Consumer Search recommends using price as your guide when shopping for a new or replacement central air conditioner. While most manufacturers sell to Heating, Venting and Air Conditioning (HVAC) contractors who then charge a markup, there are ways to cut costs. If you're willing to play the "general contractor" role, you can buy air conditioners from direct-to-consumer retailers and separately hire contractors. Some but not all contractors are willing to work under these conditions. In terms of equipment, buy only what you need to cool your home's interior and choose one with a SEER or EnergyStar efficiency rating. Bryant, Carrier and Trane are highly rated in terms of equipment quality and efficiency, but they do not sell directly to consumers. If you wish to save money on the equipment, you will have to ask individual dealers if they'll sell the units without using one of their HVAC contractors. Each manufacturer has a list of suppliers and trained contractors they refer sales to.

Be aware that Trane and Bryant have more stringent training installation guidelines for their HVAC contractors. If you're independent contractor isn't trained on these models, you might pay more for repeat visits to correct problems. Most central air conditioner manufacturers don't advertise price on their websites. However, Furnace Compare, a website that compiles comprehensive buying guidelines and reviews on HVAC equipment, provides a report examining more than 300 central air conditioners (including models, numbers and efficiency ratings), prices, heat pumps and how much your air conditioners installation should cost. Price estimates range from $3,000 for just the equipment to $6,000 if you need to install duct work. You should budget $4,000 to $8,000 or more for installation including the cost of a new blower. A new heating system will increase the price. The air conditioner system is reliant on the furnace so you should change the furnace filter before you power up the air conditioner system.

While the furnace manufacturer usually installs a basic fiberglass filter, there are anti-microbial and hepa filters that remove additional allergens, mold and particulates. Until Dec. 31, 2010, homeowners who replace their central air conditioners in a "principal residence" with an EnergyStar or SEER rated model might be qualified for a 30 percent tax credit. how much ac cost per hourTo determine if your air conditioner qualifies, you must have a Manufacturer’s Certification Statement which according to EnergyStar is "a signed statement from the manufacturer certifying that the product or component qualifies for the tax credit."split ac parts nameLooking for the quietest central air conditioner money can buy?how to remove window ac unitThen you need to look at an AC’s decibels (dB) rating, a unit used to measure the intensity of sound. 

The lower the decibel rating, the quieter the AC. For example, on Carrier’s website you can see the quietest ACs by comparing their dB (sound) levels. The Infinity 19VS is quieter than the Infinity 21, as you can see from its lower dB level Note: It says “as low as.” Which means it’s the lowest decibel level achieved from the quietest size within each model group during low fan-speed operation. Currently, the 50-60 dB range is as quiet as an air conditioner can get. As of 2015, some of the quietest ACs include: OK, so what do those numbers mean, though? How loud is 65 or 56 decibels? How will you know if the AC is quiet enough for you? For a frame of reference, Purdue University’s Chemistry Department gives you examples of noise sources for each decibel level: So, if you’re looking for a quiet AC, make sure it’s within 50 to 60 dB. If you can’t find an AC’s sound level, look for certain features that imply quietness, including:

Remember that any sound rating you see implies two things: In other words, the advertised sound (dB) is the AC running under perfect conditions.So if you have a larger home (implying a larger AC) and live in a hotter area like Florida (implying that the fan will run at a higher setting) the AC you buy will probably be louder than advertised. You’ll need to get a professional AC installer to perform a Manual J Heat Load Calculation on your home.Most reputable HVAC companies will do this for you free of charge as part of an air conditioner installation estimate.You’re free to choose the first offer you get or leave it to find someone else with no charge to you.Related article: How Do I Know What Size Central Air Conditioner I Need for My Home? Do you live in the Sarasota area in Florida and an AC installation? Contact Cool Today to schedule a free estimate.Cool Today is the leading air conditioning company in Sarasota, Florida and the surrounding areas. We’ve been serving homeowners here since 1963.

Watkins Heating & Cooling Blog The Cause of Freon Leaks What causes a/c evaporator coils to leak? We have found this to be the most common problem plaguing air conditioners. To explain this, we first need to bust a common air conditioner myth. A Common A/C Myth Many homeowners believe that, over time, an air conditioner uses freon. Maybe a long, hot summer leaves a perfectly good air conditioner "winded" and low on freon. We just need to tune-up the a/c and top-up the freon, right? In reality, an air conditioner or heat pump has a sealed refrigerant system that should never "use up" or run out of freon. The freon or refrigerant is only the medium used to transfer heat from the inside of the home to the outside. The only resource that is expended is electricity. If the freon is not consumed in the process of cooling your home, then it must be lost only by a leak in the copper tubing. For many years, the air conditioning industry has used copper tubing to harness the pressure of refrigerant and bring comfort to the masses.

Copper is soft and abundant, and easy to seal in the field with solder or brazing alloy. If copper is such a good material, why do we see so many freon leaks? Is this due to poor field connections, poor manufacturing, or is there a third possibility? Trane Looks for the Root Cause A number of years ago, Trane began a study to determine the true cause of this constant threat to our comfort. As service technicians, we have noticed that leaks from field or factory connections cause problems in the first year and are fairly rare. The problem leaks that develop in a 4 - 7 year old air conditioner occur in the copper tubing wall not the connection points or braze joints. The source of these pre-teen leaks is what the Trane engineers set out to find in their study. Our technicians have noticed that certain brands of air conditioners develop leaks faster than others and that the newer, more efficient air conditioners are more prone to leaking than the old energy hogs. The reason for this seems fairly obvious to HVAC contractors.

A/C manufacturers can raise the efficiency of their equipment by using thinner copper in their evaporator coils. Heat transfers faster through the thinner copper, but this efficient tubing also leaks sooner. One could argue that the legislation that raised the minimum efficiency of air conditioners and heat pumps to 13 SEER resulted in thinner tubing walls, more evaporator coils leaks, and, as a result, more ozone-damaging freon released into the atmosphere. The Real Cause of Freon Leaks So we know that thinner tubing develops leaks sooner, but what is causing the freon leak in the first place? The leaky a/c coils that the Trane engineers studied had microscopic pin holes seemingly drilled throughout the coil tubing. Trane's in-home studies revealed that the culprit was formic acid. Formic acid was corroding the copper and drilling these tiny pin holes. The acid penetrates the thinner, high-efficiency tubing faster and is making some air conditioner brands look very bad. But where is the formic acid coming from?

Isn't that what gives fire ants their sting? What is formic acid doing in our homes and on our air conditioner coils? Is Formaldehyde the Culprit? Formaldehyde in the home can convert into Formic acid on the a/c coil. It is extremely mild, but over a period of 5 years, it will produce pinholes in copper tubing. We call this process formicary corrosion, and it is the main reason that we still buy R-22 by the skid. If you have researched indoor air quality, you'll know that formaldehyde is a major pollutant in our homes. An infamous case of severe formaldehyde in the living space was the FEMA trailer provided to Katrina victims. While less severe than a FEMA trailer, most homes have a measurable amount of formaldehyde in the indoor air, and this will always cause formicary corrosion and freon leaks. The Cure for A/C Freon Leaks Stop using copper to manufacture cooling coils. The photos above show copper and aluminum coil tube walls subjected to a formic acid corrosion test.