Looks like we need a new air conditioner (heat pump).

Concord, Kannapolis area of North Carolina.

Recent experience, advice, brand ?

Going to Home Depot and Lowes to look now, but would appreciate any recommendations or cautions from the SigFORUM brain trust.

This message has been edited. Last edited by: kimber1911,

Window unit or full HVAC system?

What is the size of the area you are cooling?

My heat pump went out and seemed to have a bad connection somewhere which I couldn't find. No one wanted to troubleshoot it due to the age so I bought a window unit to get by.

This is probably the largest unit to run on 115 VAC: Frigidaire FFRE1233S1 12,000 BTU 115V Window-Mounted Compact Air Conditioner

la-438506939507&wl5=9007576&wl6=&wl7=&wl8=&wl9=pla&wl10=8175035&wl11=online&wl12=264231159&wl13=&veh=sem" target="_blank">https://www.walmart.com/ip/Fri...231159&wl13=&veh=sem

Walmart had the best price.

We have a 3 ton heat pump unit which is out-of-service, needing replacement for downstairs.

We have a 2 ton heat pump to cool the upstairs.

Both were installed in 2006.
Thinking that it may be good to replace both at the same time.

I’d make sure it’s not just a 15 dollar capacitor. If the outside unit won’t start at all, it’s likely that. I just replaced one on my sisters 14 year old outside unit last week.

quote:

Originally posted by PowerSurge:
I’d make sure it’s not just a 15 dollar capacitor. If the outside unit won’t start at all, it’s likely that. I just replaced one on my sisters 14 year old outside unit last week.

Might be worth spending a hundred or so if that would get it going which would allow you to do a careful job on selecting what is going to be a major dollar purchase.

Assuming window air conditioner, hence the big box stores?

Ran to big box stores since they are open today.

Both Home Depot and Lowes offer a free estimate.
I left my name address and phone #, expect they will call tomorrow.

Phillips Air Care looked at it today for $80 and gave us an estimate of $5600 to replace it with a Ruud 3 ton 14 SEER with split heat pump.

Thinking I would like to go with a 3.5 ton if it would work with our current air handler.
Have two rooms in the house that always stayed a bit warm. Not sure the 3 ton had adequate capacity.

You can't simply just put a larger unit in. That is not how it works. Imagine putting 6" exhaust on a honda civic, car will backfire and not run properly due to lack of back pressure. Same thing with the HVAC, it needs to be sized by your ductwork and your specific house. It's not as simple as replacing a microwave.

What did phillips say was wrong with your existing unit? I assume for $5,600 that also included a new A/H as well?

PS any idea why the contractors through Home Depot charge less than any other contractor you call out of the phone book? It's because they aren't good enough to get their own customers so they accept crap pay from HD and there's a good chance you will also get crap work from them. Not always the case, you could luck out and get a start-up that does good work, but just isn't big enough for marketing or word of mouth to work for them, but I wouldn't bank on it.

3 ton split heat pump

Found HVAC outdoor condenser tripping outdoor breaker due to a grounded compressor, all windings are showing grounded and will not allow system to operate.

Repair Option: $2,140
Replacement Option: $5,600
3 Ton Ruud 14 SEER Split Heat Pump
Full Equipment Replacement with 10 yr parts warranty, 1 year labor, 1 yr preventive maintenance.

Yes, I do believe this includes a new air handler unit.

My wife did the books for Andersen Heating and Air for several years. I’d recommend them if you go with a company. They had some absolutely amazing techs.

https://www.andersenservices.com/

I got the same unit a month ago with air handler, new thermostat and thermostat wire, base pad, for $4400, in Florida where prices may be more competitive. So far, I am happy with the performance and efficiency vs the 2005 unit it replaced.

Thanks chongosuerte, called and left them a message for an estimate.

Asked Phillips Air Care about going with a 3.5 ton unit and they said with too large of a unit we could run into issues with removal of moisture.

That was something I had not heard of before.
Thought the only problem with too large of a unit was excessively starting and stopping (cycling) of the unit.

Nice thing we discovered about our house design is that two ceiling vents in our main 1st floor room are fed by our upstairs heat pump. Although a bit warmer on the first floor not unbearable.

I did a ton of research recently thanks to hurricane Michael. I was going to go with Goodman for a mid-level system.

Thanks to human greed - all the quotes for a Goodman (and other mid-range systems were hovering around 10k, both units and new ducting).

Carrier came in at 7800 so my insurance agreed to bump me up to the higher end system.


Rick

Your old air handler is probably r22 Freon and won’t work with a new heat pump. Replace both the heat pump and air handler. I like American standard equipment. Find a really good local air conditioning company, not Lowe’s and hd. You cannot just go up in tonnage unless your return and supply ductwork will support it, it all works together.

Yes, if the a/c doesn’t run 60% of the time or more, it won’t usually remove enough humidity.

We replaced our 3-ton Ruud unit with a 3-ton Goodman about six months ago.

14 SEER is pretty much base level nowadays. It was $170.00 to move up to a 16.5 SEER unit, a move that we are happy with. We recovered the $170.00 upgrade fee via reduced electric bills in just two months!

Also, the 14 SEER unit came with a 7-day programmable thermostat. The 16.5 SEER unit came with a slightly fancier version of the same thermostat -- wifi enabled, so I can see what is going on, or change settings, from my hangar office, or anyplace else where I have an internet connection for the iPhone app. This allows me to change the schedule if I'm going to be getting home earlier or later than the pre-programmed time.

3 ton is a standard air handler size. Chances are 99% the installer did not put in a 3.5 ton or 4 ton air handler. Although bumping the coil half a ton sometimes (usually) increases efficiency (just the coil, not the whole unit).

Oversizing the system: some duct work cannot handle the increased air velocity requirements of the larger condenser. Then the coil gets too cold and freezes. Or the system does not run long enough to properly dehumidify the air.

Most houses can be "cured" with better duct work. That is cost prohibitive in most applications, but it all comes down to the bones. Sometimes something as simple as more return air being made available to the A/H can solve issues, especially a high return.

I work with a guy who only installs Goodman. Back in the day Goodman was crap, as bad as Rudd (is crudd). But they are supposedly top tier now. Rudd? We used to say that four would fail within 10 years and the fifth would still be running after 20, so who knows.

Going from a 3 ton to a 3&1/2 ton air handler only increases the blower 200 cfms which the duct work should handle ok. Existing problem may be duct sizing to the rooms or return for the cooling problems. Never been a fan of Rheem or Rudd products. Would suggest you actually call a few HVAC companies and get estimates instead of using Lowe’s or Home Depot.

quote:

Originally posted by kimber1911:

Thinking I would like to go with a 3.5 ton if it would work with our current air handler.
Have two rooms in the house that always stayed a bit warm. Not sure the 3 ton had adequate capacity.

When the old unit was working properly, was it running 100% of the time when the two rooms were warm?
If no, the problem is ducting.

Size the unit via a manual J load calculation.

Have two HVAC companies coming out in the morning, have a third I will call.

Expect calls from Home Depot & Lowes, but after several comments here probably will by-pass them.