I'm usually pretty good about doing my own research and educating myself about any major product purchases, but I was sort of in panic mode with my dead AC unit (super hot week, newborn in the house, etc) that I just went with what the hvac company suggested. Now I'm trying to find out if I got a fair deal or not (leaning towards not) and also get some opinions on the problems that have followed since the new unit went in.
I had an old Carrier unit, about 25 years old so I knew it was just a matter of time before it was no longer serviceable. I had a reputable company come out and find the problem, which of course turned out to be the unit was really old and deteriorated, had leaks, wasn't worth fixing, would probably leak again soon, etc. I had already had one company try to fix it and the repairs only held for a month, so I knew it was about time for a replacement.
The company installed this Aire-Flo unit:
![]()
Model 13ACD-036-230-15
I paid $3,500 for the complete job, from the initial diagnostic of the old unit and complete system inspection to the finished install of the new one.
I'm thinking I overpaid a bit, although not sure how much. I couldn't find any definitive info on the retail cost of this unit, but I'm guessing half the total cost went to the unit and the rest went to labor, freon, and the system diagnostic where the guys were crawling around in the attic looking for any other leaks in the lines and blower unit.
I had the unit running for about 2 weeks, no problems, seemed much quieter than the old Carrier unit and produced slightly more cool air at the vents.
Two nights ago I woke up around 3am to the sound of the outside unit revving up louder than usual. It would progressively get louder for about 20 seconds and then quickly return to normal operating sound levels. About a minute later it would repeat. I shut it down for a couple of hours, turned it back on in the morning, and it seemed to run fine. That afternoon, it was producing no cool air. Hot air was blowing from the vents.
I called the company, they came out and detected a leak in the attic blower unit, which is maybe 5 years old. It's a great Carrier unit, and this company told me it was in excellent condition.
They were about to repair the leak in one of the coils, basically just soldering over the hole, and so far things seem to be running smoothly.
Here are my questions:
1. Based on the unit and what I paid, how good or bad of a deal do you think I got? Good deal and it is a middle of the road unit.
2. Is it just a coincidence that 2 weeks after the new unit was installed, my perfectly good attic blower sprung a leak? I paid them to fix that leak. Wondering if somehow the installation was the cause of it and I shouldn't have paid. They didn't do any work on the blower, so I'm not sure how they could have caused the leak, unless the new unit was somehow incompatible in some way with the blower. They did not cause the leak and are not liable for it or to do anything for free. Not unusual for those coils to leak.
3. Any thoughts on Aire-Flo in general? My online searches suggest they're a middle-of-the-road unit, standard efficiency, nothing special but not bad. Is that accurate? Not a bad unit. Lennox owns them.
4. The freon lean in the attic unit was significant. The technician sprayed soapy water on the coil and it bubbled quickly. I could hear it bubbling as I came up the attic stairs, before I was even close enough to the unit to see it. Having a baby in the house, is there any health risk with a leak? Should I be regularly inspecting the coils myself for any new potential leaks? No health hazard. I would have sold you a new coil or recommended a new one. May leak again. They /the industry seem to be thinning out those coils and dumbing them down quality wise.
Thanks!
