Residential HVAC questions

[Tipmoose]

Are there any HVAC experts on here willing to chime in on some info we got from a salesman a few weeks ago?

We currently have a 12 year old AC/Furnace system that was put in by the builder. Its been freezing up and giving us sporadic trouble over the last few years, so we called a company to come out and price a new system. It was very odd...for a salesman he wasn't interested in pushing his top of the line products, and instead steered us towards middle to lower line models. Two things he said didn't really make sense to me and I'm wondering if y'all have any opinions/insights on the matter.

1) He said that the lower tier units in the 12-13 seer range for our home (2k sq foot two story slab) were more economical than the super high end models in the 19-21 seer range with all the bells and whistles. Said they could and would operate at higher efficiencies than they were officially rated.

2) He also said that with the eco-friendly craptastic refrigerants they have to use nowadays, its difficult for an AC unit to consistently cool a home to more than 20 degrees cooler than the ambient outside air temp. So...if its 95 outside, it will be hard for the unit to cool inside lower than 75. I remember that not being the case on those 100 degree days in NC. But that was also in a house built 20 years ago.

Thoughts?

 

[giles]

I think I'd call another dealer.

 

[Dustinb80]

@Hoytmania

 

[Jackalope]

I know a guy that owned an Hvac business for a couple decades and installed my last two units. He still has an account at the local HVAC place that only sells to technicians. I paid cost for materials and 1k in labor. He did a professional job. I can get you his number in PM if you like.

 

[5Cent]

Hate to hear on your system, but great timing for this post! Our new build is 14seer, but it looks like two stage/variable speed was only common on larger units (18+) when researching. This design is more efficient.

Hoyt, are new smaller pump designs becoming two stage or variable? If yes tipmoose, then the guy was not off his rocker.

I also believe 20* cooling is normal for the unit alone or a std. design. Would come down to insulation and other factors to improve. Looking forward to responses on this one.

 

[Mike]

Sounds like they bought into a lot of builder grade systems. Just a thought.

 

["J"]

Sounds like they bought into a lot of builder grade systems. Just a thought.

^^^^ First thing that came too mind.....

 

[Bankfish]

30+ yrs in the business. Last 20 have been all residential and small commercial replacement business.
You can up the seer rating a little bit with lower end units with 1/2 ton largrr size evaporater coil with thermal expansion valve.
My experience with top o the line units with the bells and whistles is there's just more to go wrong. 15-16 seer units, 2speeds, are ok. Typically you won't get your money back in anything larger seer.
20° drop is typical compared to the outside temp. Industry standards.
Just curious what type of equipment you are looking at. Would love to know the price, I hear alot of horror stories from homeowners.

Sent from my SM-G960U using Tapatalk

 

[Tipmoose]

Thanks for the feedback everyone. The dealer I am looking at right now is Lennox. General consensus is that they aren't great but aren't bad either. We are only planning on being in the current house for another 5 years. I'll have pricing info later this week.

 

[hickslawns]

Glad Bankfish chimed in. Good info. The 20 degree difference is a fairly standard, yet base line number they throw out. Shade trees close to house, insulation, duration of outside temp extremes, etc all play into it. I've been amazed at price differences between established businesses and "solo guy who branched off larger established business". Service after the sale from established contractors is an important factor for me. I always seem to go with established contractors.

 

[Clay Showalter]

Cool website app

https://kobiecomplete.com/cool-tips/seer-savings-calculator/

 

[Hoytmania]

I'm hesitant on chiming in on this one. Only reason haven't been in the industry for over 2 yrs. A lot can change in that time. So I'll tell you what I have. I personally b ave a 16 seer 2 stage ac on top of a 9u% modulating furnace. Furnace is top of the line as far as efficiency goes when it was installed. Went with the 16 seer ac, not a heatpump ( I fucking hate those things). As 2 stage will save you money. Now that there are the 20 and 21 seer units. I can remember hearing from the government tiers when I was leaving that they didn't care anymore about the home owner having an ROI on acs anymore. The only thing they where caring about is the efficiency of the units. In other words acs will slowly become a luxury item again in my opinion.

If your not staying there for the full life of the unit. Which will more than likely be about 15yrs. Then don't spend the big bucks. Get a 2 stage furnace paired with a 14 seer that will more than likely bump it to 15 or 16 seer depending on the manufacturer. And call it good.

As far as manufacturer. Stay away from Goodman. Absolute junk. Think of a yugo of furnaces. I was always a Armstrong guy myself. Lennox is good as is Bryant and carrier. What I would look at is the cost of repair parts once things are out of warranty and you have to start paying for them. Theres parts on these furnaces now that are a 1/4 of the cost of a new unit.