Replacing the systems that came with the house, wherever the house is
Half the territory's housing went up in two building booms, and the cooling equipment from both is aging out at once. This is how Cook's replaces it, for a three-bedroom ranch or a strip plaza.
Two building booms, one replacement wave
Across the ten markets Cook’s serves, the houses tell you what’s in the garage. The 1970s and 80s concrete-block ranches around Palatka, DeLand and the older parts of Ocala have often been through two systems already and carry original ductwork in low attics. The stucco subdivisions that filled Palm Coast, Orange Park and the St. Johns County suburbs between 2000 and 2008 are on their first replacement now, and their equipment is the same vintage street after street. Up in Lake City and Live Oak, add manufactured homes with package units and farmhouses that were retrofitted with ducts long after they were built.
Each era has a known set of installation problems. That’s useful: it means the estimate visit can go straight to them.
Residential and commercial: the same craft, different jobs
A home install is one system, one family, one day. The decisions are about sizing, efficiency tier, humidity control and where the money is best spent. Cook’s installs Lennox for homes because the dealer relationship means factory support, registered warranties and parts that arrive on time.
A commercial install is about the building’s operating hours and its electrical service. Rooftop package units need a crane and a scheduled lift; split systems in a plaza need condenser placement that survives the parking lot; three-phase power, economizers and code-required ventilation enter the conversation. The crew that handles commercial work plans around the business being open, which usually means an early morning changeout or a weekend.
The process
- Estimate visit. Measurements, window orientation, insulation, duct condition, the electrical panel, and the questions about which rooms never cool. Free, in every market.
- Load calculation and options. Usually two or three Lennox configurations at different efficiency levels, each with the same honest line about what it changes on a power bill. No invented savings figures; the utility and the house decide that.
- Scheduling. A date, a crew, and a crane if one is needed. The office handles the permit.
- Install day. Old equipment recovered and hauled; new pad, line set flushed or replaced, air handler set and sealed, drain with a float switch, electrical to code, thermostat, charge set by weight and then verified by superheat and subcooling.
- Startup and walkthrough. Readings recorded, the homeowner shown the filter and the drain, the warranty registered with Lennox by Cook’s.
- Inspection. Scheduled by the office with the jurisdiction.
One day for most houses, two for some
A straightforward residential changeout is a single day. Add a day when the air handler moves (from a closet to the attic, say), when ductwork is being replaced, or when the electrical panel needs work first. Commercial changeouts depend on crane availability and the lift; the equipment side is often done in a morning. Emergency replacements with no cooling in the house are moved ahead of planned work, and Cook’s will install overnight or on a Sunday without an after-hours charge.
Weather is the one thing that moves dates in this territory. A lightning afternoon stops rooftop work; a tropical system stops everything for a day or two, and the office calls everyone affected.
Line by line on a Cook’s install quote
Cook’s itemizes, because a lump sum hides the decisions you made:
- The Lennox equipment by model line (specific model numbers are listed on your quote, not here).
- Accessories: thermostat, float switch, surge protection, UV or filtration if chosen.
- Duct work as its own line, if any.
- Electrical and permit.
- Hauling away the old equipment and disposing of it properly.
- Any financing arrangement, shown as the monthly figure you agreed to. Cook’s offers financing on new systems; the lender and terms are discussed at the estimate, never published.
High-efficiency systems may qualify for utility rebates. Cook’s will point you to the current program for your utility and county. The federal tax credit is not part of that list; the 25C program closed to equipment commissioned in 2026 or later.
Warranty posture
Lennox parts warranties run from the registration date, and Cook’s files the registration so the longer registered term applies. Labor on the installation is covered by Cook’s; ask for the term, and whether extended labor coverage is offered, in writing. [[CONFIRM WITH JERRY: labor term and extended coverage]]
Find it in your market
Installation timing and the local housing stock are covered in detail on the market sites. Try Orange Park for Clay County’s early-2000s subdivisions, Palm Coast for the ITT-era and boom-era homes near the shop, or Ocala for the block ranches and horse-country properties of Marion County.
Installation questions, territory-wide
Why not just match the tonnage of the old unit?
Because the old unit was often wrong, and the house has changed since: new windows, added insulation, an enclosed lanai. A load calculation takes an hour and prevents the short-cycling, humidity and early failure that an oversized system causes in this climate.
How far ahead should I book a replacement?
Planned replacements are usually scheduled within a week or two in any market. Emergency replacements, where the old system is dead in July, are moved to the front; Cook’s installs 24/7 when a family has no cooling.
Do you pull the permit, or do I?
Cook’s handles the permit and the inspection with the county or city. Which jurisdictions in the territory require what is handled by the office; you won’t be asked to visit a building department.
Does the business side get the same Lennox equipment?
Lennox makes commercial rooftop and split equipment, and that’s the first choice. Where a building needs something Lennox doesn’t offer in that configuration, Cook’s will specify what fits and tell you why.
What if the ducts are the problem and not the equipment?
Then you’ll hear it before the quote, not after. Cook’s prices duct repair or replacement as a separate line so you can see what the equipment costs and what the air distribution costs, and decide on each.
Other services in Palm Coast
- A/C ServicesRepair, maintenance and replacement for any brand, dispatched from Palm Coast to ten markets.
- A/C RepairDiagnosis before a price, parts on the van, no after-hours fee anywhere in the territory.
- A/C MaintenanceThe seasonal check, done the same way in every market, with the readings written down.
- ThermostatsSmart, programmable or simple: installed and wired correctly, on any system, in any county.
- GeothermalGround-source heat pumps for acreage, well-water properties and owners playing the long game.
- Heating ServicesHeat pump, strip and furnace service for the whole territory, from the coast to the Suwannee.
- Heat PumpThe year-round system for this climate: installed, repaired and maintained by one crew in ten markets.
- Heat Pump RepairDiagnosis by the numbers, common parts on the van, a labor warranty on every repair.
- Heat Pump MaintenanceTwo visits a year, matched to the system's age, with the readings kept on file in every market.
- Heat Pump InstallationLennox heat pumps installed by Cook's crews, sized to the house, with the thermostat set up right.
- Furnace RepairRepairs to gas, LP and electric furnaces, each with a combustion safety check, in the markets that use them.
- Furnace MaintenanceCombustion and safety checks on gas-, propane- and electric-fired furnaces, scheduled before the cold arrives.
- Furnace InstallationLennox gas furnaces and dual-fuel systems where gas makes sense, honest advice where it doesn't.
- Air QualityFiltration, humidity control and ventilation, matched to how the building actually breathes.
- Indoor Air QualityAssessment first, then filtration, humidity control or ventilation, with readings to prove it worked.
- Duct CleaningCleaning where it helps, sealing and replacement where it's needed, with an honest inspection first.
- CommercialRooftop, package and split systems for businesses across the territory, scheduled around your hours.
Have Jerry quote the replacement at no charge
Jerry or a Cook's comfort advisor comes to the property. No charge, no obligation, any market.