Original message
| mwhite
 |  "New unit, compressor, or fan"
, posted Sun 14 Aug 18:00  
Here is my situation now. I have a 7 year old 3 ton 10 seer Rheem unit with 80% gas backup furnace. last year I had several people out checking the freon because of icing. The all said the same thing I had a leak but it could not be found and they would add freon. One individual even overfilled it. Since then the outside unit is very noisy, when it shuts down it sounds like someone putting a stick to the fan blades and stopping it very abruptly. Some unforeseen sewage backup into my a-coil has happened since and we are now replacing that coil. My decsion now is this. Along with the new coil should I
A. Replace with a whole new 14 seer american standerd quoted at $4100.00
B. Replace the compressor quoted at $1000.00
C. Replace the outside fan ( not sure which one is the noise maker compressor or fan)
Or just have TEV valve put on, new return air ductwork and exta insulation in the attic.
We only make $30,000 a year I am just trying to get the most for our money and not have to pay sky high heating bills. I also heard that putting a larger a-coil like 4 ton would help the heating effeciantcy.
Lots of problems and questions and little money. I am just looking for some honest advise.
always something
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Replies:
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| MasterTech
|  "Re(1):New unit, compressor, or fan"
, posted Sun 14 Aug 22:23
Some units have that outdoor T-stat switch. Tech can get it and install it for u. If you really dont want to buy a new unit then maybe its time to get a second opinion. Oh buy the way the price he gave u is atleast $1000 under what i would do it for.
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| MasterTech
| "Re(1):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 22:04
No, increasing the inside coil has the opposite effect. Bigger outside coil makes a heat pump heat better because it can obsorb more heat. Reehmn units must be charged by the chart on the outside unit(they engineer the units alittle different than most makers). It may be over charged and with a scroll compressor it will rattle alot. I assume the outside coil is clean. And you might get a ruud finacial awakning if you use space heaters on top of the central heat. You might save between 500 & 1000 per year with a 14 seer heat pump. I look at units as an investment. If not going to stay long fix the old one if you gona stay along time then sooner you get the unit the sooner it will pay for itself and the rest is yours to keep. And we know untilities are only getting worse.
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| | mwhite
| "Re(2):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 22:13
We just have a lot of cold day and nights here in Missouri so my backup kicks on quite a bit. I just thought if I had space heaters it would help me keep the thermostat down. Isn't there a way you can change the setting on your heat pump. Like instead of the backup kicking on at 30 degrees it wouldn't kick on until it got down to 20 degrees.
always something
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| MasterTech
| "Re(1):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 21:24
LOL, its really a guess but the best i can come up with is if is truly a 14 seer it would be 40% more effecient then the 10seer. And i figure on most homes 60% of the electric bill is a.c. unit. If you step up to the 3.5 ton think that will help will cooling and heating. If you have gas its actually considered a dual fuel system. Im wondering if you really have a heat pump. Is there a switch on the T-stat that says EM or emeregency heat?
[(Cool,Heat,Off & em) & (On & auto)]
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| | mwhite
| "Re(2):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 21:29
Our thermostat does have the aux. and emergency heat. I think I just got the luck of the draw when it comes to a bad unit. I went and rechecked the quote he gave and is actually $4221.00 which I am sure is still a good deal. He said the had a special this month 14 seer for the price of a 12. I was just trying to find the cheapest way out. If I do go with the new unit is it better to do gas or electic backup.
always something
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| | MasterTech
| "Re(3):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 21:43
Its a real hard question for me to answer because i dont know how much extra it cost you to have gas. But i always say go with gas if you can go with a heat pump. Gas should be a back heat which should only come on under 40degree day. Electric is extemely expensive. I would say 4 time more than gas and 3 times more than heat pump. My heat pump can work well up to 30degrees except when it is wet. Does that help any?
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| | mwhite
| "Re(4):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 21:53
I appreciate everything you said any advice always helps. I was just hoping to fix the old one cheap and use space heaters to help in the winter. But if I can save enough on my bill to make up the difference of a new unit I might just have to go that directions. Oh yeah you never said weather you thought the noise was coming from my fan or my compressor. Also does making the acoil bigger than the outside unit help any on heating.
always something
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| MasterTech
| "Re(1):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 20:53
3 ton 14 seer heat pump by american std installed for 4100 is a deal. But i think it should be bigger. That would give u 667sqft per ton which seems to high for an old house.When the unit worked did it always cool properly during the heat of the summer?
Personally i would go 3.5 ton which shouldnt be to much more $ and do the whole thing because you plan on staying there for along time.
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| | mwhite
| "Re(2):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 21:16
Thanks for the advice it seemed to cool okay in the summer but the house never seemed to stay warm in the winter. We would have a couple of rooms that seemed very cold. We thought about an electric furnace also, instead of gas because the prices and surcharges are so high in this area. We have asked around and everybody says gas is more effeciant but when the PGA charge (the charge for getting the gas to you) and then the price of the gas and also a fee for having your meter, it just doesn't seem very cheap.
How much of a savings do you think it will be to changed from a 10 seer to 14 seer?
always something
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| MasterTech
| "Re(1):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 19:41
Im not how good a heat pump will work in Missouri.
4100 for a 14 seer american std for 2000sqft im wondering how many tons he is quoting. And is that a heat pump that he quotes.
More question how old are the duct work.
The TXV i dont understand why that would help your situation.
Answers those and i bet i got more question.
We get this figured out here soon.
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| | mwhite
| "Re(2):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 20:00:
It is a 3 ton heat pump he is quoting and the TXV valve might be called a TEV but anyway they said it helps with the freon flow or something and that it is suppossed to make it more effeciant. But that is if we keep the old unit. The duct work will be all new because we are replacing all of it with the a-coil job. The return air, though, if we do that requires new duct also because right now the grills are just opened up above the lowered ceiling that we have yet to replace.
always something
[this message was edited by mwhite on Sun 14 Aug 20:01] |
| MasterTech
| "Re(1):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 18:26
Then let me ask u some question.
How long do u plan to live there.
What state do u live in.
What is your highest electric bill in the summer.
Is the whole system 7 years old.
How much freon did the techs put in.
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| | mwhite
| "Re(2):New unit, compressor, or fan" , posted Sun 14 Aug 19:04:
As far as I know we will probably live here the rest of our lives
We live in central Missouri.
Our home is 1500sq. ft. main floor and 500sq ft. finished basement, half of the home is over 100 years old other half added 6 years ago. The only thing gas is our furnace and hot water tank.
Our highest summer cooling bill in July 2004 was $230.oo - $202 electric and $28.00 gas
Our highest winter heating bill in Feb. 2004 was $346.00 - $86.08 electric and $260.54 gas ( I am quoting 2004 because we have not cooled our house with the heat pump this year because of our problems)
In Jan.05 though we did have a bill of $560.00 - $443.29 gas and 117.42 electric. It was a cold month but we used our furnace quite a bit because the heat pump wasn't keeping the house warm. Also with the work they are doing now they just checked the freon the other day and said there was none, but like i said we have not run it for several months.
The whole system is 7 years old put it all in at the same time but now we will have a new a-coil.
I am not sure how much freon was put in but I might be able to find out tommorrow.
always something
[this message was edited by mwhite on Sun 14 Aug 19:07] |
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