Price reasonable or not

[fred1949]

I would like to know about having my Florida Heat Pump system purged & new refrigerant with a new dryer & water flushed & anti freeze added. The repairmen said it would cost $869.00. Is that reasonable?

Thank you,
Fred

[HayZee518]

why would you need to do that? the freon system is a closed loop. unless you have multiple leaks there's no reason to flush the freon system.

[fred1949]

I've been trying to get my furnace to stop making this very high pitched noise while running. My original furnace company was at a loss to stop it so I tried another. The new furnace repairman said that maybe replacing the freon & putting in a new dryer would stop the furnace (compressor) from making this noise. They said the high pressure gauge was pulsing but when I looked at it I couldn't see that. They thought the cause of it pulsing was from non-condenseables in the line. Other than the noise the furnace seems to run just fine & my heating bills are low. The noise from the compressor is so load & high pitched it wakes me up at night. The worst part about the noise it is intermitant sometimes days goes by without it making a peep. Then there is days where it does it a lot.

As far as the water flush I was told that it needed anti-freeze added. So I was told it would be best to flush the water & add fresh. I think they were high on that one but I do not know much about geothermal furnaces. The charge was $254 for the flush & $516 for the recharge.

The furnace is about 12 years old. I got a price from a Water Furnace Dealer & they want $10,000 for a new one. A 4 ton unit. I'm waiting for Climate Masters bid is going to be. I've read those two are the best. I'm torn between spending money on the old one & replacing it to stop the sleepless nights.

Thank you for your help HayZee, I really appreciate it.

Fred

[HayZee518]

I don't know how big your system is but there are two places the noise may be coming from. If your system uses a sporlan thermal expansion valve, this valve has a movable body within it that opens and closes depending on the superheat of the suction line. it regulates how much refrigerant in liquid form goes to the evaporator. At the evaporator the cold is given up and the rooms latent heat is absorbed and fed back to the compressor. the inlet to the expansion valve is about a 1/2 inch line. the little tubes that come off the tex valve are small so the liquid flashes into a gas and absorbs room heat. same as if the line uses a cappillary system. a larger line is connected to a smaller line. when the liquid freon goes across the smaller line it flashes into a gas and absorbs heat and goes back to the compressor. at the compressor the gas is compressed into a liquid which then goes to the condenser where the heat is given off. a thermal heat pump has a reversing valve that changes the direction of the freon flow. heat is absorbed from the ground coil, fed through the evaporator and heat is given off in the room through the A coil. if your condenser is water cooled then the difference in temparature is only 15 degrees. hence the need for antifreeze.

[fred1949]

What do you think about the freon & dryer change, do you think that is a waste of time & money? They're telling me it might stop the noise.

Also is that a good price for the 4 Ton Water Furnace ($10,000) was their price.

Also there is anti-freeze in the line, when I test it how much should be in the line? I'll be using a automotive tester.