Recommendations for a new A/C system

[6stang]

I have a townhouse with 1700 sq ft on the main floor and upper floor, and 900 sq ft in the finished basement. The A/C system is as old as my house: 14 years.

Just noticed that my power company is offering rebates for a new air-conditioning system as below:

Central Air Conditioning Tier 1 ≥ 16 SEER and ≥ 13 EER $500
Central Air Conditioning Tier 2 ≥ 18 SEER and ≥ 13 EER $1,000

Should I get a new system to be more efficient? What are your recommendations? How much do I expect to spend?

 

[Nowater]

Do you live in Alaska?

 

[ChevyEFI]

Trane focuses heavily on the Phoenix market, from what I understand.

Luckily for you, I doubt you're in the area.

 

[Imwalkin]

I have a trane. It is a good unit, BUT they are not DYI friendly. Hard to get info and parts

 

[Glacial_Speed]

Where are you located and how often will the unit be used?

Since you'll just be replacing an old unit and don't have to run new ductwork, I'm going to guess ......$4000 for everything and installed?...

Are you going DIY or hiring someone else to put it in? Many times in order to get the power company rebate you have to have it installed by someone.

Some brands (like carrier) can only be purchased from a licensed installer while other brands (like Rheem) let anyone buy them. For this reason the sold to the public brands often get falsely labelled as inferior, low quality when it just isn't true, a crappy install is the problem. I purchased a Goodman unit from the local guys and had it installed (new ducts had to be run, heat is baseboard hydronic), and it's been fine for going on ten years now, pretty sure it was 13 seer.

As you may know, sizing an air conditioner is a bit of a balancing act; too small a unit and it runs all the time and never cools the house, too big and it doesn't run long enough to dehumidify the air. However those are extreme examples and I think plenty of places just "eyeball it" and are usually close or close enough. 1700 sqft with 900 sqft of basement.....3 tons? Do me a favor and post what the final unit size ends up being.

I'd go for the one that gives the larger rebate.

18 seer 3 ton unit from Goodman with copeland scroll compressor? Like this https://www.acwholesalers.com/Goodm...&mainCat=&subCat=&trail=7424:3 Ton:7012:18.00

 

[danski0224]

The high SEER units will NOT deliver if the ductwork is undersized.

SEER is a complicated guesstimate that includes airflow and other installed conditions in the rating and EER is basically kWh used.

Damn near any home that has ductwork dating from the days of no AC is damn near always undersized for any type of AC, much less high SEER AC.

Almost all other homes have undersized ductwork.

A high efficiency furnace or AC installed onto undersized ductwork will actually cost you more money to run.

Choose wisely.

 

[theoldwizard1]

Location, location, location ! It really depends on how many cooling days per year you have in your location.

Proper ductwork IS important !

 

[6stang]

Thank you very much for the suggestions. I live at the boundary of Maryland and Virginia.

Where are you located and how often will the unit be used?

Since you'll just be replacing an old unit and don't have to run new ductwork, I'm going to guess ......$4000 for everything and installed?...

Are you going DIY or hiring someone else to put it in? Many times in order to get the power company rebate you have to have it installed by someone.

Some brands (like carrier) can only be purchased from a licensed installer while other brands (like Rheem) let anyone buy them. For this reason the sold to the public brands often get falsely labelled as inferior, low quality when it just isn't true, a crappy install is the problem. I purchased a Goodman unit from the local guys and had it installed (new ducts had to be run, heat is baseboard hydronic), and it's been fine for going on ten years now, pretty sure it was 13 seer.

As you may know, sizing an air conditioner is a bit of a balancing act; too small a unit and it runs all the time and never cools the house, too big and it doesn't run long enough to dehumidify the air. However those are extreme examples and I think plenty of places just "eyeball it" and are usually close or close enough. 1700 sqft with 900 sqft of basement.....3 tons? Do me a favor and post what the final unit size ends up being.

I'd go for the one that gives the larger rebate.

18 seer 3 ton unit from Goodman with copeland scroll compressor? Like this https://www.acwholesalers.com/Goodm...&mainCat=&subCat=&trail=7424:3 Ton:7012:18.00

 

[RossABQ]

Go with whoever has the best service in the area. Totally varies from one location to another. Around here it's Trane, with Carrier a close second.

I'd assume you have a low sensible heat ratio (very humid) much of the summer? The Carrier reps here will measure your house, determine insulation, count windows, etc. to recommend a size, as part of their quote. Others who bid my furnace just looked at the nameplate on the existing unit and asked if I was comfortable. As previously noted, it doesn't pay to guess.

Personally I find the really high SEER units to be a little too complex for my taste.

 

[toplessHO]

maybe its just me but for the last 35 years Ive used nothing but geothermal
and never looked back.
Not for everyone because you need a good water source or lots of area for a buried loop

 

[themiller]

What SEER is your old unit? Probably 10 or 13. IMO Keep what you got until it's broken. You're not going to recoup 3.5k in saved energy for a long darn time.

I just got a 2 ton 13 seer (IIRC) installed for a similar sized house by a large outfit around here. $2800. I don't expect to ever recoup the difference b/t it and the 10 seer it replaced - just the one it replaced was leaking r22 and was not worth fixing being ~10 year old.

Play around with something like this... http://www.lennox.com/resources/energycalculator.asp

 

[toplessHO]

What SEER is your old unit? Probably 10 or 13. IMO Keep what you got until it's broken. You're not going to recoup 3.5k in saved energy for a long darn time.

I just got a 2 ton 13 seer (IIRC) installed for a similar sized house by a large outfit around here. $2800. I don't expect to ever recoup the difference b/t it and the 10 seer it replaced - just the one it replaced was leaking r12 and was not worth fixing being ~10 year old.

Play around with something like this... http://www.lennox.com/resources/energycalculator.asp

Im betting it was R-22

 

[themiller]

Im betting it was R-22

Yup. Typo. Fixed. Thanks. Point still stands.

 

[6stang]

Thank you all for the comments.

I don't know how to find out the SEER of my current unit.

I have a infant baby at home and don't want to see my A/C broken during the hottest days of the year.

What SEER is your old unit? Probably 10 or 13. IMO Keep what you got until it's broken. You're not going to recoup 3.5k in saved energy for a long darn time.

I just got a 2 ton 13 seer (IIRC) installed for a similar sized house by a large outfit around here. $2800. I don't expect to ever recoup the difference b/t it and the 10 seer it replaced - just the one it replaced was leaking r22 and was not worth fixing being ~10 year old.

Play around with something like this... http://www.lennox.com/resources/energycalculator.asp

 

[toplessHO]

Thank you all for the comments.

I don't know how to find out the SEER of my current unit.

I have a infant baby at home and don't want to see my A/C broken during the hottest days of the year.

if thats the only reason,dont live in fear,you can always rent a spot cooler.
BTW they didnt have a/c when most of us were growing up so dont panic.

I always say that the reason for the population explosion in Florida was due to the advent of air conditioning

 

[reader2580]

The price difference between a 16 SEER and an 18 SEER system will cost pretty much all of your $500 rebate. It could be close to free to go to 18 SEER if the cost is only $500 to upgrade. Others have mentioned the duct work so you have to ask the HVAC guys about that.

A good installer can make cheap HVAC equipment work great. A bad installer can make the best HVAC works like ****. The installer is just as important as the brand name for the most part.

 

[Falcon67]

We just put in a 3.5 ton heat pump system - 14 SEER Ruud. $6800 installed. Had them look at the ducting and yes, there was some under sizing so that was upgraded too. Works very nice, house stays where we set it. I didn't see any point is going higher on the SEER - no payback compared to the jumps in price. And no rebates around here that we know about, so it's 100% out of *** pocket.

 

[flyng_fool]

Where are you located and how often will the unit be used?

Since you'll just be replacing an old unit and don't have to run new ductwork, I'm going to guess ......$4000 for everything and installed?...

Are you going DIY or hiring someone else to put it in? Many times in order to get the power company rebate you have to have it installed by someone.

Some brands (like carrier) can only be purchased from a licensed installer while other brands (like Rheem) let anyone buy them. For this reason the sold to the public brands often get falsely labelled as inferior, low quality when it just isn't true, a crappy install is the problem. I purchased a Goodman unit from the local guys and had it installed (new ducts had to be run, heat is baseboard hydronic), and it's been fine for going on ten years now, pretty sure it was 13 seer.

As you may know, sizing an air conditioner is a bit of a balancing act; too small a unit and it runs all the time and never cools the house, too big and it doesn't run long enough to dehumidify the air. However those are extreme examples and I think plenty of places just "eyeball it" and are usually close or close enough. 1700 sqft with 900 sqft of basement.....3 tons? Do me a favor and post what the final unit size ends up being.

I'd go for the one that gives the larger rebate.

18 seer 3 ton unit from Goodman with copeland scroll compressor? Like this https://www.acwholesalers.com/Goodm...&mainCat=&subCat=&trail=7424:3 Ton:7012:18.00

Eyeballing it is NEVER the right solution. Doing the proper heat load calculations is the only way to ensure you get the properly sized unit.

 

[inphx]

I did two homes with goodman and one home with minisplits all ordered from https://www.acwholesalers.com/ I paid an installer to help and self insured myself for warranty with the savings.

 

[AA/FC]

I did two homes with goodman and one home with minisplits all ordered from https://www.acwholesalers.com/ I paid an installer to help and self insured myself for warranty with the savings.

You resurrected a 9 year old thread to post where you purchased your new mini splits? I'm pretty sure the original OP has replaced his A/C by now. lolol.

On second thought, it's been long enough, the OP is probably looking for ANOTHER new replacement system AGAIN. lolol

 

[ChevyEFI]

You resurrected a 9 year old thread to post where you purchased your new mini splits? I'm pretty sure the original OP has replaced his A/C by now. lolol.

On second thought, it's been long enough, the OP is probably looking for ANOTHER new replacement system AGAIN. lolol

Nope. He replied to a very recently bumped thread.

 

[AA/FC]

Nope. He replied to a very recently bumped thread.

inphx did indeed bump this thread with post #19, the post right before his, #18 is from 2015.

Unless someone deleted a post in between....

 

[ChevyEFI]

Correct.

 

[fitter30]

SEER Energy Savings Calculator for Air Conditioners

Use our free SEER Energy Savings Calculator to instantly see how much energy you save by upgrading to an air conditioner with a higher SEER / SEER2 rating.

www.seerenergysavings.com