I Am SOOOO Cool.

I got my new central A/C installed today!!! See my prior post on this. BGE Home did a terrific job.

When my A/C died a few weeks ago, I got estimates for a five ton replacement from three companies. As follows:

BGE Home - $6200 for a TRANE XL15I, or $6100 for a TRANE XL16I. The 16 SEER unit was the same price as the 15 SEER unit because it had a better rebate. SEER ratings are how efficient the system runs, higher number is better. 10 year parts and 10 years labor.

Modern Comfort – $7300 for a Lennox XC15 or $6700 for a Lennox XC13. Not sure on warranty period

Fred Needel – Carrier 15 SEER unit $6450, or Payne (made by Carrier) 14 SEER unit $5300. 10 year parts, 1 year labor warranty.

All of the options included everything, inside air handler, new piping, and the outside condenser unit.

So the cheapest option was the Payne 14 Seer. The drawbacks are that it is a no name brand, was only 14 SEER, and the warranty is 10/1. The next cheapest was the TRANE 16 SEER with a 10/10 warranty. Everything above that was not as good as this one, so I went with the TRANE from BGE Home. The SEER rating was the highest, the warranty was the best, it is a highly rated brand name, it was the second cheapest estimate, and they offered six months same as cash.

We scheduled the install for 6/30/08 (today). The techs were scheduled to arrive between 8 AM and 10 AM. The first technician arrived at 7:50 and got started right away. At 12:30 Rikki called me and said they are almost done. I ran home and they showed me how everything worked. They also gave me a new thermostat which looks really neat. This was not included with the other estimates.

It is a really nice system. It is quiet and blows really strong and cold. The installers were really nice, clean, and explained everything. I am very pleased with my decision. BGE Home exceeded my expectation in every regard. Now I have to figure out how to pay for it.