Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 09-06-2019, 08:26 PM
 
220 posts, read 132,190 times
Reputation: 118

Advertisements

I was given a quote today on a new ac and the efficiency on these units they quoted are 14 and 16. Someone tonight told me that that the efficiency goes up to 22 and it would save me on my electric bill. Can someone explain this to me? It doesn't make sense how it can save me. I do know the higher the efficiency the more cost of the ac unit. What brands are good? There are lots of brands out there and all I know of is Trane since I have that. The guy quoted me on a Goodman, but I have never heard of it. He also quoted me American Standard, but I only thought they made bathroom and kitchen items. If they would do the job, he told me he can't just install the unit inside and not outside. Can't the outside unit be reused and not replaced?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 09-06-2019, 08:59 PM
 
19,966 posts, read 7,818,384 times
Reputation: 6556
Quote:
Originally Posted by sundog2 View Post
I was given a quote today on a new ac and the efficiency on these units they quoted are 14 and 16. Someone tonight told me that that the efficiency goes up to 22 and it would save me on my electric bill. Can someone explain this to me? It doesn't make sense how it can save me. I do know the higher the efficiency the more cost of the ac unit. What brands are good? There are lots of brands out there and all I know of is Trane since I have that. The guy quoted me on a Goodman, but I have never heard of it. He also quoted me American Standard, but I only thought they made bathroom and kitchen items. If they would do the job, he told me he can't just install the unit inside and not outside. Can't the outside unit be reused and not replaced?
I'm not an HVAC expert but I'll post what I know to be true. The numbers are SEER or efficiency number and the higher the number the less electric the unit should use to cool, but also the more expensive and complicated and potentially less durable as you go above the lower efficiency and simpler SEER 14 or 15 systems.

Goodman is a reputable brand that has good reliability ratings at affordable prices. American Standard does make A/C systems.

Yes, you can normally replace the inside unit, the coil or evaporator, or air handler and furnace without replacing the outside unit (and vice versa) assuming the inside unit is the issue and the outside unite is in working order..but I'd think the outside unit would usually be the part not working.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-06-2019, 09:13 PM
 
Location: Johns Creek, GA
17,436 posts, read 65,697,376 times
Reputation: 23560
Understanding SEER-

https://hvactraining101.com/seer-ratings-explained/

There is theory of how much SEER is needed/performs better for a particular regional climate zone. It's a cost/value/annual expense thing- due to avg fuel cost to a particular area/provider.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-06-2019, 09:33 PM
 
220 posts, read 132,190 times
Reputation: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by mtl1 View Post
I'm not an HVAC expert but I'll post what I know to be true. The numbers are SEER or efficiency number and the higher the number the less electric the unit should use to cool, but also the more expensive and complicated and potentially less durable as you go above the lower efficiency and simpler SEER 14 or 15 systems.

Goodman is a reputable brand that has good reliability ratings at affordable prices. American Standard does make A/C systems.

Yes, you can normally replace the inside unit, the coil or evaporator, or air handler and furnace without replacing the outside unit (and vice versa) assuming the inside unit is the issue and the outside unite is in working order..but I'd think the outside unit would usually be the part not working.

Yes, the guy mentioned the SEER or efficiency number. So can any type of dwelling accommodate any type of efficiency? They only gave me 3 choices, but they could get others but the costs would be more he said. And Goodman is the only one with an extra warranty. So not all brands offer an extra warranty?

I have a component in the inside unit that needs replaced, but it is cheaper to buy a new unit than to replace the part. And someone told me also tonight that the outside unit does not need to be replaced, etc, but the company that gave me a quote won't do that and have to replace both inside and outside unit.

And someone else told me tonight, that they offer a metal and a plastic handler. I should get a plastic because of the humidity or something he said. I forgot. So can you or someone explain what a handler is and what the difference between the metal and plastic and what is better to have or not have?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-06-2019, 09:40 PM
 
220 posts, read 132,190 times
Reputation: 118
Quote:
Originally Posted by K'ledgeBldr View Post
Understanding SEER-

https://hvactraining101.com/seer-ratings-explained/

There is theory of how much SEER is needed/performs better for a particular regional climate zone. It's a cost/value/annual expense thing- due to avg fuel cost to a particular area/provider.

Thanks. And what is a ductless air conditioner?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-06-2019, 10:18 PM
 
220 posts, read 132,190 times
Reputation: 118
And does the unit outside have to match with the type of efficiency inside? What exactly is a 2.2 ton or 3 ton?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-06-2019, 11:12 PM
 
19,966 posts, read 7,818,384 times
Reputation: 6556
The A/C ton rating is the cooling capacity. The capacity chosen is matched to the cooling demands of the house and it's not good to go bigger or smaller. Yes the inside coil/evaporator and outside compressor unit should be reasonably matched within the same tonnage range. I think you might want to get another estimate and see if they can just fix your inside unit more affordably. There are some A/C websites that might help explain some of the questions you have.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-06-2019, 11:49 PM
 
Location: Out there somewhere...a traveling man.
44,563 posts, read 61,331,648 times
Reputation: 125587
We have a Trane 19 seer, 4 ton. It replaced a seer 10 older unit. The monthly electric savings has been at least 50% less. We went from $355.00 a month to $142.00. It's been a trouble free unit for over 10 years now.
American Standard is a subsidiary of Trane, it's their economical series.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-07-2019, 02:21 AM
 
Location: North Texas
3,435 posts, read 2,611,773 times
Reputation: 10906
I replaced two 35-year-old HVAC systems with a 4 ton and 3 ton 16 SEER Goodman units. The correct installation is the most important part as is the company that installs the units. The reason my old units lasted 35 years was an annual check-up.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 09-07-2019, 09:24 AM
 
3,110 posts, read 2,944,754 times
Reputation: 2959
A ton is 12,000 BTU. In Phoenix, the rule was 1 ton for every 400 square feet. The mismatching is problematic because the efficiency will revert to the lower of the two, and you can't mix a 410 system, with an obsolete r22 system. I have a 17000 btu, 17.6 SEER Carrier in my Bangkok studio, and it is ductless. 620 usd installed. Buying AC in the US is worse than a pirate ship. Goodman is OK. The problem with annual maintenance is the coil cleaners will destroy the electrolytic bond between the copper tubes and the aluminum fins..and it should never be low on refrigerant, unless it is leaking out the spindle, in which case it is way past it's prime. And LG makes a 30 SEER.

Last edited by Hal Roach; 09-07-2019 at 09:35 AM..
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > General Forums > House

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top