Mis-matched AC condenser and air-handler?
We had a new whole house AC unit installed yesterday. We finally see the actual model numbers of the compressor and the air handler and it seems that the compressor is 3.5 ton and the air handler is a 4 ton unit. The company bid a 3.5 ton, so I don’t know if I got more for my money with the 4 ton air handler, or if this mis-match is a bad thing or what. Can anyone address this? We would call and speak to the company who just installed it, but had a somewhat strange experience with them. While the techs who installed it appeared very competent, it seemed the actual model numbers changed a little along the way. I think their initial bid had model numbers from 2015, so that is not their fault. They told us the new model numbers for 2016 at one point, but I think in the end those were not the ones that were actually installed either. I don’t think they short-changed us, but possibly their distributor might have been out of stock and maybe given them a better unit than the one they specified to us or something. Not sure. I am just trying to figure out if a mis-match of the air-handler and compressor is problematic. Thanks guys for any thoughts.
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Go to the company web site and poke around until you find the pages for contractors. That will have a "what fits what" chart. You may have an approved configuration and the company will give you the computed SEER with that setup. If it is not a supported configuration, who knows what you have.
Thanks Greg. I called the Trane people and told them what we have and they said an "independent testing company" had tested these 2 models together and had found no problems, and they would be covered under their warranty. They said the new SEER had now been calculated to be 16.5. So, I guess it's all OK. I will be eager to see my next 3 or 4 electric bills and hope they are the same as they have been previously or possibly less. (and certainly not higher) We had a very tight area to fit this air handler into, and after quoting us one model, (with certain size specs) and then telling us the 2016 was a newer model, they ended up giving us a whole different model. It barely fit. After it was all installed, we figured out all the model numbers, and found them to not be matched. I am just hoping when it has problems in 5 years, I am not going to wish I made them come back and make it all match. Crossing my fingers... Thanks.
You got a good deal.
Larger air handler just means a BOOST in COP - e.g better efficiency.
I do my own work and installed a 4T air handler on a 2T compressor (using a 4T evaporator coil for heat pump mode), did that on purpose to get more heat per the kW-hr.
My GSHP has a 4T compressor and a 7-1/2T air handler, same reason. I get 5T kperformance out of a 4T compressor that way.