I've noticed that over the past year or so that my central air takes longer to cool down the house. Also, after the unit runs for a few hours the volume of air coming from the vents drops by about 40%. Ok, so I called the company that installed the unit and requested a service call. The technician came out and did a pressure test at the outside unit and stated that I have a leak since the pressure is off by about 30%. He also said there was no current need to check the air handler/blower in my basement since the decrease in refrigerant is also the likely cause of the decrease in blower pressure due to a freeze up in the air handler. This 5 minute determination cost $79, and I was then quoted $593.00 to do the leak test and replace the refrigerant: no cost break down whatsoever, just the flat rate. They also refuse to just replace the refrigerant, even though this must be a *really* slow leak. Anyway, I'm wondering if this is an incredible rip-off, and if I should look elsewhere? Any advice, comments or caveats will be greatly appreciated.
- posted
19 years ago