Home AC question re: Cost?

[Bailey Guns]

Can't answer the question about cost but I can give you an idea of what we spend on running our AC during the summer. It's not much. Our house is 3200 sq ft and temps in the summer here are frequently in the upper 90s, and maybe a 15 days or so in the 100s...up to 115. I run the AC constantly in the summer and keep the thermostat set at 73 or 74. I frequently run a room AC in the bedroom at night when my wife is working. Our house is entirely electric. The AC adds $40 to our bill during July and Aug, $20 during June and Sep. Pretty cheap comfort if you ask me.

Having said that, our electricity cost here is only .08 per KwH. Cost in Bailey was about .18 KwH. So it's much cheaper for us (thanks to all the hydro power in the area).

[DenverGP]

Just piggybacking on this recent AC question... neighbor asked me if I could come over and take a look at his AC... I'm not an HVAC guy, but I've got basic homeowner mechanical skills and he doesn't.

It wasn't cooling for shit, and he asked if I knew how often he needed to change the "blanket" around the condenser coils. Sure enough, looking thru the fins, it had so much cottonwood crap stuck to it, it looked like it had a blanket around it. He's had it 2 years, never once cleaned it.

Gave it a good cleaning, helped him change the filter in the furnace, and suddenly it's like a brand new system.

[Irving]

LOL, I've seen that cottonwood "blanket" during a few inspections. Pretty gross.

[NFATrustGuy]

Pretty amazing that someone would let it get to that point and not investigate when things aren’t working. I wish my problems could be solved as easy as this. I came home this evening at about 6:45 to find half my house at 75 degrees and the other half at 73. Both thermostats were set at 71. (I have 2 air conditioning units. One for each side of the house.)

I had an HVAC friend of the family come out a few weeks ago and he said the coolant level was fine. I assumed I have a leak because when I bought the house 2 years ago, it wasn’t cooling well and refrigerant was added and things worked well for the next 22 months. I think I need a second opinion, but it’ll probably be Fall before I can get an appointment without paying a hefty premium. I realize it’s all supply and demand and stuff, but paying an AC guy a premium because it’s hot outside seems like paying a snow skiing instructor a premium because there’s snow on the ground!

[Irving]

Well, ski lessons are probably pretty cheap in July.

[Great-Kazoo]

Pretty amazing that someone would let it get to that point and not investigate when things aren’t working. I wish my problems could be solved as easy as this. I came home this evening at about 6:45 to find half my house at 75 degrees and the other half at 73. Both thermostats were set at 71. (I have 2 air conditioning units. One for each side of the house.)

I had an HVAC friend of the family come out a few weeks ago and he said the coolant level was fine. I assumed I have a leak because when I bought the house 2 years ago, it wasn’t cooling well and refrigerant was added and things worked well for the next 22 months. I think I need a second opinion, but it’ll probably be Fall before I can get an appointment without paying a hefty premium. I realize it’s all supply and demand and stuff, but paying an AC guy a premium because it’s hot outside seems like paying a snow skiing instructor a premium because there’s snow on the ground!

If you factor in the 100 deg + day in the area, combined with your lack of trees for shade. The temp readings are, IMO, within range for your home.

[Martinjmpr]

OK, so I'm dredging up this old thread from last year to post an update:

We had AC installed by Front Range Mechanical, at the recommendation of a member here. The sales guy was very professional, went all around the house and showed me multiple options at various costs.

His estimate was also the lowest, by a pretty good margin.

Our total cost to install was about $5300, of which we got $600 back from Xcel as a rebate once our system was tested and found to be efficient (I think it is 13 SEER but I'd have to double check the paperwork.) That was actually somewhat lower than I'd expected - my mom got AC installed in her small condo about 15 years ago and paid $4000 so I figured we'd be $6000 - $7000 easy. I was pleasantly surprised.)

Because of the cool and rainy spring, we didn't even turn on our AC until late June when it started to get hot. We tried to use the system sporadically, leaving it off at night with the windows open but after a while that became too much work so we just left it on.

Our first bill in early August was for $117, up from $83 the previous year, but as I said, we weren't using AC a lot. Our second, using AC quite a bit more, was for $142, up from $80 from the previous year. According to our bill (Xcel shows "per day" usage for both the current month and the same month last year) our per-day electric use went from $2.05 to $3.66.

Bottom line, although the initial cost was high (we used our tax refund), I think it will add at least that much to the value of the house when it is time to sell, so IMO that justifies the expense right there (especially if we're selling in mid-summer.)

And per-day costs? $1.61/day to be in a cool and comfortable house is worth it to me. Wife (who was skeptical at first, just based on the cost) is happy too, particularly on those very hot days we had in July and August. Happy wife = happy life, right?

Anyway, I'm glad we did it. Would definitely recommend Front Range Mechanical if you are in the market for AC.

[kidicarus13]

Not sure who recommended FRM to you but I also used them and have been happy for two summers with our upgraded AC.

[brutal]

OK, so I'm dredging up this old thread from last year to post an update:

We had AC installed by Front Range Mechanical, at the recommendation of a member here. The sales guy was very professional, went all around the house and showed me multiple options at various costs.

His estimate was also the lowest, by a pretty good margin.

Our total cost to install was about $5300, of which we got $600 back from Xcel as a rebate once our system was tested and found to be efficient (I think it is 13 SEER but I'd have to double check the paperwork.) That was actually somewhat lower than I'd expected - my mom got AC installed in her small condo about 15 years ago and paid $4000 so I figured we'd be $6000 - $7000 easy. I was pleasantly surprised.)

Because of the cool and rainy spring, we didn't even turn on our AC until late June when it started to get hot. We tried to use the system sporadically, leaving it off at night with the windows open but after a while that became too much work so we just left it on.

Our first bill in early August was for $117, up from $83 the previous year, but as I said, we weren't using AC a lot. Our second, using AC quite a bit more, was for $142, up from $80 from the previous year. According to our bill (Xcel shows "per day" usage for both the current month and the same month last year) our per-day electric use went from $2.05 to $3.66.

Bottom line, although the initial cost was high (we used our tax refund), I think it will add at least that much to the value of the house when it is time to sell, so IMO that justifies the expense right there (especially if we're selling in mid-summer.)

And per-day costs? $1.61/day to be in a cool and comfortable house is worth it to me. Wife (who was skeptical at first, just based on the cost) is happy too, particularly on those very hot days we had in July and August. Happy wife = happy life, right?

Anyway, I'm glad we did it. Would definitely recommend Front Range Mechanical if you are in the market for AC.

They should have commissioned the unit when it was consistently over 70*. Our HVAC guys came back out a month or so after install to check it and had to add some refrigerant to our new unit.

Our IREA bill is usually pretty high anyway, and we're also cooling an RV that's being lived in. Aug and Sep billis are insane with the extra hot weather we've had. Comparatively, my current bill over last year was $53 more for the month (33 billings days?) with the new A/C v.s. running a whole house fan all night, so $1.60/day more here as well, but those extra heat days caused much of the increase too.

[Great-Kazoo]

They should have commissioned the unit when it was consistently over 70*. Our HVAC guys came back out a month or so after install to check it and had to add some refrigerant to our new unit.

Our IREA bill is usually pretty high anyway, and we're also cooling an RV that's being lived in. Aug and Sep billis are insane with the extra hot weather we've had. Comparatively, my current bill over last year was $53 more for the month (33 billings days?) with the new A/C v.s. running a whole house fan all night, so $1.60/day more here as well, but those extra heat days caused much of the increase too.

Does IREA offer different billing options? I know APS down here believes your KwH usage is worth every penny, till you look at the options they offer. By doing some homework and talking to APS we've dropped the summer average down $45 - $50 per month.

I "think" rural power companies slam you hard, in the warmer months, as most rural homes have propane heat, stoves and driers. So come cooler weather (depending on area) their cash cow dies off.