Need to replace our 2.5 ton AC real soon. Been getting varied quotes. $5000 to $8000. Then came across online resellers for apprx 2000 and I would have to get my own local contractors to install it. I would depend on the selling online company to honor the warranty since the manufacturer will not honor it. Other than that it seems like a good deal. Anyone have any experience with this?

I look at it this way:

You can save 90 percent of the cost of maintaining your home by doing all the simple and easy stuff yourself, like painting, plumbing repairs, drywall & plaster repairs, maybe some ceramic tiling, electrical wiring and the like.

I'd put replacing the central air conditioner in the other 10% catagory, and leave the job to a local HVAC contractor you can rely on for after sales service.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Nestor,

Imagine this: Fast forward to the day that something happens and you need warrantee service to your unit.

Local install contractor: "It's a defective part"

On-line supplier: "It was not installed correctly"

Bottom line: You are out of luck.

Nestor is 100% correct - there are some things that are just not DIY projects. This is one of them. Your best chance at getting a deal is to shop around for a good bid from a local H/A contractor.

I can only speak to the legal aspects, i.e., the warranty. Have you done any background investigation of any of these online resellers to determine if they've been in business long enough to have a track record, if they actually have honored warranties, and what their capitalization is so that they would be in a financial position to honor warranty repair costs if necessary?

I'm not that familiar with resellers so I'm uncertain whether or not it would standard for a manufacturerer to refuse to honor a warranty, assuming the equipment is out of warranty. If it's not, does it seem unusual that the manufacturer wouldn't honor the warranty?

Do the resellers rebuild the units? If so, I can understand why the manufacturer wouldn't honor the warranty. However, I would be reluctant to honor any alleged warranty unless I knew more (much, much more) about the company extending it.

And what recourse, if any, would you have if the online reseller refused to honor the warranty?

If this is an exact replacement, simple take old out put new in ( you may be able to do it yourself), and.
If all the online company's information checks out and it has gotten good reviews. Why not.? ( and this includes shipping)
At a 3,000 - 5,000 dollars less, that's a whole new one so why weary about a warranty......

quote:

Originally posted by ron45:
If this is an exact replacement, simple take old out put new in ( you may be able to do it yourself), and.
If all the online company's information checks out and it has gotten good reviews. Why not.? ( and this includes shipping)
At a 3,000 - 5,000 dollars less, that's a whole new one so why weary about a warranty......

H & A will never be a DIY activity. If for no other reason, high pressure coolants are highly regulated. A system can only be charged by a licensed and trained company with the proper equipment. Get caught trying that yourself and the fines will make your savings on equipment disappear.

believe discharge of refrigerants under the 2005 law is a $10,000 fine and up to 2 years in the pen.

that is no joke.

you cannot take out an old unit without releasing the R12 refrigerant unless you have a $10,000-20,000 recovery system, and you basically have to have an EPA training cert and a tax permit to get one from a wholesaler, as they "cater to trades only."

you start seeing things like this... or in furnace systems, every page has explosion and fire danger warnings on it... and it doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that maybe on this one, I should perhaps call a professional.