I live in Connecticut and my certral air unit died. It’s a 10 year-old Lennox using R22. I can replace it under waranty which will cost about $1200 out of pocket labor and shipping. However, I’ll still have the old, relatively inefficient system (SEER around 9 or 10) using R22 instead of Puron, with s single-speed air handler, which is also used for the forced hot air heating system.
I am considering going with a Carrier heat pump and matched variable speed air handler which would provide heat in shoulder season, and cooling in summer (hybrid system). The system has a computer-controlled link with my furnace and would have four-season humidity control. It’s a big investment, but with all the rebates from the dealer and the Fed it could be a good buy for the long-term. It has a 16 SEER rating for cooling.
Does anyone have any experience with this system or this kind of system? Working with an efficient oil burner, is it worth the investment?
Thanks,
David
Replies
I can replace it under waranty which will cost about $1200 out of pocket labor and shipping. However, I'll still have the old, relatively inefficient system (SEER around 9 or 10) using R22 instead of Puron
I punched up your profile, Welcome to BT as this is your first post. Any subsequent energy queries it would help if you filled in your profile, folks would know you are from CT. (just double click on your own 'handle' in the heading to access your profile)
Please calrify the original post as copied above. Is the warranty just going to replace a compressor?? If the whole unit is being replaced nobody makes 9 seer stuff anymore.
As far as going with a heat pump unit, that is 100% a given, the payback on the diffferential even if it only heats an old drafty house down to 40F is still only a few years.
Even better, let us know your DIY skills, if you are good (good means GOOD in a lot of skills), I can e-mail you details and photos on DIY ground source heat pump (GSHP) that you can DIY for under $1K (after you buy a backhoe <G> - or rent one) and recoup your costs in under 3 years.
Sorry about the incomplete profile. I will address that. Thanks.
The warranty will only replace the compressor, if it replaces the compressor (a local dealer is filing the paperwork now. It's totally a stop-gap measure because the air handler is also ten years-old. This would essentially just get us back to where we were. However, since we're up in the hills in northern CT, we don't use air conditioning all that much.
Our house is a ten year-old post and beam with terrific insulation and top-class Marvin windows. We already have a resonable heating bill, but lower is always better for us, and the environment. I was hoping that the group may have an opinion on the quality of the Carrier system, because we have a competing offer from a Trane dealer which doesn't quite make it to the Fed's tough efficiency standards, so the tax credit isn't available.
I am not in the league of most people on this board when it comes to DIY, and only have basic skills. I also have a severe shoulder injury which limits my ability to do hard physical labor (hurt it using my pole saw). I'm a writer consultant and travel a lot, too.
Thanks very much for your opinions. I appreciate it.
David M., Warren, CT
severe shoulder injury which limits my ability to do hard physical labor
tore my rotator cuff clean thru 5 years ago, could not even move my arm.
Doc sewed it back together ($11,000 later, most it ever cost me to take a tire off a rim) and good as new about 10 months later.
Take care of yourself.
Even brands that get bad mouthed like Goodman are great units if they have a scroll compressor.
Ask the dealer about nitrogen purge brazing (needed to keep Cu oxides out of the insides of the pipe) and how many micron vacuum he pulls on installation (< 500 microns, which is 1/2 mm of Hg absolute pressure) which is needed to assure no noncondensing moisture in the system. Anybody that says those 2 proceedures are not needed is ripping you off no matter the brand.
re: the air handler is also ten years-old - did the compressor motor burnout or just a valve quit working. A ten year old air handler by itself is no big issue, but it is if it is full of cr@p from a burnt out compressor motor winding.
Edited 4/3/2009 8:46 pm ET by junkhound
"Doc sewed it back together ($11,000 later, most it ever cost me to take a tire off a rim) and good as new about 10 months later."
And I thought you were a true DIY? I can't believe you paid for that kind of work to be done.
Jon Blakemore RappahannockINC.com Fredericksburg, VA
I'm in MD and just had the preformance series installed. Couldn't justify infinity. I'm only into it 3 months but have saved about 300 in propane using a wag compared to my brothers house, we are always comparing costs. Since our heating season is only about 5 months and this was a cold one the cheapest system would have been the best value, considering the initial cost and cost of energy over it's life.
One thing I don't like and wasn't explained well is... When it switches to gas it runs all the time. Old system set to 68 would come on at 67 and fire till it reached 69. This one doesn't budge so it cycles on low fire ALOT .... eaisly runs 100+ cycles a day.
"This one doesn't budge so it cycles on low fire ALOT .... eaisly runs 100+ cycles a day."Something needs to be adjusted. Many of the newer stats have a cycle rate setting to control this..
William the Geezer, the sequel to Billy the Kid - Shoe
I've had them out twice and have the installers manual. That's the way a thermidistat is designed. It goes into low fire (40%) for the first 15 minutes after that into high fire. It definately saves gas, but takes some getting used too.