Diary of a home inspector -Rheem Heat Pump

[Snipe Hunter]

Looked at a home today with a 37 year old Rheem heat-pump. Running like a champ. It's the oldest I've seen. I see a lot of old Rheem and Ruuds still kicking. Looked to me like the compressor had been replaced at some time but everything else was in good working order. I believe Rheem and Ruud are about the same product. I see a lot of old ones working fine. Not sure if they still build a nice unit but the old ones are certainly a cut above.

[daddo]

They won't last that long by at least half today: 12-maybe 16 years. It's called progress. In the attempts to save the planet, we are producing and selling more equipment thereby using more resources and energy to save you on your elect bill to make the gov happy that they are seemingly making you happy so you can pay more taxes to make them happy.  


 My old Trane XL200 is 23 years old now I think and the indoor coil is 22.  I'm trying to keep them as long as I can.

 It has been rumored that "they" (Ruud) may be coming out with a R407c condenser soon. I'm going that route.

[mad_planter]

They won't last that long by at least half today: 12-maybe 16 years. It's called progress. In the attempts to save the planet, we are producing and selling more equipment thereby using more resources and energy to save you on your elect bill to make the gov happy that they are seemingly making you happy so you can pay more taxes to make them happy.  


 My old Trane XL200 is 23 years old now I think and the indoor coil is 22.  I'm trying to keep them as long as I can.

 It has been rumored that "they" (Ruud) may be coming out with a R407c condenser soon. I'm going that route.

I would think heat pump technology has changed so much that replacing one that old would pay for itself pretty quick.

[daddo]

I would think heat pump technology has changed so much that replacing one that old would pay for itself pretty quick.

 I think if extensive and detailed work was put to the calculator comparing "then and now", it may or may not.  One of the deals in a new system might be upgrading attic insulation which changes the game.
  Some systems live a good life and some- for some reason need frequent repairs.  Indoor coils are the weak link right now and even if they are under warranty, it can cost quite a few franks. I've had to replace the coil in a system twice in 7 years. 410a has just too much psi for thin coils, and corrosion is an issue with this oil/refrigerant.
410 is a very efficient refrigerant, I just have a problem with it.

 The big selling point right now is comfort. Better humidity and temp control.  But it is costly.

[Robert Adams]

They won't last that long by at least half today: 12-maybe 16 years. It's called progress. In the attempts to save the planet, we are producing and selling more equipment thereby using more resources and energy to save you on your elect bill to make the gov happy that they are seemingly making you happy so you can pay more taxes to make them happy.  


 My old Trane XL200 is 23 years old now I think and the indoor coil is 22.  I'm trying to keep them as long as I can.

 It has been rumored that "they" (Ruud) may be coming out with a R407c condenser soon. I'm going that route.

         Yup I would love to buy a brand new system built like those old ones. I would much rather have an less efficient unit that will just run and run vs a new efficient unit that will last only 10 to 12 years and require many more repairs. 
           Long term reliability and durability far outweigh a slightly lower operating cost.
    
             I'm interested in the 407c as well. It puts the operating pressures much lower than the 400 psi of 410a. High psi and thin wall coils are a bad combination. 

          If you have seen mini fridges and freezers are starting to use hydrocarbon refrigerants in the us. Europe has been doing that for years but they don't have chemical companies pushing their high priced refrigerants there. 

             Oh and I have heard way too many noisy scroll compressors as well. Lots of them get a harmonic in their application and quieting them down can be pricey with flex pipes mass dampers etc.

[fixtureman]

I would think heat pump technology has changed so much that replacing one that old would pay for itself pretty quick.

If you take into the consideration that the unit is paid for and you would have to spend thousands to replace it the pay back may never be seen as the new unit probably will not last till the pay back is seen.

[EricU]

the other thing about the new ones is they work at a much lower outside temp.  Sure would be nice if you could get one with current tech that lasts like the old ones.  I have no idea how old the one at my mom's was, but it was at least a couple of decades.

[Rick_B]

So I'm going to jump in here - we have Rheem equipment (natural gas furnace and AC) that is 20 years old.  I have been considering replacing everything in an effort to get ahead of the surprise factor - equipment not working when it is needed.  I recently had the annual inspection/tune up for the furnce and I asked the tech for an overall evaluatuion of the equipment.  He indicated that the blower motor is pretty much on its last legs - he was seeing bearing gre3ase stqrtibng to spray out.  He also felt the circuit board discoloration was an indication that it was marginal as well.  He felt the heat exchanger was in good shape.  So when does replacement make sense versus repair.  The tech felt that it would be pushing $2000 to replace motor and circuit board/wiring harness - that is approaching half the cost of new.  

Any thoughts?

[Snipe Hunter]

Rick, Blackhat is probably the guy you want to talk to about that.

I'm just a lowly home inspector. It's either there or it isn't. It's either working or not. It's condition at the time of inspection is either Acceptable, Marginal or Poor and I can tell you when t was made.... Anything else;, I refer to a specialist like Blackhat.

I can tell you that gas furnaces are pretty cheap and tent to run a long time. $2000 sounds high for parts. I'll bet your furnace didn't cost $2000. It's just a fan, board and stamped sheet metal burner. I routinely see gas furnaces last well over 20 years. Even A/C equipment lasting 20+ years is pretty common but not sure where you live and what kind of use it sees. Heat-pumps tend to have much shorter lives as they operate year round. The A/C portion of your indoor unit which is the evaporator cabinet and A-frame coil (probably mounted on top of your furnace air handler, sharing the same fan as your furnace should last a good long time also. The outdoor condenser cabinet which houses your compressor might take a crap on you and probably fail before anything else. But, if your fan has issues, maybe you could just do that and shop around for pricing.

Maybe take a pick of the board and post it here, maybe one of the pros here can get a feel for it's condition. It should be easy to access by removing the cabinet cover.

What I see is when the A/C compressor fails, people often times replace the whole kit and caboodle which will modernize everything and bring it up to today's standard efficiencies. Not sure that's really necessary but I also tend to keep expensive things a long time till they aren't worth fixing. We replaced our outdoor heat-pump condenser unit at the old place when the compressor failed but the tech (a friend of mine) had to modify some things at the indoor A-Frame coil to allow the modern refrigerant to work with the old equipment... valves maybe? That added to the cost. The whole outdoor unit had a 10 year warranty, replacing the compressor would have had a 1 year warranty. I know techs don't like replacing compressors.

[fixtureman]

So I'm going to jump in here - we have Rheem equipment (natural gas furnace and AC) that is 20 years old.  I have been considering replacing everything in an effort to get ahead of the surprise factor - equipment not working when it is needed.  I recently had the annual inspection/tune up for the furnce and I asked the tech for an overall evaluatuion of the equipment.  He indicated that the blower motor is pretty much on its last legs - he was seeing bearing gre3ase stqrtibng to spray out.  He also felt the circuit board discoloration was an indication that it was marginal as well.  He felt the heat exchanger was in good shape.  So when does replacement make sense versus repair.  The tech felt that it would be pushing $2000 to replace motor and circuit board/wiring harness - that is approaching half the cost of new.  

Any thoughts?

I would start putting a little money each month aside for when you need a new system.  Your system could last another 5 to 10 years or more