Lee,

Since you are a former HVAC specialist, I am going to direct this question to you.

I have a licensed and insured Heating and Air specialist that I have been working with since 2015. He is my 'go-to' guy any time a tenant calls and they have no heat in the winter or no cold air in the summer. This same person has also done 3 new installations for me in rental houses that had never had Central Heat/Air before, which means he had to install all new ductwork, air handler in the attic and compressor outside. Everything he did was permitted and inspected by the city inspectors.

My HVAC man is a 1 man operation and not part of a larger HVAC company (ones with big Ads in Yellow Pages). His pricing for a new 1.5 ton Heat Pump installation was usually $1,000 -$1,500.00 lower than what the Yellow Page H/A companies would quote me. However, this was before the Pandemic hit and before pricing on everything went sky high. Back then (2019), he would do a new installation on a 2/1- 800 sq. ft house for around $3,200.00. He would install a Nutone HP which had a 10 year warranty on parts too.

Yesterday, I called my Heat Pump man to the 2/1 vacancy I have now and asked him for a quote on a new HP installation no different than the ones he had done before. After he did his initial house inspection, I asked him point blank,...can we do this house for $3,250.00 like all of the previous ones? In his most humble voice, he responded by saying "I very sorry but those days are gone now because my costs (HP unit and parts) have gone through the roof now". He told me he would do some research with his vendors and would call me back today with a quote.

So, right now I am on pins and needles trying to figure how much more than $3,250.00 his quote will be? He is figuring the quote for a 2-ton Nutone or Oxbox split system depending on availability. All new ductwork will go in the attic instead of the crawlspace.

Would you care to speculate on what you think his new quote will be for this installation? I will tell you something my HVAC man does not know (yet). My budget on this is $4,000.00.

Now, the reason to install Central Heat/Air in any of my rental houses in C/D hoods is a topic for another posting. Lets not go there right now.

In referring to current HVAC industry, all I can say is WOW.

I was in the local HVAC wholesale house last week. I stop in to see former co-workers, students, friends, and mentors just to BS. Bam Bam makes fun of me "hanging out" there too long. I am pricing some equipment myself. More on that on a later post.

Anyways, like most service oriented fields, materials, pricing, and availability is unknown until the very moment before the sale.

The HVAC industry has had more price hikes this past year than I can every remember (25 plus years)

But I digress, I would think your 2019 era $3,250 price will be increase to close to $3700. And that will be a good price. I assume you pay fast, and he takes care of you, good working relationship, blah, blah, blah. So he will do his best.

Keep us updated

Lee,

Thanks for update on the insanity of pricing in the HVAC world. Hearing it from you, with no axe to grind here, gives me some comfort.

My HVAC man actually works full-time as the Maintenance Supervisor at the local college here. He told me he will retire in 4 years and in the meantime is trying to build up his client base and so that he can go full-time with his HVAC business when he retires at the college. So far, I have recommended him to other local LL's here and they have 'adopted him' like I have. Because he does not have the overhead of his competition, his pricing has always been more reasonable compared to the yellow page people with fancy painted company vans.

Homer,

I still have 4 rentals where recessed electric wall heaters are still used. In houses that had gas service when I bought the house, those got gas heaters on the wall. There are 2 immediate advantages to installing Central Heat/Air though. I always get a better class of tenant who can pay more rent and if I decide to sell the house, the house will appraise for $5-7K more than it would with out Central H/A. And there seems to be less turnover with Central H/A houses.

Lee,

Roy, do you have much theft of exterior A/C units in your area? I wouldn' t think so as central units might not be as common. Up hear, its rampant. But, I agree tenants would prefer central heat and A/C. There are cages that can be built around and outside compressor, but thieves here just cut those too. But, I have read on this forum that disguising them with landscaping, or a fence greatly reduces risk of theft.

If i need to run supplemental heat, i use the oil-filled heaters. Less risk of fire, in my non-expert opinion.

Busy,