Tech / Special Interest → Home Improvement > [HVAC] Are these quotes reasonable?

Re: [HVAC] Are these quotes reasonable?

I also moved from a HWBB heated house to a forced air house. No regrets, at all.

Costco installers were great. They use Service Experts around here and many other places. But like the Service Experts guy said to me, some SE offices are better than others and Costco uses a variety of companies, depending on the area.

I'd researched the installation company before I signed on.

Pictures to follow later today.

It went perfectly. The rain held off and the system got installed, charged and tested with no problems.

The only issue I have is the thermostat shows a humidity level in the house that seems to be 10% higher than it really is. I have a digital hygrometer against which I'm referencing it. In addition, I have a couple of humidistats at home and the off-on click is also happening at about 10% below the number being reported on the new thermostat.

I'm going to watch it for a couple of days and then I'll bring it up to the installation company. I don't know how the discrepancy will affect maintenance of humidity levels, but I can't imagine it will be in a good way.

Well.... how did the project go?

That's funny. This is probably as close to that as you can get.

Installation seems to be going pretty well. They were here promptly at 8:30 and have been working pretty continuously to get everything done.

They wore booties initially and then laid down a canvas tarp. It's a little moist outside from the earlier rains, but no rain during the installation, which is a relief.

Presently the condenser has been put into place and is ready. They put down a new pad and ran all the lines. The venting to the outside is completed as well. They are working on getting the furnace installed and assembled right now.

Furnace is all installed and assembled. They will soon be hoking everything up and charging the system. They told me that if it were raining right now, other than for a light sprinkle, they wouldn't charge the system and would wait for a dry day. They're going to get this done just in time. The rains start moving in later today. It's already really gray and dreary out there.

I agree. I feel a lot more relaxed than I usually do during these times. I'm pretty certain it's because I trust Costco to make things right if the installers do something wrong.

We had costco do the carpet in our house and the big advantage the salesman mentioned was there are standards they require their installers to meet. These are higher than what the average sub would do, and you have the "might" of Costco on your side should something happen.

I'm not terribly concerned. With a 1-year 100% satisfaction guarantee and a 10 year parts and labor, it should be fine.

I just don't want dirty shoes in the house.

Heck, I've seen drywall delivered to houses that aren't shingled/wired/plumbed yet in the rain. The builder doesn't care, he has a schedule to keep....

You folks are thinking the installation would be done in the rain? I hardly think so so the point is moot. No reputable company would attempt it so what is the problem here? They know the restrictions much better than we apparently are giving them credit. They would just reschedule the install. Methinks you are just grasping at something that is very unlikely to happen.

However if there is a failure and it's raining/snowing I believe they will troubleshoot and repair the outside condenser unit in the rain or snow including brazing, replacing the compressor and adding 410A Freon.

My techs wear slip on covers on their shoes. No mess tracked in. Another quality of a reputable company. I've never had one problem with any of the techs tracking in anything from outside since 1989.

For a critical replacement or repair, yes, it can be done in the rain.

For a routine job that can really wait a day or so, what's the rush?
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The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits.

Just checked and it looks like the weather may have changed. Rain has possibly moved to Saturday/Sunday. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

Installation on Friday. I think it's supposed to rain that day unfortunately.

I took all of that into account. Actually they do in their final written quote. The person had said a 3% discount if using the Costco Amex card. For purposes of my comparisons, since my other credit cards give 1% cash back, I used a 2% discount rate as the actual cost reduction for going through Costco.

The actual number (if I recall correctly) with the entire 3% figured in was $10,250.

All of the other quotes were around 15% higher for very similarly configured systems.

If you have the Executive Membership you get cash back on that too.

After. I'm only eligible for a $300.00 energy rebate.

Is the Costco price before or after the rebates for energy efficiency etc.?

Oh, I meant to write that.

Costco is running a sale starting on October 3, so I need to wait until then. With all the membership discounts and cash cards, etc. the cost for everything I mentioned above is $10,355.00. The price also includes the first two years of maintenance. It also includes free duct cleaning as well.

Just out of curiosity, what did Costco quote for the system?

I've pretty much settled on a Lennox system that I priced through Costco. It was a pretty good deal through them.

I got their best automatic whole home humidifier, their top of the line air cleaner (Pure Air) and top of the line 98% furnace. On the AC I got a 16 SEER unit, but not their very quietest one.

The quietest compressor at the 16/17 SEER level was only single stage unit. So I dropped down one level and got a dual stage variable speed unit. I didn't want to spend for the 21 SEER unit.

Thermostat is nice as well. Wi-Fi, internet enabled, color touch screen.

10 year parts and labor warranty.

On the old one, the heat exchanger was cracked. The part would be free, but the labor wouldn't. Plus there are several other items that need to be repaired. Cost is only only one aspect.