RICH

The leek was supposedly from the valves. The sniffer test he did was fairly certain no coil leaks.

petitefrancaise

I had this problem back in the spring. Ended up replacing the whole system for a more efficient heat pump with everything running on R410a. Amazing difference in comfort and of course lower bills. Now in the winter, it is heating the house just using the heat pump and not the aux heat strips ( after I'd dealt with the nest thermostat being very stupid and not smart).
R22 is just going to get more expensive.....

RICH

I agree, except the cost of whole replacement would equate to about 30% of the property value, and a lot more than I can afford!

anotherlimey

I had to buy a new A/C last month, two weeks before Christmas. $2900 including installation.

RICH

Wait. That does not sound too bad. What did you get for that $$? Whole new system/new outside unit/ something in between? R22 or the new legal gas (R410a?)!

anotherlimey

Whole new system with 10 year warranty, but it's only a 4 ton unit.

I couldn't tell you what gas it uses. That day was a hot one and I just wanted the thing changed ASAP; I called a few companies and my business went to the first Google reviewed company who could get here the quickest.

I believe there's a tax credit too for new qualifying A/C installs.

RICH

Holy Crap. Please PM their details. I was under the impression it would be 5 times that to replace the whole system.!

ddsrph

Rich
I just designed and installed my own system in the new 1200 sq foot house I am building. You can buy Goodman units online from several vendors. You need a licensed person to sign off on the final installation to have a guarantee. I already had my exposed commercial ductwork installed, which I did myself, and was ready to order a unit but stopped by a local trane dealer to see if they would sell me a unit (split unit Heatpump) let me install, then have them come out and solder the refrigerant lines, start up and check operation. More than just saving money my work standards, and attention to detail, is such I don't want anyone doing the work other than myself.
They sold me a Thrane unit, to include the thermostat, lines, 5kw heat strip, and some other small items I needed for $2500. This included the future partial installation. They ordered my inside unit, which I installed then brought the outside compressor the day of the final hook up. I already had a slab poured for it to sit on and the hole thru the wall for lines, thermostat installed with wire in place, and all electrical done. We are not in the house yet but run the heat, plus various saws, lights, (NO hot water yet). My electric bill for Dec was $43. You can barely hear it run.
Where are you located and do you have a heat pump or AC with furnace. In either case go online and price units if nothing more than to use to compare prices to those locally. R22 is going away and all new units are 410. You could possibly buy online, so most of the install and hire a local tech to do final hookup and submit paperwork for warranty.

Pulaski

Just Google AC units - a 4 ton unit runs from just under $3k to just over $4k depending on the SEER rating. That is for ones with a gas furnace, but I believe you'd just need a heat pump, which will be cheaper.

The usual rule of thumb is for installation to cost the same as the cost of the hardware, but if you buy the same brand the hookup should be easier and you might be able to negotiate a break on the labour cost.

If they try to charge for the installation at the same cost as the unit, ask them what their hourly labour cost is, and then ask them if it is going to take ($unit cost)/($hrly rate) hours to install it! But bear in mind that the installation might include the cost of the R410 refrigerant.

anotherlimey

You can buy these units yourself for around $2300.

I'll pm the company. I see you're in Florida too so you are eligible for the FPL credit.

anotherlimey

Maybe it's just SE Florida but we'd never pay that much for installation here. Mine was installed in 1/2 day, and the guy needs to be licensed for me to get the FPL credit and warranty.

anotherlimey

I'll be in the attic this weekend checking for bad wiring before laying insulation. The temp might be under 100f if I'm lucky.

And I have hurricane shutters to measure up.

anotherlimey

My lawn sucks. What does everyone here do for weeds?

The short story is - we bought a new house that had no lawn, just mud, so I paid to get one laid. Watered the new lawn twice a day for 6 weeks, everything looked great but weeds started coming through; I waited another 6 weeks (3 months since the lawn was laid) and used a regular lawn-friendly weed killer and although it killed the weeds it severely retarded the grass growth.

Fast forward another 5 months and the grass has brown patches (some parts are completely bare) and weeds were back with a vengeance. I used the same weed killer again, although a smaller dose, and killed weeds but got more brown patches!

So this spring I'm planning on reseeding after using a weed & feed product.

Does anyone else have advice... this is my first lawn and I will make it work! The wife thinks I'm crazy and says we should have just ripped it out and put concrete down, but I'm British and proud of my lawn with brown patches!

Nutmegger

In the summer, mow them so that they look neat and green from a distance. In the winter, encourage the dogs to gallop around on them so that they turn into a muddy brown quagmire that eventually becomes a surreal frozen mud patch.

ddsrph

Weeds look fine when mowed. If it wasn't for weeds I would not have much of a lawn. I would find out what grass is best suited to your area and keep throwing seeds at it until something grows. Try to find the best time to sow them, and fertilize and water appropriately. My yard is too big to water so I try to sow seeds during the wetter seasons.