HVAC Recommendations

[2002 Maxima SE]

We have a 20 year old HVAC (replaced the gas furnace 3 years back) and now the A/C is acting up. Hopefully just a leak and low on freon...but I like to prepare.

The original system is Carrier and the new furnace is Lennox. I'm not sure of the size but we live in a 2000 sq ft house in NC so I assume it's a 5T system.

What should I look at as a replacement? Would like to get something more efficient but not sure where to look. Who are the more reliable brands these days?

 

[S2500Dog]

If you want good quality at a resonable price range, I would suggest the Goodman Brand. I would start looking at the 13 SEER Series and move up in the SEER numbers for your home as applicable. The good thing about Goodman is that when it break down, you can get parts from some American Standard, other Goodman, and I believe Amanda where some of the parts are fully compatible with the Goodman and they work very well. Also you can fit a big AC Delco fan in the compressor unit which will cool the unit very well versus the regular fan. Our A/C guy was in the field for over 55 years and work on Goodman exclusively that he knew how to do parts conversion, find parts availability, and work on these things as affordable as possible without sweating your wallet.

 

[SrDriver]

I would guess that your unit is a 3 Ton? Proper sizing is super important. Small and not enough cooling. Larger than needed = cool, damp, clammy inside.

Many power companies will do a free heat load calculation for you.

If you go with a new unit that requires the new refrigerant replacing R-22, you will need all new copper tubing from the condensing unit to the evaporator.

If you replace the unit with an Energy Star unit you can get up to a $1,500.00 federal tax credit. See the following web site and talk with your local HVAC contractors.
Link To Tax Credit Info

We replaced our unit last year and got just under $1,500 back.

This tax credit expires 31 December 2010.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

I can't use the tax credit as we used it to replace all the windows in the house. Not sure what size we need, I've just been digging around the Lennox site and noticed the XC17 with the option to add solar power. Other than a heat load test, how can I tell what size I need?

 

[duaneb9729]

Air conditioners are made up of generic parts off the shelve, the only things Carrier, Bryant, Trane Goodman etc make are the cabinets and the coils.

If you find you need a new A/C, like any purchase for your home get competitive estimates, but in this case make sure the salesman does a cooling load calculation, it takes twenty minutes to a half hour to perform in the home, knows this because thats what it takes me.

The main difference between the name brand equipment, Lennox, Carrier, Bryant and Trane, and the rest of the brands out there, are the dealer qualifications to handle the name brands.

In our case we are a Carrier dealer, to be a Carrier dealer we had to prove that we are financially sound, take care of our customers, they check the BBB, interview us as to our business practices. They wont sell us new types of equipment until we have been trained. They provide all sorts of training and other support where the off brands don't.

Those dealers show up with money and can buy equipment.

That alone wont make those a/c guys bad folks, its just something to watch for.

Your decision will ultimately come down to finding someone you like and trust, Which I believe is a good thing.

If you have questions feel free to pm me, I am going on 33 years in this business.

 

[dishdude]

I think it really comes down to the quality of the installation, and not so much the quality of the equipment.

 

[2002 Maxima SE]

Tks for the replies, I've heard find the contractor first and then the equipment. Does that mean as far as reliability, they're all in the same ballpark? My current system is 20 years old, so I want something that will be reliable outside of warranty.

Also, what about SEER? I'm reading that I need a variable speed blower for certain SEER ratings. I'm positive I did not get a variable speed blower with the new furnace...so what is the highest SEER I can get?

 

[SteveSRT8]

around 18 is the highest reasonable value... they go a bit higher.

Most major manufacturers offer similar warranties. Just about everybody nice stuff has variable speed/displacement compressor and variable speed air handler.

Be sure your tech knows what he's doing. The thermostat setup on these fancy-schmancy systems is CRITICAL to the performance.

The installation is just as important or more so than the equipment.

 

[Pop_Rivit]

I'll echo the others comments regarding the quality of the dealer. We've used the same Lennox dealer for almost 40 years-the dealer has been around for 104 years and they pride themselves on being the best trained and providing the best customer satisfaction. During that 40 years of dealing with them we only had a furnace issue once-and that wasn't a Lennox system, but rather another brand that was in the house when we purchased it. The furnace was old enough to replace, so the dealer fixed it, and then credited the cost of the repair to the new system we had installed a few weeks later.

I've never had a problem with a system that was installed for us by the dealer, and we've had 4 new systems installed in homes in our 40 years of home ownership.

 

[duaneb9729]

it will be hard to get much more than in the mid 14s as far as a seer rating with out a variable speed furnace