I need a new home AC system

[CHASZ51]

I need help picking the right AC system for my house. I live on the FL west coast where we have ringing humidity and lows in the 80's during the summer. Looks like i need a whole new system. Since i bought the house the AC never really has worked worth a darn, on days with temps above 90 the AC has to run full out from 5pm to 10pm and the house never does get that cool and it still feels humid inside.
I have a 10 SEER unit and a air handler made in 1995.

I had a AC guy check out the AC and he says the system needs to be replaced, he also said it was installed kinda half ass and has the wrong size copper tubing.

So what name brands are the best for my money?

 

[Shadow]

I need help picking the right AC system for my house. I live on the FL west coast where we have ringing humidity and lows in the 80's during the summer. Looks like i need a whole new system. Since i bought the house the AC never really has worked worth a darn, on days with temps above 90 the AC has to run full out from 5pm to 10pm and the house never does get that cool and it still feels humid inside.
I have a 10 SEER unit and a air handler made in 1995.

I had a AC guy check out the AC and he says the system needs to be replaced, he also said it was installed kinda half ass and has the wrong size copper tubing.

So what name brands are the best for my money?

We have a TRANE unit and have been very pleased with it.:thumbsup:

It's quiet, efficient and will turn the house in to and ice cube or a furnace post haste. With the heat pump we save on our heating as well.

Had it installed a couple years back by ACTION Heating & Air in Tampa. If you want the reps number I'll get it for you when I get back in Tampa (in orlando until Monday).

Got a great deal on it and the customer service has been excellent the time or 2 I had to use it.:thumbsup::thumbsup:

Gordon

 

[Rich Z]

Actually we are planning on replacing the outside unit only this year. It probably needs to recharge of freon, but since the unit is 18 or 19 years old, probably a newer unit would be best, since I'm sure the newer compressors are much more power efficient then the old models. I would be leaning towards Trane or American Standard as a replacement.

 

[gsdave]

For the money, I like the Lennox units the best. I have a Fridgidaire heat pump in our new home and I like it much more than I thought I would. I usually spec Trane, York, Lennox, or Carrier.

If you'd like good humidity control, at the very least get a variable speed air handler. Our unit has a 'dehumidification' mode that makes the unit run at 75% airflow upon a call for cooling for the first 10 minutes. What its really doing is similar to a two stage cooling system as its not active dehumidification like you would see with a humidistat and reheat coil. This really wrings the moisture out. On our unit, you can also set the fan speed by a sequence of dipswitches. I have the unit set for dehumidification and also set the blower speed as low as I could and still satisfy the load in the day time. It is BONE dry inside the house with this setup.

Tonight, I got up off the couch and threw sparks when I touched the door. The RH is in the low 40's and it makes it comfortable at 78 degrees inside.

If you have any questions, let me know. I design HVAC systems for a living.

 

[ironhorse]

I have a two zone system. Both are Trane 14 seer...They are great...Get the highest seer value you can afford...The higher the seer the more afficient they will run and cost you less $$$...:thumbsup:

 

[floridaZ]

Actually we are planning on replacing the outside unit only this year. It probably needs to recharge of freon, but since the unit is 18 or 19 years old, probably a newer unit would be best, since I'm sure the newer compressors are much more power efficient then the old models. I would be leaning towards Trane or American Standard as a replacement.

IDK about that, we had two old units in our house (house is designed in a way that it has to have 2...:toetap05. Anyway, one of the 20 year old ones siezed up so my father replaced both. Big mistake, we have had to replace both new ones during the past 4 years, one side went out twice. I'm not even sure what brand we have now (there have been so many...), but we're looking at Trane if they go out again. Hopefully they will be of better quality then... all the others.

What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't fix it if it ain't broke.

 

[CHASZ51]

I will have the air handler cleaned on Monday and hope to nurse it along till next spring i hope.

 

[Rich Z]

What I'm trying to say is I wouldn't fix it if it ain't broke.

Well, it appears to be leaking freon, and I'm sure that old compressor is using a LOT more electricity than a newer model would use. I think that comes pretty close to qualifying as being "broke". Knowing Murphy's Law, if I wait it will fail completely right before the 4th of July holiday, and we will have record breaking heat at that time.... :ack2: Then the emergency call will cost me a LOT more.

 

[CHASZ51]

It looks like the air handler has never been cleaned since it was installed in 95. I should have had it checked since i bought the house 04. I hope after the cleaning it will help.

 

[1ragtop]

a/c

I have a friend in the business and he lives in Port Richey and is very honest.Contact me for his name and number.

 

[1ragtop]

pm

sent you pm

 

[Rich Z]

Had a tech from Keith Lawson's company come out today. Looks like I can't just have the outside unit replaced as it was made in 1991, and the newer units are not compatible with the old air handlers. $$$ Rats.....

They sell and install American Standard and Amana units. Both have a 10 year full coverage warranty, but the Amana warrants the compressor for life, whereas American Standard doesn't. The price for an American Standard 15 see unit is around $8,300. The Amana 15 seer unit is $7,500. Both qualify for the $1,500 federal tax credit, so that helps a little bit. I had originally wanted the American Standard, but come to find out that the air handler won't fit in the place the old Carrier unit resides. They would have to completely relocate the air handler and run more duct work, plus it is heavier as well. The Amana air handler is a more compact design, so I felt it best to go with that unit, all things considered.

We've got a bunch of balls to juggle the next couple of weeks, so we're not going to have the new one installed till around mid June. The tech did recharge the freon for us at no charge, so that should keep things cool here for the duration.

Man, it just feels like everything is breaking down around here. Our refrigerator is just barely limping along, and we have to put stuff in the freezer part (which doesn't really freeze anything) just to keep it cold enough to not go bad. We ordered a new Maytag refrig, but it won't be here till Friday. So in the meantime, we bought a small unit to keep over in the other building so we could move more foodstuff over to it to keep from losing it.

Then my networked 1 tb hard drive died on me yesterday. :banghead:

Between this car headache and all this other crap, I'm about ready to just hide under the bed for the rest of my life...

 

[CHASZ51]

I had my air handler cleaned on Monday and it helped some. I am getting prices from diff companys for a whole new system as mine is a old 10 SEER.

 

[Rich Z]

I had my air handler cleaned on Monday and it helped some. I am getting prices from diff companys for a whole new system as mine is a old 10 SEER.

Yeah, that's what the guy said that my old Carrier system was probably rated as. I did some checking around looking at reviews and pretty much the consensus was that most of the units available use common parts and are pretty much equivalent. Nearly all of the problems users experience are caused by incompetence during installations. So beware the lowest bidder.....