Need home HVAC advice

Here’s a good simple explanation of why higher efficiency ratings are a waste of money in most residential retrofits:

SEER ratings VS cost

SVreX said:

Here’s a good simple explanation of why higher efficiency ratings are a waste of money in most residential retrofits:

SEER ratings VS cost

Thanks for the link, as that's basically how I understood it. That even for a new house, there are a lot of other things to do to make it energy efficient (which of course add much more cost to the build) that would be needed to really take advantage of the more efficient HVAC units. 

So that extends the payback cost even longer, because you frontload more cost into the structure. If you were planning on living there 30 years, I could see it maybe making sense? Or perhaps you really just want to do all you can to protect the environment and have as little impact as possible. 

I moved into my new home Sept 1st, 2017.........I don't know if we will live in it for 3 more years or even the same city.

I going to assume there is a big price difference depending on parts of the country you're in.

I just replaced the HVAC unit in my house. The one that I replaced I had installed about 13 years ago, it was leaking freon and it was the old R12 that was very expensive. It was a cheap 2 1/2 ton unit when it was installed, about $3500 13 years ago. Was calculated that my 1940 sq/ft house requires between 2 1/2 to 3 ton unit. This time I went with a 3 ton Carrier brand, one of their top models and one of the top rated installers around here. Granted they are more expensive but their quality and support is worth it to me. Cost me $10k. Been satisfied with it so far. Does a better job heating/cooling, moving air around and is a little cheaper to operate as the system isn't working as hard as the old unit.  Cheapest one from another installer was over $5k. Daughter's house has a gas heat/electric AC 2 1/2 ton unit and is replacing it today. Cost her about $5k for a cheapy. She just wanted something that will work for the next several years. She and SIL plan on upgrading to a bigger house when he finishes the Gov't intern program he's in 2 years from now.

I'm glad I "know" someone that does HVAC on the side.   He replaced the coils in our unit for $1000.  Course it was a 2.5-ton, which may make a difference.     

thread revival via canoe, canoe post deleted

pinchvalve said:

FWIW, the first quote I got to replace my furnace was $24,000.  I replaced it for $2,000. Get competitive quotes and avoid large chains like they have Ebola. 

I would also advise not using somebody that advertises on TV.  The prices the guys you see on TV in our area give you run 2x to 4x the prices of the regular guys.  

It's funny that the second I saw lennox I knew it was going to be a leaking coil. I've replaced so many of those damn things.

Having a friend help me replace my upstairs unit week after next. I’ve got a slant coil 2 ton Goodman from 2007 I think. It can’t keep the upstairs in my 100 year old home under 60% humidity anytime hardly, and 3 months out of the year can’t keep the upstairs under 78* in the afternoon.  We’re installing a boring Bryant 2.5T that will hopefully lower my bill a bit and keep the humidity down.  

Is 10 years really the expected design life of a current A/C system?  

The unit on our house is from 1984.  We had to replace the motor and top up the refrigerant last year, but it seems to work wonderfully.   Is that an outlier, or have the systems really gotten that short-lived over the last three decades?

In reply to psteav :

I was just wondering the same thing. The unit outside my house is an R22 charged condenser from 1994 which looks like the homes previous owners never loved it and the interior coil looked about the same when I cleaned it this past fall.

psteav said:

Is 10 years really the expected design life of a current A/C system?  

The unit on our house is from 1984.  We had to replace the motor and top up the refrigerant last year, but it seems to work wonderfully.   Is that an outlier, or have the systems really gotten that short-lived over the last three decades?

Depends. My last house, the inside blower/heating unit was original to 1974 when the house was built, but I'm sure had been repaired/upgraded multiple times over the years. The outside condenser was new when I purchased the house.