New House - Central Air

[Alan L.]

Alan,
I feel your pain. Currently building a home.
Exception is we are doing it all ourselves. A few observations.
Does the cost of piers include steel and concrete? I had 98 piers drilled 15 ft below natural grade w/ 30 bell on bottom. Paid 3600 total. My wife, kids, and I poured the concrete and added the steel.
As Harvey would say, it was "Nothing but a thing"
The driller was from Sherman.
PM me if you want his name.
A/C bids on my house, 3 units, 10 tons total, came in from 12k to 36k.
Check the roi on the 17 and 19 seer stuff. On some bids the cost of the equipment is double that of 14 seer. I'm installing 14 seer for about 16k.
The exact same equipemnt from another company was 26k on their bid.

Eddie hit the mark on materials. Used 84 for our framing package.
Compared and they were the lowest.
One day I ran out of osb. 84 couldn't make the delivery, so I called a local mom and pop outfit. Turns out they were $4.00 per sheet cheaper than 84, $5.00 per sheet cheaper than HD.

Good luck.

I'm pretty sure the piers include everthing. I do wonder why my builder thinks I need 30, and not more. If you have 98 that seems like alot.

 

[rox]

Jagmandave]I'm ready to build my new house, and the first bids came in a few days ago, I'm still lying on the floor and the heart defib is nearby!

Mine figured out to close to $200/ sq ft.........................in Kansas............

This is a 2700 sq ft 3 bdrm, 2 bath ranch with a daylight basement (unfinished), no vaulted ceilings (10 ft tho), and my first choice was to go with ICF's.........most of the basement was going to be my shop and a place for the tractor to park.

At this price, I won't be building anything............

Yup basements really do cost. Now add int he square fotage of the basement + the 2,700 square foot and then divide by the cost. Per square foot I bet it is much less than $200. People in parts of the country that don't build basements can be surprised that a 2,700sqft home can cost that much. I am not surprised. Bet you have nice doors, windows, probably at least some masonary exterior if not all, custome cabinetry etc.. I am not surprised at the estimate.

 

[BillG_in_TX]

This means that to get the Trane 19 SEER, adding about $1500 for the ERV would get me to about $18,000. Then, since there is no separate unit for the bedroom, we would want to add a 1-ton minisplit for the bedroom getting us to around $20,000.
Any comments?

Alan,

I saw a big ad in today's DMN for the Trane XL19, showing a $1k rebate right now. I don't know if that's new or not.

It seems to me that you could zone the downstairs to dump lots of cold air into your bedroom at night and not have to add the extra 1-ton minisplit unit. Wouldn't that work for you?

 

[Alan L.]

Alan,

I saw a big ad in today's DMN for the Trane XL19, showing a $1k rebate right now. I don't know if that's new or not.

It seems to me that you could zone the downstairs to dump lots of cold air into your bedroom at night and not have to add the extra 1-ton minisplit unit. Wouldn't that work for you?

Bill, the zoning thing is tempting, however my understanding is that it doesn't work near as well as a separate unit. But it would save money, maybe enough to get a more efficient unit to begin with.

 

[Sigarms]

Bill, the zoning thing is tempting, however my understanding is that it doesn't work near as well as a separate unit. But it would save money, maybe enough to get a more efficient unit to begin with.

A little secret. Get a $1000 dollars off the system, so instead of charging you 10 or 15k for the job, they charge you 11 or 16k for the job. Still get the same price you would would of gotten, but you think you're getting a deal.

Sort of like getting a "Free" electronic air cleaner. System price with air cleaner costs the dealer 10k. They give you a price of 11k and tell you they are knocking the air cleaner off because you're getting it for "free". Matter of perception.

Remember, apples to apples.

Have you priced out any other Trane dealer for the exact same equipment? Or perhaps a Carrier Infiniti system?

A PROPERLY designed and installed zoned system will work just as well as a non zoned system, period (but hey, maybe not in Texas for what reasons I have no clue )

Do these guys know you want the bedroom set to 60 degrees? I'd suggest you get it in writing from the HVAC contractor on how the system will perform (particularly keeping the bedroom at 60 degrees no matter what the temperature is outside).

Know more than a couple of guys who have had moisture issues due to oversizing an a/c system.

You mentioned allergies (sp?). Look at the indoor air quality products that can work with your HVAC system. You'd be surprised with whats out there.