Author Topic: Need help with fundamentals of replacing an A/C and furnace  (Read 1263 times)

MsPeacock

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Trying to get some preemptive education on A/C and furnace replacement. I really know next to nothing about the topic. However, my current unit is 15 years old and has been blowing fuses with increasing frequency and for as of yet unknown reasons. Original HVAC guy that helped me for years passed me on to another company because he was stumped. New company thought it was problem X - which was resolved and A/C worked for a few weeks, blew again. They came out and did some more work, it worked again for <24 hours. Blew again. They are scheduled to come back tomorrow and do some more work - trying to figure out the source of the problem. In the past the fuse would blow every few months - maybe 2-3x a year and I could replace the fuse and restart the unit and be good to go. I can no longer get it restarted on my own.

I do think that both the original guy and the new company are honest and reliable. Fees have been low. Fuse blows out w/ both just A/C use and just furnace use. The system was put in by the prior homeowners. The current repair company says that there are multiple problems w/ the way it was installed and they have corrected a lot of things (e.g. handfuls of excess wiring going to-from things that aren't needed). (The prior owners over-complicated a lot of other issues in the house - so this is consistent w/ what they did to various plumbing and electrical work that is unrelated to the HVAC system.) The new company has not suggested that I need a new unit - they are still focused on repair. But I am worried and want to get ahead in at least educating myself before I am forced to make a decision. We are approaching the time of year when it is routinely in the 90s and if I have a non-working A/C I'll have to be prepared to make a decision fairly quickly.

Anyhow - my worry is that the whole thing is just going to kick the bucket.

Although I've owned homes for many years - I've actually never had to replace a heating/cooling unit. I've been poking around online and there is tons of information - contradictory, actually advertising disguised as information, etc. Can someone point me towards a good primer? Give me a short run down of major issues? Tell me what questions I should be asking?

Thanks in advance for help and guidance.