October 2018 we had the system replaced. New system is Goodman. The "standard" offering at that time was 14.5 SEER, I opted to spend an extra $189 to upgrade to 16.0 SEER. Recovered the cost in lower electric bills within a few months. This is Floria, where we use AC probably ten months out of the year.

Just a couple weeks ago, the system stopped cooling the house. Tech from the small company that sold / installed the Goodman system in 2018 came out, used leak detector, found that the evaporator coil needed to be replaced.

Quoted two week lead time to obtain the part, actually got it in about ten days. He did the install day before yesterday, still no joy, no cooling in the house.

He analyzed and decided that a valve, not replaced with the leaking coil, had gone bad. Complex valve assembly, it senses the difference between the ambient (house) temperature and the temperature of the coolant coming from the compressor, and adjusts the flow of coolant in response to this temperature difference.

Fortunately, the distributor had this valve (manufactured by Parker) in stock; after valve replacement, everything is fine. Outside temperature as I'm typing this is 97° and the system is keeping the house at the 78° that I have the thermostat set for.

All parts were covered by warranty, the installation service, trip charge, and freon (410A) re-charge were a flat rate, around a thousand bucks.

---

I asked the tech what system he would choose for his own house if somebody else was paying, i.e. if cost was not a factor. He replied, with no hesitation, Carrier, with Goodman as a second choice.

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

This time slightly bigger unit of 3.5 tons up from the old 3 ton.

That makes no sense to me assuming the first unit was sized correctly. The addition of a second level should make your A/C work less since there is conditioned space above the first floor now. If anything I would think he might suggest dropping 1/2 a ton of his calculations said so.

What reasoning did he provide for the larger unit?

The downstairs of our house is much larger than upstairs. My living room is 22'x24' with a cathedral ceiling as is the kitchen area. I think the contractor that did the addition really screwed me at the time using a low end HVAC. It never cooled the living room even after 2 more vents were added. If I ever trusted a contractor, it is this guy. In the last 2 years he got my A/C going twice and never charged for parts. He is a fellow shooter lol.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:

quote:

Originally posted by Skins2881:

quote:

This time slightly bigger unit of 3.5 tons up from the old 3 ton.

That makes no sense to me assuming the first unit was sized correctly. The addition of a second level should make your A/C work less since there is conditioned space above the first floor now. If anything I would think he might suggest dropping 1/2 a ton of his calculations said so.

What reasoning did he provide for the larger unit?

The downstairs of our house is much larger than upstairs. My living room is 22'x24' with a cathedral ceiling as is the kitchen area. I think the contractor that did the addition really screwed me at the time using a low end HVAC. It never cooled the living room even after 2 more vents were added. If I ever trusted a contractor, it is this guy. In the last 2 years he got my A/C going twice and never charged for parts. He is a fellow shooter lol.

It probably doesn't apply to your particular situation but in locations that see a fair amount of humidity, oversizing is very detrimental, as the larger system cools the house too quickly, not allowing it to run long enough to extract moisture. I've heard stories about such oversized systems causing mold due to the excess humidity left floating around the house. And of course extra humidity in summer makes you feel hotter so you're tempted to lower the thermostat which makes things worse. A reputable AC tech can size systems properly.

We get a few months of humidity,but nothing as bad as the South in the summer. Very humid today, thunderstorms later.

Living close to the ocean we get a break a lot of the time. A mile or two west of me can be 10 degrees hotter in summer and colder in the winter.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:
We get a few months of humidity,but nothing as bad as the South in the summer. Very humid today, thunderstorms later.

Living close to the ocean we get a break a lot of the time. A mile or two west of me can be 10 degrees hotter in summer and colder in the winter.

I lived in Freehold for 6 years so I get what you're saying.

The old unit never cooled the living room.... so it ran constantly and never satisfied the thermostat?
Or, the rest of the downstairs was fine and it was just the living room?

20 yrs+ shouldn't be a problem on a quality install with proper air filter changes.

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Replaced my 19 year old unit last year because it was running longer and longer all the time and you couldn't get parts for it.

Someone told you a line of shit.

quote:

Originally posted by Dzozer:
Avoid Lennox like the plague- they sure aren't what they used to be. I have a 5 year old Lennox and nearly every major part has had to be replaced - OU inverter, condenser coil, compressor, UV Board - you name it. It's under warranty but getting Lennox to replace the parts has been like pulling teeth. They've tried to say its out of warranty and any other excuse they can find, just in case I don't have my documentation in order (which I did). Then it takes them weeks to get the parts - all during the hottest time of the year.
Not sure who exactly makes Goodman - many brands fall under the greater umbrella of the major manufacturers like Lennox and Carrier - hopefully Goodman isn't a Lennox in disguise! If so, be sure to get the extended warranty with labor included... well worth it.

I guess he needs to do without HVAC, as EVERY manufacture has had the same issues with thier evaporators.

Which is the reason manufactures went to aluminum evaporators.
So your Lennox information is dated and you're spreading old non-relevent news.

If the best installer sold Lennox, then that is what I'd have installed.
And I'm not a Lennox fanboy.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:
The old unit never cooled the living room.... so it ran constantly and never satisfied the thermostat?
Or, the rest of the downstairs was fine and it was just the living room?

20 yrs+ shouldn't be a problem on a quality install with proper air filter changes.

The rest of the downstairs was fine for the most part. The kitchen was also warmer, but not as bad as the living room. The unit did run way too much with the old unit and once on for the day it ran non-stop till the late of night. After the install yesterday, even the living room is cooler. I hardly went in it during the summer months and without the wood stove the room was too cold when the temps went into the 20's.

quote:

I guess he needs to do without HVAC, as EVERY manufacture has had the same issues with thier evaporators.

Which is the reason manufactures went to aluminum evaporators.
So your Lennox information is dated and you're spreading old non-relevent news

^^^^^^^^^^^
Thank you for correcting this misinformation both in this thread and the other in Drill Sgt. thread.

Mine was a 1983 Carrier 38CQ and lasted until 2019. During that time, I had the reversing valve replaced, two outdoor fans, two starting capacitors and three contactors.

What went bad was the heating elements that burnt the electrical panel which had to be replaced.

I got a Goodman GSZ140301KG for $5900 installed.

quote:

Originally posted by Excam_Man:

quote:

Originally posted by Flash-LB:
Replaced my 19 year old unit last year because it was running longer and longer all the time and you couldn't get parts for it.

Someone told you a line of shit.

Possibly, but I know that my next door neighbor got told the same thing when he bought his house a year and a half ago and he's got the same unit I had.

I am aware that you can't trust technicians though, as they're all (around here) commission salespeople as well as technicians.

quote:

Originally posted by rtquig:


Living close to the ocean we get a break a lot of the time. A mile or two west of me can be 10 degrees hotter in summer and colder in the winter.

I grew up going to Avalon, NJ for summer beach vacations, way before it became too bougey and overpriced.

I recall seeing signs as you drove in: "Welcome to Avalon: Cooler By A Mile"

My brother in law runs an HVAC company in Louisiana. He says that government energy savings requirements have forced the use of lighter metals in compressors to be in compliance. These of course cause greater failure rates than in older models. Probably would be accurate to say that the feds don’t care that they ruined HVACs - so its not “the rule of unintended consequences”.

If your AC or frig is a POS, thank your local federal representative for making that happen.

+

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
.....oversizing is very detrimental, as the larger system cools the house too quickly, not allowing it to run long enough to extract moisture. I've heard stories about such oversized systems causing mold due to the excess humidity left floating around the house.....

This is true, and another thing that I recently learned from an engineer in Florida to lower humidity is to routinely raise your thermostat way up to let the house get warm for a while, then return back to your temp setting. This is because cool air can't hold much moisture so the moisture that is introduced in the space it builds up. When the air warms it absorbs more moisture then condensates it out as it is cooled back down.

quote:

Originally posted by ridewv:

quote:

Originally posted by NavyGuy:
.....oversizing is very detrimental, as the larger system cools the house too quickly, not allowing it to run long enough to extract moisture. I've heard stories about such oversized systems causing mold due to the excess humidity left floating around the house.....

This is true, and another thing that I recently learned from an engineer in Florida to lower humidity is to routinely raise your thermostat way up to let the house get warm for a while, then return back to your temp setting. This is because cool air can't hold much moisture so the moisture that is introduced in the space it builds up. When the air warms it absorbs more moisture then condensates it out as it is cooled back down.

rt, glad to see you are comfortable now.
Please excuse the thread drift, but the humidity comment is not logical or simply not fully understood. You are partly correct about the holding capacity of water vapor with temperature change, as the air density changes with temperature, thus the reason for the word "relative" in relative humidity ratio. As in gains of moisture vapor to the air molecule density of the air. We would have to start another thread on psychometrics. In short, changing the temperature temporarily to cause an improvement is ridiculous. There is a moisture source rate change based on a multitude of variables and not based on temperature change. All that is happening is the density of the air change in relation to the amount of moisture in the air that it can hold.
Disclaimer: I'm not an degreed engineer, just a not to be trusted technician that slept at a Holiday Inn Express.

quote:

Originally posted by hvactech:

Disclaimer: I'm not an degreed engineer, just a not to be trusted technician that slept at a Holiday Inn Express.

I don't know but this was from a person with a masters in mechanical engineering who has most recently focused on HVAC, particularly commercial units. How he explained it mostly went over my head but said he can often tell when he walks in a home or building when they set and forget their thermostats. When we went in a Walgreens is when he brought it up, said he could almost guarantee they had the thermostat set and locked around 72 degrees and how damp the air was.

^^^ The mechanical engineer is full of shit.
But you can't argue with them, because they have a degree to back them up on their BS.

It's like arguing with someone which says, I've done it this way for 40 yrs.
Like you can't do something wrong for 40 yrs.

I learned one thing that A/C people may not be electricians.

The circuit breaker for the A/C was fused/welded to the breaker panel. I had a new 30 amp breaker so the A/C person was able to get the old breaker out and you could see the panel was burnt. He put the new breaker in and went outside. The panel started smoking and I turned it off.

He came back in and turned it back on and I said that is enough. He had the balls to charge me $150 plus the 30 amp breaker that was now ruined.

quote:

Originally posted by 41:
I learned one thing that A/C people may not be electricians.

I know a few electricians who are not real electricians.