AC replacement in Tampa
Sized for your house, not copied off the old unit. We measure the ducts first and size from a load calculation.
- Load calculation, room by room
- Ducts measured before equipment
- Permit and inspection handled
Sound familiar?
When replacement is the honest answer
Age alone doesn't decide it. These three usually do.
The repair costs more than the system is worth
A failed compressor or a leaking coil on an old system is usually where the math turns.
It never keeps up in August
It might be undersized. It might also be the ducts, and a new system won't fix those.
The house feels clammy at 74°
A classic sign of an oversized system that shuts off before it dehumidifies.
Sizing
Bigger is not safer in Florida. It's worse.
An oversized system pulls the temperature down fast and shuts off. Dehumidifying only happens while the coil is cold and wet and air is moving over it, so a system that runs in ten-minute bursts never gets there.
What it delivers is a house at 74° that feels damp, and a compressor that starts far more often than it should. We size from a load calculation on your actual house: glass, shade, insulation and how many people live there.
Measured first
What we measure before we quote a system
A new system behind ducting it can't breathe through fails early. So the ducts come first.
The design target. Many homes read far above it.
Grille area against the airflow the system needs.
Not the tonnage on the old badge.
Pressure-tested, flushed or replaced, and we say which.
How we do it
How a replacement goes
From the first visit to the numbers on day one.
Measure the house
Load calculation, duct static pressure and return sizing, on the first visit.
Options, in writing
Matched equipment, the line-set decision, the permit, all on the quote.
Install
Evacuated to 500 microns, charged to the target and checked on superheat and subcooling.
Commissioning numbers
Static, split and charge read and written down. Your baseline for every future visit.
What it costs
What a new AC costs in Tampa
What moves the price
- Size and efficiency, from the load calculation, not a guess.
- The ducts. Sometimes the ducts are the job and the equipment can wait a year.
- The line set: reused after a proper flush, or replaced.
- Location: an attic air handler is more work than a garage closet.
The visit charge, up front
There is a diagnostic charge for a service call, and we tell you what it is on the phone before anyone drives out. You keep the written report whether or not you go ahead.
Repairs are priced as a job, part and labor named, and agreed before we start.
Request serviceThe details
What should be on an AC replacement quote
If any of these are missing from a quote you've been given, ask about them.
Matched equipment, and the reference to prove it
Equipment is rated as a matched pair. A condenser matched to the wrong indoor coil doesn't deliver the efficiency printed on either box. We quote AHRI-matched combinations and put the reference on the paperwork.
The line set is a decision, not a footnote
If it's the right size, holds a pressure test and the refrigerant isn't changing, it can often stay after a proper flush. If the old compressor failed and put acid through it, it gets replaced. A contractor who never mentions it has decided for you, silently.
The permit and the inspection
Equipment replacement is permitted work in Florida. A price that doesn't mention the permit is a price that's missing something.
Commissioning is part of the installation
A new system is finished when it's been evacuated properly, charged to the manufacturer's target, had its airflow set and had its static pressure and split written down. You get those numbers on paper on day one.
Questions
AC replacement questions
My last quote was the same size as my old unit. Is that right?
It's a coin toss. The old one may have been sized the same way, or for a house that has since had new windows, attic insulation or an addition. A load calculation looks at the house as it is now.
How long does a replacement take?
Most straightforward change-outs are a single day. Duct work, a new line set or a move to a different location add time, and the quote tells you how much.
Why do you measure the ducts before quoting a system?
Because a blower can only push so hard. If your ducts read high, a new system reads high behind them and fails the same way the old one did. Sometimes the honest answer is that the ducts are the job.
Heat pump or AC only?
The same unit can heat the house too.
Many Tampa homes choose a heat pump because the same outdoor unit cools and heats. We explain the difference and let you decide.
How a heat pump heatsMore from Copperfield
Tampa · Hillsborough County
A system sized for your house, with the numbers to prove it.
Tell us about the house and the old system. We'll arrange a visit to measure before anybody talks tonnage.