Background, I worked in home remodeling for over 3 years, plus general contracted my own house. That's on top of being a DIYer for 30+ years. So I'm pretty familar with most of this stuff.
I moved from Chicagoland to the DC area (lost all my previous contractor contacts) and am in an 8 year old townhouse. The HVAC is GOODMAN, we all know how good that is. The AC was working reasonably when I bought the place but this season it is out. I've had it checked and it appears that there is a leak somewhere in the A coil. They pressurized with nitrogen, to find the leak. The freon is gone.
So, do I get the A coil replaced and system recharged knowing that there is a goodman compressor sitting outside? I've had a few quotes to do so but they seem high. I figure it's less than a half day work plus the coil ($250 retail on line) and Freon. Not sure what that should cost. I don't want to scrap the compressor if it's still got useful life, that's not good for the environment either.
I've been told Freon is being phased out which fuels my delima. Prices for the gas and replacement parts will go up as they aren't made any more.
I've been told I can't upgrade the AC to take advantage of the current tax breaks because my furnace doesn't have a variable speed motor and I can't reach the required efficency without replacing the furnace (because of the motor).
I've been told that Goodman furnaces have a tendency to fail in the heat exchanger department. I had 2 Amanas in my previuos house (didn't know Goodman made them until later) and neither had a heat exchanger problem in 15 years of service. Sure ignitors went, a controller went in one and the blower motor in the other, none of those were Goodman quality issues in my book.
Swapping out the whole HVAC system is costly and I don't know if I'd ever see a payback from an efficency standpoint. It's an 90+ furnace, I only have 1,600 sq/ft to heat/cool.
I've got quotes for replacing/upgrading the whole AC system, the current system is 1.5 ton and probably 8 SEER (so the salesmen that want to replace it tell me. Is there a place I can find out?). My quotes are for 14 SEER systems, also 1.5 ton. Don't know if I could/should go to 2 ton since I have a 3 story townhouse and getting cooling up to the top floor is a challenge. The ducts also run in unheated space in the attic. All the sales guys just see the current size and quote me a replacement of the same size. They don't seem to feel an evaluation is necessary.
I was thinking if the whole system was dead I'd go with the higest efficency possible, but then started rethinking this and was wondering if there is a sweet spot where spending more on the HVAC plant doesn't really gain you enough savings to pay the higher equipment cost. I'm wondering about this since I'm guessing that if I upgrade the AC now and the furnace goes a few years down the road, I don't want to be regretting the effeciency of my AC and I won't want to have to upgrade it again.
I'm willing to spend the money, but want to do it smartly. One last tidbit is that I don't see any moves in the foreseable future. But you know how that goes.
Argh.
Any real insight would be appreciated.
I moved from Chicagoland to the DC area (lost all my previous contractor contacts) and am in an 8 year old townhouse. The HVAC is GOODMAN, we all know how good that is. The AC was working reasonably when I bought the place but this season it is out. I've had it checked and it appears that there is a leak somewhere in the A coil. They pressurized with nitrogen, to find the leak. The freon is gone.
So, do I get the A coil replaced and system recharged knowing that there is a goodman compressor sitting outside? I've had a few quotes to do so but they seem high. I figure it's less than a half day work plus the coil ($250 retail on line) and Freon. Not sure what that should cost. I don't want to scrap the compressor if it's still got useful life, that's not good for the environment either.
I've been told Freon is being phased out which fuels my delima. Prices for the gas and replacement parts will go up as they aren't made any more.
I've been told I can't upgrade the AC to take advantage of the current tax breaks because my furnace doesn't have a variable speed motor and I can't reach the required efficency without replacing the furnace (because of the motor).
I've been told that Goodman furnaces have a tendency to fail in the heat exchanger department. I had 2 Amanas in my previuos house (didn't know Goodman made them until later) and neither had a heat exchanger problem in 15 years of service. Sure ignitors went, a controller went in one and the blower motor in the other, none of those were Goodman quality issues in my book.
Swapping out the whole HVAC system is costly and I don't know if I'd ever see a payback from an efficency standpoint. It's an 90+ furnace, I only have 1,600 sq/ft to heat/cool.
I've got quotes for replacing/upgrading the whole AC system, the current system is 1.5 ton and probably 8 SEER (so the salesmen that want to replace it tell me. Is there a place I can find out?). My quotes are for 14 SEER systems, also 1.5 ton. Don't know if I could/should go to 2 ton since I have a 3 story townhouse and getting cooling up to the top floor is a challenge. The ducts also run in unheated space in the attic. All the sales guys just see the current size and quote me a replacement of the same size. They don't seem to feel an evaluation is necessary.
I was thinking if the whole system was dead I'd go with the higest efficency possible, but then started rethinking this and was wondering if there is a sweet spot where spending more on the HVAC plant doesn't really gain you enough savings to pay the higher equipment cost. I'm wondering about this since I'm guessing that if I upgrade the AC now and the furnace goes a few years down the road, I don't want to be regretting the effeciency of my AC and I won't want to have to upgrade it again.
I'm willing to spend the money, but want to do it smartly. One last tidbit is that I don't see any moves in the foreseable future. But you know how that goes.
Argh.
Any real insight would be appreciated.