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Have them assessed for about a total of $150 and just replace the one that is working the worst.
The thing is, if the tech sees a corroded heate exchanger that can leak CO into the house, that unit needs dealt with before heating season, for sure.
LM,
Matson Mechanical
The are off Cary Parkway, south of Old Apex Road, in Woodwinds Industrial Park.
I have them do all my stuff.
The techs are detailed and articulate, and Kit Ralph, the estimator, will help you understand your options, and discuss them in detail with you, respectfully and patiently.
I called Matson and they are going to try and fit me in this week since my schedule happens to be flexible. They're going to assess and clean the furnace and AC units and we'll talk about what I need to do (next).
My situation was similar to yours in terms of two zones and older units. Below is something I posted elsewhere regarding my obsessive research while trying to make the same decision. In the end we decided to just replace the problematic unit since we hadn't had any problems with the other one. However, if the HVAC folks had seen something in the ductwork or anywhere else that indicated we needed a full upgrade we would have done that.
My advice is to review some information available online so you get a sense of what is important when choosing an HVAC system and a company to install it. You definitely want to hire a company that does the legwork: There is something called a "Manual J calculation" that should be done. It takes into account your home's energy efficiency, square footage, insulation, number of windows, ratio of sun to shade on your house, and much more. You can't go by square footage alone and the Manual J is industry standard (although not every company does it). Research 3-4 different companies online through the Better Business Bureau and Google searches to get an idea of what other people's experiences have been with them. It isn't foolproof but can help you weed out the notably bad ones.
Interview the potential installation companies and decide which one did the right things according to the information you read and which one you felt the most confident in regarding their abilities, knowledge, and customer service.
Choose equipment based on your needs but remember that bigger is not better in terms of tonnage and the absolute highest efficiency model may not pay off for you in the long run in terms of saving energy. I suggest purchasing one with a good efficiency rating that will offer you financial savings over the life of the unit. We could have purchased a more expensive model but the energy efficiency ratings were the same for the moderately priced one; the difference was in the features offered on the more expensive one. In our case the price difference was about $700 and we didn't feel that the increase in features offered was enough to make it worthwhile since both units had the same energy savings rating.
If you think you'll be living in your house for more than 10 years, look for a system that will allow you to recoup some of your investment in terms of lower electric or gas bills. If you're planning to move before then, go with a reasonably good unit but don't overdo it if you won't be there long enough to benefit from it financially.
I suggest purchasing one with a good efficiency rating that will offer you financial savings over the life of the unit.
Good advice and def. something I plan to do. While there are HVAC units with SEER ratings up to something like 21 or 22 (from what I've read), the cost of such an efficient unit is going to be a lot more expensive than one that is 14 - 16 SEER and may not make enough of a difference in savings to offset the cost over the time I'm in the house.
I have no plans to move, but that is always dependent upon my having a job. I've been in this house for 4 years. I expect to live here another 5 - 10 yrs, but who knows... or I could eventually rent it out and live somewhere else too. I can't predict the future.
And yes I will be doing lots of research as well. Thanks so much for the links and the advice.
BTW, what brand HVAC system did you end up having installed?
We got a Carrier because that was what the company I liked best sold. From what I read the brand isn't as important as a quality installation. Still, I would stay away from any brands that have a trend of poor repair histories/problems. Somewhere I read that a good installer can make a less expensive unit work well but a bad installer cannot make an expensive unit work well. We had some ductwork openings enlarged to fit the new unit as well because we went from a 1 ton to a 3 ton unit. Apparently the original one for the upstairs was sized for a space about the size of a converted garage, which was part of why it was so hot upstairs. Be sure to check out the warranties offered by both the company that makes the unit and the installer.
A company can replace your unit with the same size new unit and that might be okay but without doing the Manual J calculation you wouldn't know for sure. I had one company that did an estimate that didn't do the calculation. The guy came up with the same size unit but didn't mention the changes needed in the ductwork. As you already know, the ductwork and air returns should match the needs of your unit and space. Otherwise the unit has to struggle to cool the air due to improper air flow. For example, we have a room over the garage that gets all the afternoon sun. The good news is that there were two vents in that room to help with extra cooling. The bad news was that during the installation the company found some of the sections closed off, preventing air flow to certain parts of the house.
A programmable thermostat is good to have as well since it allows you to control the home's temperature when you're away as well as when you're home. You can set it to be a few degrees higher when you're at work and program it to be cooler about the time you get home. Not required, but helpful and saves a little more energy.
Roger on the Manual J calculation. I will certainly be looking to make sure they use this in their determination.
This house already has programmable thermostats. They are very useful indeed. Of course during the HOT summers here the cycle upstairs is ON...ON...ON...yep still ON. ;-) I have the upstairs programmed to keep the temp no higher than 77 in the summer. The 'real' air temp at that setting is more like 74 degrees. When it's 90+ outside my upstairs gets up to 79/80 degrees for several hours in the afternoon.
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