HVAC experts

[Art 1]

I remember when I got a new A/C unit for my rental house, the owner of the business said that it was a tradeoff between efficiency and maximum cooling. It was between a 2.5 ton and 3 ton unit for my house, and the smaller one was recommended and installed. He also said he'd make more money selling me a larger unit with a higher SEER rating, but he didn't think it would be worth it for the climate. The area gets somewhat warm in the summer, but low 80s are considered hot, and 90s is considered freak weather.

There's very little residential A/C in my area. Also not much when I visited the Seattle area last month, but they had record breaking temperatures. That, and my BIL's new house that was built for fairly cold winters with lots of insulation.

Also not worth you spending extra for the rental as it's the tenant paying the power bill. And rebates from the power company for high efficiency aren't given for rental property.

 

[tvguy]

I remember when I got a new A/C unit for my rental house, the owner of the business said that it was a tradeoff between efficiency and maximum cooling. It was between a 2.5 ton and 3 ton unit for my house, and the smaller one was recommended and installed. He also said he'd make more money selling me a larger unit with a higher SEER rating, but he didn't think it would be worth it for the climate. The area gets somewhat warm in the summer, but low 80s are considered hot, and 90s is considered freak weather.

There's very little residential A/C in my area. Also not much when I visited the Seattle area last month, but they had record breaking temperatures. That, and my BIL's new house that was built for fairly cold winters with lots of insulation.

My FIL in Texas stepped down from 3 tons to 2.5 tons when he replaced his ac. 1200 square foot house. He said they were more comfortable because the ac ran longer with the smaller unit and thus did a much better job of dehumidifying. The compromise was to keep the house 5 degrees warmer, but since it was less humid, it was still comfortable.

 

[bcla]

Also not worth you spending extra for the rental as it's the tenant paying the power bill. And rebates from the power company for high efficiency aren't given for rental property.

It was a 10 SEER unit, which isn't even available now. The old one was way old, inefficient (probably before SEER standards), and blowing fuses each week - even the proper (and expensive) time-delay ones. Does the General Electric heating/cooling brand even exist any more? And when I mentioned it was a rental the owner was like "You're kidding, right?"

My FIL in Texas stepped down from 3 tons to 2.5 tons when he replaced his ac. 1200 square foot house. He said they were more comfortable because the ac ran longer with the smaller unit and thus did a much better job of dehumidifying. The compromise was to keep the house 5 degrees warmer, but since it was less humid, it was still comfortable.

Yeah - that was it. They mentioned dehumidifying (kind of like using a car defrost setting I guess) along with efficiency. However, then you might need to deal with the fan running longer, and even the new unit was really loud.

 

[Tiggeroo]

Is this the size system you have now? Are you happy with what you have. DH thinks the larger blower may actually cause a problem in that size system. How many estimates did you get? American Standard and Trane are identical so you don't need to go for the name here. Ask if the warranties are the same.

 

[Art 1]

My FIL in Texas stepped down from 3 tons to 2.5 tons when he replaced his ac. 1200 square foot house. He said they were more comfortable because the ac ran longer with the smaller unit and thus did a much better job of dehumidifying. The compromise was to keep the house 5 degrees warmer, but since it was less humid, it was still comfortable.

3T for that is too large, even for Fla.

 

[Art 1]

It was a 10 SEER unit, which isn't even available now. The old one was way old, inefficient (probably before SEER standards), and blowing fuses each week - even the proper (and expensive) time-delay ones. Does the General Electric heating/cooling brand even exist any more? And when I mentioned it was a rental the owner was like "You're kidding, right?"



Yeah - that was it. They mentioned dehumidifying (kind of like using a car defrost setting I guess) along with efficiency. However, then you might need to deal with the fan running longer, and even the new unit was really loud.

Yes, 14 seer is the min now.

 

[Tiggeroo]

rule of thumb on a simple calculation you should have 130,000 input on heat and 52,800 btu's of cooling for a space that size and that doesn't take into account variables like windows and high ceilings.

 

[mnrose]

Out of curiosity, why are you going with only an 80% AFUE? We live in Minnesota, and at both our homes, we have above 90% (92 and 95, respectively). Personally, I'd be going with the highest AFUE I could get, but maybe I'm missing something?