Anyway, we are lucky that right now the weather is moderate and no furnace or air conditioner has been fine. But, we have to make a decision! Couldn't believe Consumer Reports had nothing during the last couple of years on furnaces.
I know there are some Freepers that work in the heating and cooling industry that can help us make a wise choice.
HELP!
Tried angie’s list?
avoid craigslist. :-)
A good heat pump with zone controls (where and if it advantages you) is both expensive and cheaper than a simpler inexpensive unit.
In the long run, the higher efficiency of the higher end zone controlled heat pump systems save you month after month. I spent the $15k on a highish end Carrier during a remodel 4 years ago. It costs a LOT less to operate in the winter than the propane unit my neighbor installed in his brand new similar square footage house next door. Enough less to pay for the difference in install costs after not very many years.
I am not sure how much benefit in cooling would be had - we don’t need AC but maybe 5 - 7 days a year. Heating is where the cost is in my location.
I did the math and figured to wear it out. SO it was the right answer for me. I intend to stay in this house for a long while. Higher efficiency pays me back in lower monthlies.
I had installed a Trane 6 years ago and not at all happy with it. Secondly, if someone is charging you 15 grand they are ripping you off. Should not be more than half that amount even if you are replacing heat pump and furnace.
In December we replaced a heat pump. Went with a 16 SEER Goodman/Amana model (Not as good as Carrier or Trane but a LOT less expensive.) 2 1/2 ton unit good for up to 3000+ sq ft home. Cost installed was just over $4300.
$15K seems way way way high. Consider going straight heat pump with a variable speed indoor unit. (Especially in a mild climate where heat pumps are really efficient to operate.) It runs at 1/2 capacity most of the time and has been very cheap to operate and winter heating was a lot more comfortable than was the unit we replaced. (Blows out warm air, not lukewarm air)
Best advise I can give is shop around a lot. We saw quotes as high as 12K and went with the 2nd lowest quote.
Previous heat pump unit lasted 19 years.
FWIW: Currently A/C 2400 sq. ft. of living space. Unit works hard six months of the year A/C, and about four months of morning only heating. Spring, and Fall we have a couple of months reprieve from A/C & heating costs as we can open windows for air, otherwise too extremely hot, or too cold in the mornings.
The unit is Central Air “Whirlpool” originally installed with the house out here in the sticks in 1987, and we are on propane tank.
I would imagine it would cost us less energy costs to modernize, but we keep thinking this current unit will die, and then we will get new, but NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO it keeps on crankin’, so we don’t.
Like I say “for what it’s worth”. NOT recommending “Whirlpool”, as I don’t know enough about the topic, but am just relating our experience. Still going strong after 24 years. Who knows, maybe a freak unit.
We live in the mountains of western NC. Two years ago January-maybe 3, we replaced a 10 year old heat pump with a Carrier. Our house is about 1900 SQ. Ft. and we payed about $10,000 for the Carrier. The house is abot 13 year old and we enlarged the unit from the previous one which was just on the edge for size of house. It’s been fabulous. Someone else mentioned getting a good installer is crucial and it was. The installer- owner was bright and knowledgeable and always available when needed. That price included an electronic air cleaner and a humidifier. The unit truly keeps the dust down and the marvel of summer air-conditioning is that when we open up in the morning to get fresh air in or at night, when we turn on the air-conditioner, it almost immediately takes the humidity out of the air. We didn’t buy the top of the line but at that time it was the next to the top of the line. Hope this helps. When we had ours replaced in a relatively mild January, We felt lucky since the following winter nobody could have gotten up our icy mountain and we would have been in real trouble.
As a lot of other posters said, shop around. Get two more bids.
Carrier and Trane are both excellent brands but there are others.
You said your heat pump lasted six years? That’s not right, you may not want to do business with whoever sold you on that deal because heat pump warranties are usually 10 years.
Any-who, the heat pump/propane system is a little exotic. It will lower your bills but you may or may not want to make the extra investment.
Some questions to ask the installer and yourself:
What is the payback in years for the system?
How much longer will you be around?
Is the house otherwise well insulated and draft free?
How is the duct system?
What is wrong with the current furnace?
If they say the heat exchanger is cracked, make them show you with a carbon monoxide detector.
Maybe you can have the furnace repaired for a few hundred dollars.
Maybe you can have a reasonably priced furnace installed for about $2K.
I just bought a building that heats with k1 and monitors and Toyos. I have a four thousand sq ft home and if I were to do int over I would do something with them instead of a main boiler.
I have to agree with other FReepers on a couple of things. Who does the installation matters. Also, this price seems WAY high. We had TWO complete Trane systems (both heat/AC) installed seven years ago for less than $13K. That included doing some extra “stuff” to the system we wanted done. Both are fairly large units, because it’s a big house. Trane is a great brand, and we love ours, but they are a little noisy, if that matters to you.
Oh and if you have lost 3 heat pumps insist they run new copper lines. It might be contamination in the lines that killed your other units.
Were you there when they installed them? If you were, did they flush the lines (they hook a vacuum pump up to the lines after running some sort of flush through them) or run new copper? (Better to run new copper coolant lines, but impractical in some situations.)
We have a Trane gas furnace. Works very well! Cost about $3500 installed.
A Carrier / Trane thread here:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/load/hvac/msg071506325619.html?1
Lots of good Trane and Carriet threads here:
http://ths.gardenweb.com/forums/hvac/
In fact, GardenWeb has lots of good repair and home issue forums.
I have the same setup and had the same issue last year. We went with a Carrier Comfort 92 and it’s been solid.
Agree with others, $15K sounds way too high. I think ours was about $7500.
My husband and I own a heating and a/c company. What are you getting for 15 thousand? Is it a very high Seer rating and a really high efficiency furnace. We sell Carrier and the only time we have sold a system that cost anywhere near that much it was the highest SEER rating and the highest efficiency furnace on the market.
We live in Dallas Texas. We recently replaced a very old 2 ton air conditioner that was not cooling at all, yet was constantly running, with a brand new 3 ton air conditioner(Rheem) with a new furnace, with two new vents in the living room PLUS a new water heater; They replaced EVERYTHING for almost 6,000 dollars.
Yes; this is the most expensive investment in our house we’ve made, yet it was time to do so, especially considering the heat wave we’ve all been experienceing. Despite the heat outside..it’s great inside the house!
We contacted HOME DEPOT, they contract with the BEST companies around, to get the job done right. I think we did the right thing..spending $6,000 dollars is MUCH better than having to spend 15,000 dollars. You may wish to call HOME DEPOT, to see what kind of deal they can offer you to replace your A/C and Furnace units..I think you might be able to get a better deal from them, at least; the cost probably would be less than spending $15,000!
FRiend, you are being taken for a ride. Unless your furnace has been reduced to a pile of slag, you need nothing more than a fan and starting capacitor, they should throw in a new thermocouple for free. Total cost installed should not be more than a few hundred bucks, and you could do it yourself for much less......goodluck.
We had a 95% eff. York furnace and heat pump installed last year. The system works great. The reason we purchased a heat pump is that the area we live in Ohio offers lower winter electric rates such that running the heat pump is cheaper than using natural gas. Otherwise, the heat pump would not work economically.
The heat pump heats at temperatures greater than 35 degrees.
I had a 5 ton Carrier with AC installed for 5.5K.
Your installer is hosing you.
Cheers,
knewshound