Lennox is good quality, but the black sheep of the hvac world. Goodman is your Walmart off-brand that many hvac pro's refuse to touch... but as pointed out above, can be purchased online directly by you, and for cheaper than all other brands. If you go that way, don't be surprised to get laughed at when you call a pro to braze the lineset & charge the system w/ freon. And don't expect Bubba, the $500 install guy, to come support it for issues and warranty work 2/5/10/20 years down the line -- assuming that the warranty is even still valid by using Bubba for the install.
Tamales
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by Tamales »

The quality and qualifications of the people doing the installation should be a top consideration. I don't think there are that many actual manufacturers of these units, just a lot of re-branding. Not sure I'd be happy with the lottery approach for installation, especially with pricing it before they see what's involved in the job.

I had a 3T 16 SEER AC + furnace (I forget the efficiency) installed about 2 years ago for $7600. During the quote, they examined the existing ductwork and made recommendations on changes (and they were exactly right on which rooms were under-cooled in summer), which I could either accept or reject. They also offered me 3 options on the combination of AC and furnace units so I could trade off the value of various efficiencies to me. Warranty is another thing to consider, and local mom'n'pop AC/heating places may have more, or better, warranty options. The $7600 price included a 10 year P&L warranty thru the manufacturer (a similar 10 yr P&L warranty thru AIG was a little over $1000 more).

Costco may get you a lower price, and you may even get a good installation, but personally I'd go with seeking out a local company with a long history and good ratings. Look online or ask neighbors.
sport
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by sport »

killjoy2012 wrote: Lennox is good quality, but the black sheep of the hvac world.
Please explain this comment. Thanks.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by cheese_breath »

4nursebee wrote:How much work is actually involved?
What is a days work worth for the right person?
What does the Lennox badge offer in cost vs reward?

With 30 seconds of searching I can find 15 Seer, 96% efficient hybrid fuel systems online, not one of which costs over 3K.
There are many qualified and/or skilled people that would install a system for $500 where I live.
I'm guessing I could get two comparable Goodman systems installed for what Lennox bid on.

I also think I know who to call to get a 8K bid.
Whatever brand you choose be sure to make sure the installer is approved by the manufacturer or they may not honor your guarantee.

The reason you might get two Goodmans for the price of a Lennox is because Lennox is twice as good. Read some of the Goodman online reviews. When I was looking for a new furnace and a/c I went to a couple service companies to get their opinions on the brands I was considering. Goodman was one of them. The first company tried switch me from Goodman to Amana (basically a more expensive Goodman). The first thing the second one said when I told him the brands I was considering was.. "Stay away from Goodman." And that's a direct quote.

I finally settled on Carrier and have not been disappointed.
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cheese_breath
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by cheese_breath »

jsl11 wrote:
killjoy2012 wrote: Lennox is good quality, but the black sheep of the hvac world.
Please explain this comment. Thanks.
Don't know if this is still true, but at the time I was looking in 2009 Lennox was reputed to be more expensive to fix if you had a problem. OTOH, before I got my new Carrier I had a Lennox for over 20 years and didn't have any problems.
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angelescrest
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by angelescrest »

jsl11 wrote:
killjoy2012 wrote: Lennox is good quality, but the black sheep of the hvac world.
Please explain this comment. Thanks.
Indeed, I've never heard this.
4nursebee
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by 4nursebee »

I have 3 Goodmans and one other.
Everyone works on them.
Parts available 10 minutes away.
Oh, no real problems.

"Twice as good" is a subjective statement.
16 Seer is 16 Seer across brands.
96% effeciency is 96%.
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Dtort
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by Dtort »

You absolutely need to take quality of installation and warranties into account.
We recently got a new Lennox heat pump. We didn't exactly get three quotes - its more like that two of the three local companies we contacted couldn't even be bothered to come out to give us one. But the third company was very polite, thorough, and made a number of extra suggestions without our getting the feeling we were being upsold. They provided a number of options for units with differing SEERs and warranties so we could make a good decision. A little online research told us that they'd been in business for a long time with a stellar reviews and BBB rating.When the day of installation came, the crew was professional and the quality of work was wonderful (the previous system had numerous installation issues). AND the crew could answer the questions that I had - questions based on reading this board's previous A/C threads! (thanks, y'all.)
So - although you already know this - don't let price be your only consideration.
4nursebee
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by 4nursebee »

Today, one of my HVAC guys said that when a Lennox system goes down the parts have to be ordered in, ie shipped.

He also said, compare the guts of a new Goodman with a Lennox...
they are all made with the same components.

My HVAC guy keeps an 800 bed hospital running...
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HardKnocker
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by HardKnocker »

I think Goodman makes a good unit.

A Lennox is not 2x as good as a Goodman. That is a ridiculous statement.

I couldn't buy a Goodman unit myself to have it installed. And when I priced it out with an installer it was the same price as a major brand unit.

You can find bad reviews about any furnaces on the market. They all have some bum units.

I went with a Carrier certified installer because I got a really good deal. Carrier makes a good unit but they are not failure-proof.
“Gold gets dug out of the ground, then we melt it down, dig another hole, bury it again and pay people to stand around guarding it. It has no utility.”--Warren Buffett
4nursebee
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Re: Price for new furnance & AC unit

Post by 4nursebee »

ANyone that wants to order an HVAC unit themselves should use the internet...
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