Air Conditioning - Need New Air Conditioner

I have a fairly new Carrier 8000 Weathermaker furnace inside my home (Approx 3,000/sf) and an old air conditioner outside with a failed motor. I want to replace the failed unit. I'm being told that I also need to replace the coils and that the combined price (for a five ton unit) would be about $8,000. I said that I thought the coils were replaced when the new furnace was installed. Their answer is that "everything has to compatible".

I live in Los Angeles high on a hill and get sunlight from early morning to late afternoon.

Is compatibility such a big issue? Why wouldn't most 5 ton furnaces, coils, and air conditioners be relatively compatible?

Does this sound like a fair price?

Thanks in advance.

I would get a few more quotes. Not saying that their price don't look bad though. Anyone quoting on the replacement should do a Manual J "load/loss calculation" on your home to be sure the new a/c is properly sized.

And yes you should replace the indoor coil with the outdoor unit and you may also need to replace the line set "refrigerant lines" if the new unit is R-410 or calls for different sized line sets.

What they mean is the new outdoor unit needs to be compatible with the cooling coil in order to get the efficiency rating. As of last year, the lowest SEER rating the dealer can install is 13 and he wants to also install a 13 SEER cooling coil so that both components have the same efficiency rating. He may also have selected an R410A system in which case you would have to replace the cooling coil also. You don't have to go that route if you don't want to. You could have just a new R22 outdoor unit installed; however some manufacturers might try to avoid any warranty issues in the future. You could also just fix your existing unit and replace it at a later date when/if the compressor dies. You might consider shopping around and have 3 quotes to work with.



I have a fairly new Carrier 8000 Weathermaker furnace inside my home (Approx 3,000/sf) and an old air conditioner outside with a failed motor. I want to replace the failed unit. I'm being told that I also need to replace the coils and that the combined price (for a five ton unit) would be about $8,000. I said that I thought the coils were replaced when the new furnace was installed. Their answer is that "everything has to compatible".

I live in Los Angeles high on a hill and get sunlight from early morning to late afternoon.

Is compatibility such a big issue? Why wouldn't most 5 ton furnaces, coils, and air conditioners be relatively compatible?

Does this sound like a fair price?

Thanks in advance.

Like said you need the inside coil and the outside unit new so you can get the higher SEER on the unit. If you go for a seer of 15 or more you can get a tax credit from the IRS. that means you have to put in a new coil for sure.