Originally Posted By: motor_oil_madman
I always thought that most of the cost to install an ac unit was the cost of the unit itself, but looking at ac units online I've found that your typical ac unit only cost like $1,000 bucks, and the last time I checked they usually charge like $7,000 to install an ac.
A/C unit, did you price the other large cost, the indoor coil and/or air handler? Next is the gas charge, and then the lineset. Other small costs that add up... Thermostat? Aluminum Tape? Wire?
Labor (already discussed)
Profit (of course)
Time on Specialty equipment- pumpdown unit, gages, plus factory required programming h/w+s/w on some units.
Even considering all that, yes, some quotes are highway robbery. When I had mine done, quotes ranged from 4,600 to 11K. The 11K quote wanted to grossly oversize my unit, which would have caused short run problems down the road.