A/C Replacement

It depends on the size you need....

Also..... our A/C unit died in 2007 or 2008....in October, just at the end of cooling season..... we didn't have the money to replace it, so we just ended up buying 7 window units at garage sales or off Craigslist...... we spent less than $300 on all of them..... we have one in the kitchen/lr, one in the front room/office, and 1 in each of the bedrooms....... the summer before our central air unit died, our electric bills were $500 + ...... since then, the highest has been around $350 or so for a summer bill...... we only cool the rooms we are using, now, instead of cooling the entire house. At night, it is only the bedrooms that are being used that are being cooled... (we have 5 bedrooms, but since the kids have moved out, it is usually just hubby and I, unless one of our kids is visiting.... daughter #2 comes home every summer from Seoul, so that room is used, also.)

Yes, the window units are noisy, but it has been more economical for us.

You've got some good advice already. Window units can be very practical in some situations. Especially if the funds aren't there.
But nothing beats whole house a/c. Definitely get a few estimates, let the a/c companies compete for your business.
And so many factors determine price, size of house, # of units, age of units/ductwork, 2 story vs 1 story etc.
Good luck.

It depends on the units, size of units , etc.

We have 4000+ SF and we replaced everything about 8 yrs ago. We spent about $22,000 cash discount for 2 outside units upgraded, 2 furnaces, and some duct restructuring.

It depends on your house and your needs. You get what you pay for... So if you go cheap now, you'll be replacing too soon.

Since we replaced everything, our $700 routine summer AC bills have not been over $400.

Shop around, get a cash discount. We did that plus have a great warranty.

Good luck... It's $$ you hate to spend but need to in order to get things right.

I know it's prime time for a/c companies, but do as much local research as you can. We paid $6k for a new system about ten years ago. Two level rambler, one unit. Good luck!

Added: Just read your first post. Sounds more like you need Freon. Not a big deal. Hope it's something easy like Freon (which I think has been replaced by something with a different name), or a part.

That really depends on how large your house is. That will determine how big of an AC unit you need (this is for central AC).

We just bought a short sale home and had to replace the AC system. It cost about $4500 for everything including installation. That was a two ton unit. A one ton unit would be around $2500 or so.

We replaced ours because the last one had a leak and they are trying to not use the Freon that was in that system. We could have had it refilled and fixed the leak but that would have cost more than the new unit.

I would wait until they come and look at the problem. It may be something simple and only cost a couple hundred dollars.

We put in a Lennox system.

K.:

Our unit is 17 years old. We've taken really good care of it - but it's not got much longer left.

I have had "good", "better" and "Best" price quotes.

$3500 for good.
$5000 for best (Trane).

That's INSTALLED. and JUST the AC. We are contemplating having the AC and Furnace replaced at the same time - which will be more like $8K to $10K installed. Oh joy!!