1500 Tax credit

[Kerry Adams]

Good Morning,

I have been getting estimates for new HVAC because mine are 14 years old. They are running fine though. The estimates are ridculous and my gut feeling is they are just taking
advantage of the tax credit and adding 1500.00 on to the price. Do you think I am on track, or insane?LOL

Thanks,
Kerry

[Gene Howe]

You are probably correct. We replaced ours 2 summers ago (3400 SQ FT house) and we paid 2900 installed. Of course, all they needed to do was replace the outside unit and the evaporator. All wiring and coolant lines were still adequate and remained. the new one is a SEER 10....I think.

[Ted Shrader]

The estimates are ridiculous and my gut feeling is they are just taking advantage of the tax credit and adding 1500.00 on to the price. Do you think I am on track, or insane?LOLKerry -

I think you are pretty much on track. They wave that $1500 flag to make you think you are getting a great deal, but it seems like the prices just went up so they could come back down again. I had two complete heat pump units replaced (2.5T & 3T) nine years ago for $5500.

Just had multiple estimates done to replace the upstairs 2.5T heat pump system (compressor was shorted out - lightning strike). Ended up getting a 16 SEER condenser unit and new air handler from Alpine Home Air (http://www.alpinehomeair.com/) and installed them myself. Reused the line set after flushing and redid some of the ducting. The only thing I did not do myself was braze in the lines, evacuate, and do a trim charge. Had an HVAC guy come do that.

Saved a bunch of $$$$ (even with the new duct work) and we still get the $1500 rebate due to the efficiency of the units. After the $1500 tax credit, we ended up spending about $200 more than just having the shorted compressor replaced. The increased SEER rating from 10 to 16 will make the energy savings pay for that very quickly.

Regards,
Ted

[glenn bradley]

Tell them you can't qualify for the rebate and see what the price is ;-)

[Joe Pelonio]

Shop around, and try to negotiate. With big price jobs like that there could be some flexibility that never existed before. Around here the Heating/AC dealers are suffering and laying off people, as new construction has stalled and people are deferring upgrades, so they may play along. I was at one a couple of weeks ago to have some metal sheared and it was like a ghost town.

[Lee Schierer]

I shopped around when I replaced my geothermal heat pump last year and got some significantly different prices. Even the Bryant and Carrier dealers gave me markedly different prices and thier units come out of the same factory.

There are strict requirements for the energy credit and many conventional heat pumps do not meet all the categories. To qualify a unit must meet or exceed all the ratings in all the categories, not just some. Get it in writing from your dealer that the unit qualifies before it is purchased with a money back gurantee if if is rejected by the IRS..

Unfortunately my unit qualified except I bought it last summer.:mad:

[Kerry Adams]

Good Evening,

Actually Lee, I am being told that Congress wrote it wrong and as long as its a 93% gas furnace, it doesn't matter what the air conditioning rating is. Haven't had time to look it up yet.

Thanks,
Kerry

[Brian Elfert]

I predicted that HVAC installers would raise prices in light of the $1500 tax credit. Part of the higher cost is the requirement that gas furnaces be 95%.

My parents recently paid $4,000 for a new furnace installed that meets the 95% criteria. They will get 30% ($1200) back at tax time.

A similiar thing happened to prices when Ebay and Live.com (Microsoft) were offering 30% off on Buy It Now purchases on Ebay last fall. Many sellers increased BIN prices 10 to 20% since they knew purchasers would get 30% back from Live.com.